Tassie Tour

This year the host of the Australian Women Pilots’ Association conference was Launceston, a city I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting before. After a cheeky two days at Cradle Mountain, I arrived in Launceston on the Wednesday in preparation for my AvPlan EFB presentation at the education session. The AWPA’s education sessions are always riveting and this year was no disappointment, with presentations from the RAAF, Airservices and a fabulous pilot from Antartica’s Casey Station. Guest speakers Ryan Campbell and Matt Hall also delighted and entertained the crowds. The AvPlan EFB demo inspired lots of questions, and further private demos, as many requested a closer look at our new V5.0 features. I received so many requests for private demos that I’m going to have to double to online seminars for June!

While Sydney was experiencing some of the most extreme weather in a decade, the weather conditions were CAVOK in Tasmania, on all but one day, which of course were the AWPA navigation trials. Sadly, the trials were cancelled, although the marvelous Heather did set up a ‘table top’ trial in consolation.

On Friday night I was the guest of Owen Bartrop – AvPlan EFB user and beta tester – and the good people of Devonport Aero Club, who were an extremely involved crowd, with lots of questions. At the pre-seminar barbecue, I met the delightful twin sisters, Billie and Lesleigh, who co-own a Alpi Pioneer and a whole host of current AvPlan EFB users, as well as potential new users. It was also great to catch up with some of the Tassie pilots who’d come by our stand at Avalon.

Saturday night was the AWPA dinner, always a splendid event, the highlight of which is the Lady Casey Raffle. This year, AvPlan EFB offered a lifetime subscription to one extremely fortunate winner. Some people purchased as many as ten tickets in the hope of winning! The lucky winner was the charming student pilot, Amelia Morton. Amelia was over the moon with the prize, having been an attendee at my seminar on Thursday. As a student, she has yet to use an EFB, so we’re delighted she’ll begin using AvPlan from the very beginning of her flying career. The Lady Casey Scholarship raffle raised over $800 for the scholarship fund, and we’re proud to have been part of it.

On Sunday afternoon, I was the guest of the Aero Club of Southern Tasmania, in Cambridge, Hobart. The aero club is housed in the most charming setting, and we had a great crowd of around 25 of extremely enthusiastic pilots. The host, Paul Boland, is a huge advocate of AvPlan EFB and is a great reflection of AvPlan EFB’s users: committed, safety conscious and passionate about flight.

After a day at Wineglass bay, I made my way home to a very soggy Sydney, where I’m now planning my next round of online webinars.

To those I met in Tasmania, thanks for your wonderful southern hospitality!