Something out there

“I came out of a domestic violence relationship. I wanted to build myself again. I thought to myself I am better that this. There has got to be something out there,” she told Australian Aviation.

That something was aviation, but it wasn’t an early choice, or initially really even an option.

“I had been in this relationship where I was not allowed to do anything. I didn’t know what direction I was going to go. I thought I would go back to study,” she said.

“I went back to university to do a Bachelor of Science degree. I started that about five years ago. I got very close to the end but then withdrew.”

“Then I commenced a Bachelor of Forensic Science degree but found employment opportunities were very limited.”

That’s down to the CSI effect – plenty of people have viewed the various CSI TV series and thought ‘what a cool job.’ The result is a number of courses for crime scene investigation and plenty of graduates but not that many jobs.

A career in medicine beckoned.

“I received a conditional offer into Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery. The condition was that I do a three year bachelor degree and then I could come back and they would have a spot for me in medicine. I started doing my Bachelor of Midwifery and thought to myself, do I really want to be studying for the next eight years?”

Then she got into flying.

“I have travelled overseas quite a bit to a number of countries. I have travelled to the US about 10 times. I’d watch the captains come onto the plane and I thought I would love to be in their position,” she said.

“I though that’s it – I want to jump in a small plane and take a trial flight. It had been in the back of my mind.”

But there was a problem. Although an experienced and fearless passenger on international flights, she admitted she was absolutely petrified, with a latent fear of heights amplified by sitting in a small aeroplane.

“I just wanted to jump in the deep end,” she said.

The trial flight aboard a Piper Warrior stated at Bankstown, Sydney, and headed north over Palm Beach and the Hawkesbury River.

Tense and scared, Lett took the controls. Her instructor assured her she could relax as she wouldn’t crash the plane.

“Once I did the trial flight I thought maybe this is something I could get over. I could overcome my fears and the more I flew, I would get used to it.”

Then there was the not insubstantial cost.

“I saw an ad offering a Diploma of Aviation Commercial Pilot Licence through Soar Aviation at Bankstown which was covered by Vocational Education and Training student loans. I though this could be possible. I thought there was a chance I could do this,” she said.

She was scared for the first few lessons, thinking the plane, a , Bristell LSA, would fall from the sky, along with her and her instructor.

But she was passing all her lessons, until it came to stalling and recovery.

“It took me four of five lessons because I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was petrified and that was taking me way out of my comfort zone,” she said.

‘I was petrified and that was taking me way out of my comfort zone.’ Charmaine Lett

“From someone who had gone from being absolutely petrified, I did my first solo flight on March 2. I did my first circuit solo.”

Lett’s enthusiasm proved infectious and now her daughter Laetitia, 17, is also training to be a pilot with ambition to one day captain a Qantas 747 or A380.

“We are like a mother daughter team. She commenced the course after me and we are both doing it,” Lett said.

She says her inspiration was a relative from WA, Federal Liberal MP Ken Wyatt, the first Aboriginal member of the House of Representatives and the first indigenous federal minister.

“That’s my inspiration right there. I saw his achievements,” she said.

So what now?

Lett, is currently undertaking an Internship with Qantas, which is giving her an insight into the Boeing fleet operations. As for her flight training, next step would be to complete her training and go on to do other endorsements and ratings and work her way up within a commercial airline.

“I have the idea of starting a one of a kind Aboriginal-themed charter experience for overseas tourists,” she said.

“One of my greatest pleasures is inspiring other women and indigenous youth to achieve their dreams and encourage them to pursue a career in aviation.”