SAFA Skysailor Magazine

10 SKY SAILOR July | August 2021 Following the Women’s Tandem Weekend in Portsea, Victoria, in April this year, one young participant has become a PG3 pilot, quit her job and moved to Bright in the Victorian Alps to explore her love of flying. Aline Boer, 28, attended the free event, which was created by SkyHigh Paragliding Club President Babushka Férenczi to encourage more women into the sport, which gave her the opportunity to have her first tandem flight. Fast forward a mere three months after the event, Aline is now a fully certified PG3 pilot through Melbourne Paragliding and Bright Flight, and is a member of SkyHigh and NEVHG Clubs. Aline describes herself as one of the most obsessed PG3 pilots, giving up her life in Melbourne’s Brunswick to relocate to the town of Bright to be closer to flying sites. “As soon as I finished my (pilot) course, I gave up my job after completing my PhD in Biomedicine, to give me the time to fly every day that I could, and moved to Bright to get closer to the flying sites,” Aline explained. Aline discovered paragliding through the Women’s Tandem event after seeing it on Facebook and applying for a free flight to experience the sport. While she had never flown before, she describes herself as an adrenaline junkie, spending her free time doing long distance hiking and climbing, which she eventually hopes to combine with paragliding when she gains more experience. “I’ve always loved hiking and my goal one day is to hike and fly and go on longer adventures,” Aline said. “I am really enjoying paragliding and everyone I have met has been really helpful and giving me some great tips. Two weeks after the course I took part in the Corryong fly-in event which was really social and allowed me to get to meet a Dedicated New Pilot Relocates to Bright for Paragliding Photo: Bruce Agnew