Kay Turnbull - 50 years of Ballooning

Kay Turnbull is one of Australia's most respected and most loved pilots. Kay's obsession with the sport began on what was planned to be a 6 month trip to the UK in 1966 and ended up being a 20 year stay.

Kay was involved in some of the very earliest flights of the Bristol Belle, the first “Modern” balloon in the UK with some of the early pioneers of the sport including Giles Bulmer, Don Cameron, Tom Sage and her future husband, Gerry Turnbull.

Kay has flown gas and hot air throughout Europe since achieving her pilots licence in 1968, soloing in a cloudhopper. She has been in the basket for the 1976 Gas World Champs and the 1993 Hot Air Worlds and does not want to do either of those again.

Next year will mark Kay's 50th year in the sport, so Aunty Monkey thought it was the perfect opportunity to talk to Kay about her time in the sport.

The Bristol Belle 1968 (Kay not flying)