Tegan’s sky high dreams pay off
Tegan (pictured above) is sitting in her main ride, which is an Air Tractor 802, the biggest single engineered aeroplane in manufacture. It is also the biggest agricultural aircraft, and has 1400 horsepower.
By Kimberly Grabham
Tegan Allott, local AgFLite pilot, dreamed of flying from the time that she was quite young.
“I grew up on a farm, so I was always driving things, and I loved it,” she laughed.
“Nobody in my family was ever involved in aviation, so I always assumed when I was to become a pilot, I would become a captain at Qantas. I never envisioned the path that it would lead me to, but I am very happy it did.”
Tegan was recently awarded the Professional Pilot Award 2023, at the Aerial Application Association of Australia annual convention.
This prestigious award is in recognition of a pilot who has shown pride in being an application pilot and shown a commitment to professionalism and safety.
“I felt shocked, and humbled when I won the award, “Tegan said. “It is great to be recognised, however I am more of one to prefer flying under the radar. I was surprised people knew what I was up to.”
This is her first industry award, and the only award for her industry, apart from Life Achievement awards. Tegan fell into her industry quite serendipitously. Training as a pilot in Leongatha, in South Gippsland, this happened to be one of only two places in the country that also offered Agricultural Pilot training.
She was offered a job with the agricultural sector there, as ground crew, mixing chemicals. This paid for a lot of her training.
After a time, she was offered a position as an application pilot, the company telling her they thought she would be a good fit. And it all took off from there.
Apart from a small break during the drought to fly charter flights in the Northern Territory, she has been in the industry ever since. Tegan commenced work with AgFlite in Hay in 2016.
“They say that the role is 80 per cent farming, and 20 per cent flying,” she said. “The plane is just the vehicle; the application comes first. Sometimes the job can be hard, but it is always fun.”
She loves her work, because no two days are the same. There is no autopilot in the aircrafts, and one seat, so she is always flying solo. Holding herself to a high personal standard, the ambition to perform the optimum service for clients always in the forefront of her mind. Battling against the clock, weather, are some of the other obstacles faced, but she thrives, and achieves results.
“You could feel like there is a pretty bare week, at the start of the week, and by the time you get to the end, it can be one of the busiest weeks in a long time,” she said.
“One of the best aspects of my job are the new innovations that keep arising, and the ideas.
“New things are being tried all the time these days. Companies can ask us to beta test new GPS systems, as was done recently, in conjunction with farmers that are appropriate for the project specifications.
“Other times we can be trialling new chemical products.”
She hopes to finish her career remaining in the industry.
“I just love what I do, our clients are wonderful, and the company is phenomenal. I would never have thought life would take me in such a good direction, in little Hay, immensely enjoying what I do.”
Tegan has even recently sewn canola from the aircraft, something that has rarely, if ever been done before.
“I couldn’t do my job, which I love, without the wonderful farmers and clients that we have throughout the district.”
Congratulations Tegan. Not only is the award a well-deserved recognition of your hard and innovative works. You are an inspiration, especially for women everywhere.
