Tasmanian helicopter rescue veteran and aviation identity Roger Corbin has been remembered as a man who filled every minute of his life and to whom many people owed their lives.
Mr Corbin, 57, who died in a helicopter crash at Hobart Airport last Tuesday, was farewelled by around 1,000 family, friends and former colleagues at a service held under a marquee at Hobart's Regatta Grounds.
In her dedication to her husband, Allana Corbin spoke of his larger-than-life personality.
"Everything about Roger was extreme," she said.
"He was extremely driven, extremely passionate, he was extremely generous and extremely determined."
She said her husband was a dedicated family man.
"Ours was a love story for sure, and it was filled with adventure and fun and enormous love and very bad dancing," she said.
"Rog, my darling, it's been a really wild ride but I wouldn't have missed it for the world."
Mrs Corbin thanked the community for their support over the past week.
"We've had such an amazing outpouring of love from people from all over the world," she said.
Mr Corbin's three daughters Sophia, Indiana and Isabella shared some favourite memories of their dad.
"I recently went to Canberra with all my school friends, and when he dropped me off he started crying because he didn't want me to go, it made me feel all warm and fuzzy," Isabella said.
"I'll miss him very much but when I think of my dad there's one thing that I will always remember and that is that we were loved."
There were many emergency service personnel present — Mr Corbin's company RotorLift holds the contract for Tasmania's police search and rescue services.
Mr Corbin died when a single-engine, French-made AS350BA Squirrel helicopter owned by his company, RotorLift, hit the ground shortly before 5:30pm on Tuesday 7 November, falling from a height of about 200 metres.
Another pilot in the helicopter, 33-year-old John Osborne, survived the crash.
Corbin remembered as a visionary
Police Commissioner Darren Hine paid tribute to Mr Corbin's work, describing him as a "truly inspiring pioneer".
"He immediately introduced capabilities that went beyond the scope of the contract to provide the Tasmanian community with the best — and I mean the best — search and rescue platform," he said.
"There are people all over the world, not just in Tasmania, who owe their lives to this outstanding rescue service and to Roger."
Retired Inspector Lee Renshaw said Mr Corbin never took no for an answer.
"Roger was a tenacious visionary who strove for excellence in aviation as it related to aeromedical rescue," he said.
"Second best wasn't good enough."
Emergency service personnel formed a guard of honour as Mr Corbin's coffin was placed in the rescue helicopter.
In a fitting tribute, Mr Corbin's casket left the grounds for one last flight over the city.
