McCaw was taught to fly gliders by his grandfather J H ' Jim ' McCaw who flew more than 300 missions in the Second World War . In 2009 he convinced the head of the Discovery network in Australia and New Zealand to do a show about gliding . They filmed McCaw gliding at Omarama on the extreme sports series '' Sportstar Insider '' , which was hosted by former Australian rugby league player Andrew Ettingshausen . After the 2010 Canterbury earthquake he auctioned a personal flying lesson through Trade Me to raise money for the badly damaged Hororata St Johns Church . He is also raising money for a young Samoan who broke his neck playing rugby and whose village was destroyed in the 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami . It was revealed at his retirement announcement in 2015 that McCaw would work at Christchurch Helicopters , where he is a Director and Shareholder , and was obtaining a commercial helicopter licence . McCaw has since obtained said licence and has continued working as a helicopter pilot . He flew several rescue and reconnaissance missions following the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake that struck the South Island . He also performed milk drops around rural areas of New Zealand while having an endorsement with Fonterra , in which his sister and her husband are dairy farmers
2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami
2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami
Richie McCaw