Ray Wijewardene

Despite being an accomplished engineer, aviator, inventor and Olympian, Ray Wijewardene preferred to introduce himself simply as a farmer and mechanic ‘who still got his hands dirty’. Always curious, enthusiastic and open-minded, he managed to have his head (literally) in the clouds and his feet firmly on the ground all his life.

In this section, we take a quick look at Ray's multi-faceted career that blended many disciplines and pursuits, and covered several countries on three continents. We look at Ray at work, and Ray at play with his experimental light aircraft and in water sports.

In his case, it is impossible to separate the two. Ray was fond of quoting Frank Tyger, the American columnist and cartoonist:

“Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.”