Thank you to Peta, amy, Frankie, Kris and Kreisha who carried the baton from Avalon to Leongatha to Bairnsdale to Orbost to Mallacoota and finally to Merimbula today. It was a fantastic day for flying and the photos look sensational. Stand by for reports back from our fabulous fliers as they come in!
From tomorrow (March 3), look out for the baton as it heads up the NSW coastline:
ACT member Jan Goodhew will collect the baton on the 3rd March and fly to Moruya then hand over to Shelly Ross and Catherine Fitzsimons who then fly the baton to Natalie Johnston and Sally Malone at the Nowra Navy Base.
An invitation is open to any AWPA member to attend the afternoon tea at the base on the 3rd March .
On the 4th March the Baton will be traveling to Bankstown and arriving between 09:00 and 09:30 to hand over to civilian pilot Sandy Taylor at Bankstown Helicopters for a morning tea. Local and national media will be in attendance.
The Navy have contributed not one but up to three helicopters to promote this relay and also to support AWPA and female aviators. Therefore we would love to see as many AWPA members in attendance to promote our organisation and meet the Navy girls, in the spirit of flying fun and friendship and in memory of our founding members.
Sandy Taylor will then fly the baton in an R44 helicopter very generously provided by Bankstown Helicopters to Cessnock where hopefully on the early morning of the 5th March (due Weather) it will be carried aloft by our local female World Champion balloon pilot Nicola Scaife, who will then pass the baton to ex NSW President Kerry Nolan who will then fly the baton to Camden Haven, a beautiful private strip located on the banks of the Camden Haven river.
The baton will then be collected by float plane pilot Judy Johnson, from Port Macquarie Sea Planes, who will then fly it to Port Macquarie, where it will be staying overnight. On the 6th March, the Baton will travel to Coffs Harbour, with NSW member Cathy Hobson, then hand over to NSW member Leonie Mason who is supporting her mother with her current cancer treatments. (Margie Sullivan and I will be a backup for her on this leg if needed.) The baton will then travel to South Grafton, where Sarah Biddles will take collection and all members have been extended an invitation for lunch at the South Grafton aero club.
Sarah was originally planned from South Grafton to Ballina, however she has since been approached by Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome who have invited Sarah and all AWPA members for a Cancer Council fund raiser morning tea, so upon this generous invitation, we have included Evans head as a stop for the baton. Again all local members are encouraged to attend if you can, this will be the 7th March.
On the 7th March, Sarah will then continue on to Ballina, where she will hand the baton to Yvette Gulliver, who will then fly the baton up to our girls in the sunshine coast in QLD who are also holding a Women in Aviation week celebration on Saturday the 7th March.
Due to the enthusiasm of so many women pilots to participate in this relay, you will see that many of the legs are quite short, in order to give as many girls the opportunity to participate in the relay, we have a buffer of days in place, this also allows for plenty of catch up time for weather or maintenance delays if needed. As aviators we can appreciate this requirement.
If you are interested in raising more awareness of women in aviation and also want to assist to raise funds for the relay, please share the below links to donate to the cause.
Please also share this relay information with family and friends and help us find a cure.
http://nsw.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/teamPage.aspx?TeamID=85203
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