ACTION STATIONS FOR COURTNEY
COURTNEY Hay grew up in the country and has always worked in rural and remote areas.
She spent some time as a jillaroo, mustering cattle in the Northern Territory, and now applies her skills from the sky as a helicopter mustering pilot for beef and cattle company Stanbroke.
“A typical day for me would be going down to the hangar to my helicopter to check it over and see if it is safe to fly, then flying out to the paddock and mustering the cows to the dam or trough,” she says.
“Then the people on the ground walk them as one mob to the yard. Sometimes they are on motorbikes.”
Hay, 26, made the transition to flying by gaining her commercial helicopter licence, which she says requires about six months of full-time training.
Her advice to people interested in helicopter mustering work is to first start with experience on the ground.