 | Fleet Air Arm |
| Fleet Air Arm |
30 December 2009
Former Narrogin Senior High School student Natalee Johnston today is a Navy Lieutenant Commander and is the Fleet Air Arm's first female pilot. Her task is to fly the Navy's largest helicopters, the Sea Kings.
She has recently returned from Operation Padang Assist in Sumatra, part of the Government's humanitarian aid mission to Indonesia following a series of earthquakes that occurred in Sumatra in early October.
In Sumatra she was HMAS Kanimbla's Flight Commander and as the senior flight officer onboard, Natalee wa also responsible for a number of other aircraft-related duties.
"I carry out test flights after any maintenance has been completed on the aircraft. And as a qualified helicopter instructor, part of my job is to also instruct new pilots and to make recommendations to the ship's Commanding Officer on flight matters."
Natalee, now 33, joined the Navy 15 years ago as a Midshipman. She first attended the Australian Defence Force Academy, Australia's military university, and then went on to become a pilot.
When she is not on overseas humanitarian missions, Natalee is normally based at the Naval Air Station at HMAS Albatross at Nowra, NSW.
She said her recent deployment presented a new set of challenges to her as a pilot. "Flying over new areas with unfamiliar terrain as well as operating the aircraft at sea were just two of the challenges of that deployment," she said.
But with the helicopters being used to transport emergency teams and equipment ashore from Kanimbla, she got plenty of practice at both of these challenges. The deployment also gave her the chance to add to her already accumulated 2500 flying hours.
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