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Women of Aviation Week Profile – Anna Rusinowski

March 5-11 is Women of Aviation Worldwide Week, and today is International Women’s Day. COPA is proud to support this and the many other initiatives that work tirelessly to promote women’s involvement in all different aspects of the aviation industry. Each day during WOAW week, we are profiling a COPA member who is promoting aviation in her own area of the industry.

Today’s WOAW member profile is Anna Rusinowski, of Ontario, who holds a PPL and intends to pursue her CPL and float endorsement. We asked Anna about what inspired her to get involved in aviation, about her plans for the future, and how she sees COPA’s role in aviation:

The beginning.  Four years ago, I moved to a town called Coral Bay in Western Australia, which lies along one of the most ecologically diverse reefs in the world. Simply, I was travelling looking for inspiration and opportunity. Close to where I was living, there was a small dirt strip. Every morning I would watch a spotter plane takeoff in search of whale sharks, humpback whales, manta rays and more. One morning, as I was watching a Cessna 150 take off, I made a decision.  When I moved home, I would become a licensed pilot.

It has been 3 years since I finished my private licence and over that period I have had the opportunity to fly a dozen different aircraft, I have met some of my closest friends and taken on some wonderful mentors. The thing that I love the most about the aviation community is how eager everyone is to share their experiences.  A common interest for wonderful conversation, a chosen community where we are all taking care of each other.  When I passed my flight test, the examiner signed the paper work and said, “Now you have a licence to learn”. Since then I have taken every opportunity to listen and learn as much as possible from my peers.

The future. This year I began to volunteer for an event called “Girls Take flight” that encourages women and girls to get involved in the world of aviation. I am in charge of promotion so I’m really just trying to get the event as much exposure as possible in hopes of making the world a little smaller, and its opportunities just a little bigger for those in attendance. It is through events like this that organizations like COPA can make a big impact and spread the word through their readership and I’m happy they have agreed to help spread the word with us.

Moving forward, I will continue flying and work my way through to a commercial licence and a float rating. Until then you can follow along with me on my journey on Instagram @pilotannie[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-instagram” align=”right” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fpilotannie%2F|title:Follow%20Anna%20on%20Instagram!|target:%20_blank|”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Follow Anna on Instagram

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