SAFA Skysailor Magazine

18 SKY SAILOR November | December 2021 flying in the mountains, improving my XC skills and then progressing into volbiv adventures. I feel fortunate to have had a mix of flying coastal and inland sites and feel this has helped to give me a range of different skill sets and experiences that hopefully make me a more rounded pilot. I still have a lot to learn though and am excited for the journey, the places it takes me and the people I meet along the way! Nat: I have been a paraglider pilot since November 2019, having learned at Manilla, NSW. As such, I have traditionally felt much more comfortable with inland flying. However, recently, I moved to Collaroy on Sydney’s North­ ern Beaches, and now live minutes away from Long Reef and Cooks Terrace launches. It’s been the best move – I am slowly becoming more confident with coastal flying with a wonderful local community of pilots to support me. I have a passion for flight, and hope to extend that to other flying disciplines and challenges in the future. I am passionate about our sports, our wonderful flying community, and about educa- tion – continuously pushing myself to become more competent and skilled as a pilot, working through fear, whilst supporting others on their flying journey in any capacity I can. How did you secure $50k funding? Last year Kaz joined the NSWHPA as a com- mittee member to help advocate for female pilots in a strategic and structured way – a role that Nat has now taken over since joining the committee at the recent September AGM. The NSWHPA have been generous in their support for female pilots, and in March 2021, a Female Pilot Sub-committee was formalised as a strategic alliance with WWW to lead NSW initiatives aimed at improving female pilot par- ticipation and retention across our disciplines. The sub-committee currently consists of Kaz The Women beneath our Wings