Rosemary Arnold names First Females Above Australia awardee

Australian aviation icon Rosemary Arnold has named Geelong aerobatic pilot Jodie Davis as the inaugural First Females Above Australia Awards winner.

Following the release of her book of the same name – which recognised and paid tribute to the many firsts achieved over the years by female pilots in Australia – in late-2010, Arnold established the First Females Above Australia Awards to encourage Australia’s current female pilots to progress their flying careers.

As the inaugural awardee, 26-year-old Davis, an aspiring National/International aerobatic champion, receives the $500 Encouragement Award, which was presented to her in 1930’s Australian aerobatic pilot Esther L’Estrange Mather.

CAPTION: Inaugural First Females Above Australia Award winner Jodie Davis.

The funds will assist Davis in entering the Victorian Aerobatic Championships at Tocumwal, held last weekend in February 2012. In October Davis won a Silver Medal at the NSW Aerobatic Championships at Temora.

“Each year the First Females Above Australia Award will be presented to honour one of the first females recorded in the book,” Arnold says. “More than one First Females Above Australia Award will be presented annually when finances allow or sponsorship is received. 10 per year for 10 years would be a great goal.”

CAPTION: 2012 Encouragement Award winner Sophie Counsell.

The 2012 $500 Encouragement Award winner has also been announced, with the award to go to 17-year-old schoolgirl Sophie Counsell of Bateman’s Bay, who is an aspiring helicopter pilot. The award will pay for Counsell’s first hour of helicopter training, and will be presented in memory of Heather Mitchell, who was abducted and murdered in PNG on her last day working on a two-year contract as a commercial helicopter pilot in 1986.


Rosemary Arnold became Australia’s first female commercial helicopter pilot when she gained both her CPL-H and CPL-A in 1967 at the age of 33. She is a determined  promoter and supporter of female pilots in Australia and her book First Females Above Australia aims to promote these achievements to the wider aviation community. If you’d like to purchase the book, which we highly recommend, email rosemary@chapelinthesky.com.au or cinthia@pdsaustralia.com now.