A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.
– Robert Greene, 1592
Given that my primary dreams are to build a little family, live on and operate a small aerodrome or airstrip (with our own aircraft, hangar-house, motorbikes and vegetable garden), and periodically scribble stories from the highlands of Papua New Guinea, these I continue to pursue in 2024/25.
Aside from being a dedicated aunty, polishing off my commercial pilot’s licenses, and building hours on hot air balloons, throughout the year I say yes to jobs and opportunities in interesting and unique locations around Australia and the world – particularly if they allow me to get some flying in and meet some legends along the way.
Meanwhile, a few of the other ways I earn a crumb…
OPERATIONS & MARKETING – Global ballooning Australia
Very often, you’ll find me up very early – and it’s likely to be out in a paddock wrangling an unwieldy bundle of Nomex and a wicker basket into position. I am senior ground crew in Melbourne City and the Yarra Valley over the summer season, which runs from September to May. I also assisted my best friend and commercial pilot, Georgia Croft, with Global’s operation up in Mansfield (VIC) during the winter months of 2022. Ballooning in Victoria is truly exceptional, and working alongside the local communities here to bring this experience to our passengers makes my heart sing.
I’ve worked and played with the Global family for over seven years now – everything from adventures to competition to documenting their stories. I completed my private ballooning licence with them in 2021, so I’m also one of the newest commercial pilots-in-training and am taking every chance I can to build hours over the next couple of years.
Columnist & FEATURE WRITER – HeliOps and Air Attack Magazines
HeliOps and Air Attack are international online publications by Kia Kaha Media, based in NZ and published every two months. I’m a freelance contributor and author of the column A Greater View – a space featuring stories of women in all areas of the helicopter/aviation industry. I also write the Personal Profile columns, sharing stories of individuals in the aerial space, worldwide.
I have written for HeliOps since January 2020, interviewing and building relationships with people all over the globe to bring an array of experience to the page. It’s been a genuine pleasure working with Mark Ogden (Editor) and Neville ‘Ned’ Dawson (Publisher), both industry legends in their own rites.
AVIATION TUTOR / CAREERS ADVISOR 📚
Hitting the books for any part of your Australian pilots’ licence isn’t an easy feat – especially if you’ve elected to self-study. If you often catch yourself wondering if you’re on the right track, or you’re struggling with any part of balancing your flying, studying and life, I can help.
I currently tutor all subjects up to CPL level (fixed-wing and hot air balloon) and, if you need higher than this, have access to a plethora of instructors/pilots/industry legends I can highly recommend. There’s a whole section of my website devoted to this – if you’re interested, click the link just here, and we’ll do it together!
PREVIOUSLY…
2024 WINTER SABBATICAL IN BURKETOWN, QLD – YAGURLI TOURS + BALLOON ALOFT
I piggybacked ballooning to the top end of our country to build a tan, produce ballooning content, and crew on the stunning Yagurli balloon from July to September 2024 (rather than endure another deplorable Victorian winter).
Among many things that make this place extremely special, Yagurli is the first Indigenous-owned balloon operated on native title land in Australia, perhaps even the world. We flew dozens of sultry afternoons over the largest salt pan in the southern hemisphere. It had been a dream of mine for a couple of years, so to finally be in Moungibi blew my mind, and I feel extremely lucky to have been so warmly welcomed by the Gangalidda Garawa people and the rest of the crew at Balloon Aloft.
CANBERRA BALLOON SPECTACULAR, ANNUALLY – BALLOON ALOFT CANBERRA
Assistant Operations 2016-21 – Yarra Valley Aviation
One of my proverbial homes.
I spent the first five years of my aviation career in this flourishing family business, my position constantly evolving to include the following and exclude just about nothing – flying school operations (Lilydale Flying School), scheduling and managing instructors, students and aircraft, organising and hosting social events, air shows and fly-aways, marketing and digital advertising, business development, charter quoting, refuelling and preparing charter aircraft, and all manner of other things. I wrote copy and supplied photography for pamphlets, information brochures and the website, created content for and managed the Yarra Valley Aviation and Lilydale Flying School‘s business Facebook pages, wrote itineraries for charters and fly-aways and ran the Lilydale Airshow website (WordPress) in the lead up to the 2019 event.
It was the perfect intro to the industry for me, and I’ll always look back on my time here fondly.
These days, I am still around talking gas over tea in the kitchen and flying often. I’m currently focusing on finishing my CPL, so am spending less time in the office and more in the sky – just how I like it!
Editor 2018-22 – AIRNEWS Magazine
Airnews is the nationally distributed print magazine of the Australian Women Pilots’ Association (AWPA). Published three times a year, the magazine features aviation industry news from around Australia, information about upcoming events, arrangements for future AGMs and conferences, plus feature articles on members (past and present), destinations and other topics of interest.
As the editor, I worked closely with freelance contributors, a team of six state reporters and the National Committee, collating and producing each issue over approximately two and a half months. I also wrote features and all copy, managed social media channels and was heavily involved in all stages of production and design.
Bronni Bowen 