By Peter Gunders
There is a moment always guaranteed to put a smile on Carol Browne’s face.
“I get in the aircraft, open the throttle and we’re hurtling down the runway, and we lift off … and I have to pinch myself,” she said.
The 72-year-old earned her pilot’s licence four years ago after a long career in education, and said her most recent skill surprised many of her friends.
“Somebody asked me how a flight with a friend went [and] who flew the plane,” she said.
“I said, ‘I did! I was the pilot.’
“Their jaw hit the ground because you don’t expect 70-year-old ladies to say that in the sewing circle environment.”
Earning her wings was never a bucket-list item for Ms Browne, but a conversation with her brother-in-law, “over a chardonnay or two”, proved pivotal.
He said he’d love to fly, but it was cost-prohibitive at his stage of life with a mortgage and kids.
“He couldn’t do it, and said, ‘Why don’t you?'” Ms Browne said.
“And I thought, ‘Well … why don’t I?'”
With 400 hours in her flight logbook, Ms Browne is now studying for her instructor rating.
She says it keeps her feeling younger.
“I think having a passion is what it’s all about. Doing something that you really love, and wanting to keep getting better at it is the other thing,” she said.
“There’s incredible multitasking you have to do as a pilot … you seem to have to do 15 things at once!”
She recalls her flying “milestones” with pride.
“My son was my first ever passenger,” Ms Browne said.
“How many mums get to take their 30-year-old sons flying?”
Coming to flying later in life, Ms Browne said her new-found skill aligned with her lifelong passion for learning.
Her instructor, chief pilot Trevor Bange at Clifton on Queensland’s Darling Downs, said having a mature-age student in the passenger seat was becoming more common.
“Once the children are off their hands, they’ve finished university, they’ve now got themselves a bit more settled in life,” he said.
“That’s why I always promote it in retirement, they’ve got the time to spare and can come out here and enjoy a bit of company with people who have a like-minded interest in the concept of aviation.
“It’s never too late. We had a pilot here who flew into his 90s.”
Women under-represented in aviation
In Australia, women account for between 5 and 7 per cent of recreational and commercial pilots.
“We’re obviously extremely under-represented in the industry,” said Sarah Hume, national president of the Australian Women Pilots’ Association (AWPA).
The AWPA was founded by aviation pioneer Nancy Bird Walton.
“Nancy’s whole goal was to increase the number of women pilots in Australia. There were 50 pilots that all gathered at Bankstown in 1950,” Ms Hume said.
“Now there’s 550 to 600 of us in the association. So, we’ve definitely come a long way, but 5 to 7 per cent isn’t good enough.
“I was a pilot for nearly four years before I ever saw another woman pilot in my same job.”
Ms Hume said to boost the numbers, three key areas needed attention: strong mentorship and support networks, improved financial access to training, and more inclusive employer practices.
“There’s a real shortage of pilots in the industry, so we are missing out on a huge percentage of the population by not employing women as much as we employ men,” she said.
It’s one of the reasons Carol Browne pursued her instructor rating.
“I was able to talk to a little six-year-old one day,” she said.
“She didn’t want to go flying with her dad because she was scared, but I was able to say, ‘Look, I fly these, it’s a girl thing to do.'”
And she wants girls of all ages to have the same experience.
“I think the fact that other people saw that I could do it meant that they didn’t have to be afraid of failing because of their age,” Ms Browne said.
“It’s a beautiful world from up there. It’s really beautiful.”