Young pilot Chloe Familton stops in Albany on solo mission to encourage female aviators across Australia

With a mission to promote female pilots in the aviation industry, Chloe Familton touched down in Albany yesterday on her pursuit to solo-circumnavigate the country. Ms Familton is en route to complete a lap of Australia in a bid to encourage women across the nation to take up aviation. She left for her mammoth expedition on November 13 from Sydney before making her 18th landing in Albany on Thursday morning to refuel and service her aircraft. The 18-year-old said the lack of women within the industry is what inspired her to complete her solo quest around the country. “It’s an initiative encouraging and inspiring others, specifically girls and young women, to enter aviation showing that it’s possible to go into that field,” Ms Familton. About 10 per cent of licensed pilots in Australia are women, which Ms Familton puts down to the lack of visibility of aviation options for women in society. Ms Familton started learning as a 15-year-old and was a fully qualified pilot by the time she was 16 — before she received her P-plates. “I’d taken the plane up on my own before I sat in the driver’s seat of a car,” she said. “I would be there flying as a licensed pilot and then drive home from the airport with my L-plates still up.” Ms Familton is part of the Girls Guides and will link up with the Albany Girls Guides Group during her one-night stay in the city. Numerous sponsors are supporting her expedition with the money raised going towards the Australian education charity A Start in Life. Chloe Familton is due in Adelaide for Christmas but is hoping to land back home in Sydney for New Year’s Eve.