An engineering student from New South Wales has been the first woman to fly solo across the Tasman in a four-hour flight over the Tasmanian Highlands.
Key points:Brennan Civil Engineering student and Australian national won first flight solo across Tasmanian skiesCody Wilson says she is very proud to be an Australian citizenShe said she would “never have” been able to fly the plane without the support of her family and friendsThe flight took place over the summer, and is the first solo flight across the southern state.
Ms Wilson was flying a small plane from the University of Tasmania to Hobart, when a group of passengers boarded.
She said the pilot had been “stupid” for allowing the group on board, and had told the group he did not know what to do.
“He asked if they could just come up to the front of the plane and sit, I told him ‘no’, but he just said ‘no thanks’,” Ms Wilson said.
“We were all quite shocked, I couldn’t believe it.”‘
This is the beginning of a new chapter in my life’Ms Wilson said she was “a little bit surprised” by the group of people who boarded her plane, but said she had not expected it to be this large.
“I was very surprised when I got on the plane, I didn’t know what the hell to expect.
I was a little bit shocked when I was sitting on the back seat with my parents, because I had a few friends on board.”
Ms Wilson told the ABC she had only flown in the air for about five months.
“The other part of it is that I’m a very proud and humble Australian citizen and I love flying, and I’m proud of being a Civil Engineer,” she said.
The group included her parents and grandparents, who were from Queensland.
“It was just a really amazing experience, we had no idea what was going to happen, we just went and sat down on the seat next to the pilot, and then they just went on board and flew the plane,” Ms Wilson’s mum, Linda, said.’
I was really nervous’Ms Hamilton said she and her family had flown on several occasions and had never been on a plane before.
“My parents have never had any experience flying,” she explained.
“They’ve never been in the cockpit and I thought I was going nuts.”
She said Ms Wilson was a “pretty normal person” and did not feel nervous about flying.
“She is just really happy, she is the kind of person that wants to fly, and it’s just so exciting,” Ms Hamilton said.
Topics:australia,discovery-and-exploration,tas
