Somewhere along the way, however, she learned to love being in the air and today works with Matt Hall at Belmont as airport operation manager while training for her aerobatic rating.

French pilot Mélanie Astles rewrote the history books in January by becoming the first female to compete in the international Red Bull Air Race and while Sands is a long way off following in her footsteps, learning the ropes from Hall, one of the best in the business, is a good start. 

“I recall flying with Dad a few times when I was growing up,” Sands tells Weekender.

“Being so young at the time it terrified me not understanding or knowing how something made of aluminium and a spinning propeller kept us in the sky.

“It wasn’t until the end of high school I really wanted to learn more about different aircraft and the aerodynamics behind it all.”

Sands grew up in Black Hill. Her father Stephen was involved with Hunter Valley Aviation and flew Cessnas from the group’s Cessnock base.

“Kate and her siblings all had some experience with me in the cockpit of small aircraft from an early age. I was an old pilot, but never a good one,” Stephen Sands says.

“If Kate had any natural predisposition to flying, the combination of my mediocre flying skills and the bumpy, unpredictable flying nature of Cessna 172s probably dampened her enthusiasm, and she was a reluctant, occasional passenger.

“After a number of career false starts I suggested one evening that I thought she would make a good pilot. Kate thought about the idea for a few weeks then asked me how she could further investigate whether aviation was for her.”

Stephen Sands arranged for the chief pilot at Hunter Valley Aviation, Ed Smith, to assess Kate’s suitability as a potential student pilot.

“I watched a nervous Kate and Ed walk out to the parked aircraft, perform the pre-flight, taxi and take-off, then prepared myself for her return and subsequent reaction,” he remembers.

“After they landed and shut down the aircraft, I looked across the apron and saw Kate alighting from the cockpit. I was 50 metres away and saw the huge smile on her face – I still have the photo on my phone, and on the fridge too.

“From that moment I knew she was serious.”

Sands attended Basair Aviation College in Cessnock and achieved her pilot’s licence in 2013. She also received her commercial licence, multi-engine command instrument rating and her instructor rating from the college.

“Going from a student to an instructor, working alongside other instructors who had trained me, was a great experience,” she says.

“The team at Basair were great to me. One particular instructor still, to this day, gives me advice on any sort of aviation query I call up with.”

Stephen Sands recalls the first time he was a passenger in a plane under his daughter’s control. 

“It was an old aircraft – all Cessnas are much older than Kate, and some older than me – on a windy, bumpy day, flying from Cessnock into Bankstown.

“To any private pilot, the combination of a 40-year-old aeroplane, difficult weather conditions and the demands of the controlled airspace surrounding Bankstown is a real test.

“As I sat in that Cessna 152 on a windy, winter’s day watching Kate manage the complex cockpit and flying tasks unfold, I was amazed at her utter professionalism – I know that sounds like a proud dad boasting, but I wasn’t so much proud, but utterly impressed.

“She was totally in control and I was totally redundant. ‘Don’t touch anything Dad’ came the very stern voice over the headset when I offered my assistance.”

Hall first met Kate Sands at Rutherford Airport in early 2014. She was already a qualified pilot and doing the majority of her flying from Cessnock.

“She started spending a bit of time in our hangar helping out. I ended up offering Kate a full-time job with Matt Hall Racing in January as she was always helping out anyway in her own time,” Hall tells Weekender. 

“I always try to reward proactive and helpful people. She was employed in an administration role around our flight operations at Lake Macquarie Airfield, though obviously she has more to offer, so we recently purchased a twin-engined aircraft and Kate is becoming proficient on that plane now.

“She is a very organised and thorough pilot and understands the complex instruments, given her background as an instrument-rated pilot and instructor. She flies the plane with confidence however is always ready to listen and learn, which to me is the core of a successful pilot.”

Sands’ role at Matt Hall Racing is a varied one – from joy flights to company operating procedures, sales and marketing.

“One minute I might be in the office organising joy flights and the next I might be out on my lunch break being taught the finer details of the engines in our aircraft by our team technician. Every day is different and exciting,” she says.

“Working with Matt and the team is an absolute dream for me. I am still quite new to the aviation industry and have so much to learn, but having the opportunity to work side by side with one of the world’s best pilots and a team that competes on an international platform is something I am so proud and honoured to be a part of.

“Matt is always willing to take time out from his busy schedule to train and guide me in all areas of my job. It’s amazing how much I have learned from merely watching him fly or prepare for an event.” 

Sands is working towards achieving her aerobatic rating and float plane endorsement and was thrilled when Mélanie Astles became the first female to compete in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship.   

So was her father.

“The aviation training industry has demonstrated strong support for women. Kate entered a ‘family’ at Hunter Valley Aviation. Her fellow instructors really accepted her for her displayed skills, not her gender. That’s not the normal view people have of aviation, believing it to be male dominated and chauvinistic,” Stephen Sands explained.

“Since being offered the opportunity to work for Matt and Pedita Hall at Matt Hall Racing, Kate has found that same professional acceptance and feeling of being ‘family’.

“Having an aviation legend like Matt Hall as her employer, mentor and friend has taken Kate’s enthusiasm for aviation literally to new heights.”

Her childhood fear of flying is long gone. Her confidence as a pilot, and her knowledge of how to respond to just about any problematic situation she might find herself in at several thousand feet.

“After instructing for a year, there have definitely been moments where I’ve been happy to have two feet back on the ground,” Sands says.

“But nothing that has really frightened me as such. I was told if you ever get yourself into a situation where you are frightened or in danger, then you haven’t done all the required planning or preparation that is essential before a flight – meaning you shouldn’t have got airborne to begin with.”

Sands says she loves the “sense of complete calm you get once airborne”.

“It’s actually quiet peaceful in what can be such a busy and sometimes stressful environment. I am very fortunate to be able to come into work and see our customers leave with a smile from ear to ear.

“We are so lucky to be located on one of the most unique and beautiful areas on the east coast of Australia. Being able to share that with people through our joy flights is something really special we offer.

“And seeing it upside-down in one of the most manoeuvrable aircraft you can put two people in is pretty spectacular,” she laughs.