Nicola Scaife - 2 Times Women's World Champion

In this episode, Andrew talks to Nicola Scaife about competition ballooning.

Nicola is an Australian balloon pilot with a passion for competition. She lives and flies in the beautiful Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia, with her husband Matthew and their son Hugo. She works as a commercial hot air balloon pilot for Balloon Aloft, flying up to 20 people in her basket each morning.

In 2013, Nicola competed as a pilot in her first ever hot air ballooning competition. Since then she has achieved some great results and is continuing to improve. In 2014 she became the 1st Women’s World Hot Air Ballooning Champion. In 2016, she defended her title. Her goal is not only to be the best female but also to be a competitive pilot in open competitions and to challenge the men!

Website: http://www.nicolascaife.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teamscaife

Nicola’s achievements so far:

2017:
2nd- 2017 Australian National HAB Championships; Northam WA

2016:
1st- 2016 Japanese Grand Prix Series, Team Scaife, Japan
41st- 22nd FAI World HAB Championships; Saga, Japan
1st- 2nd FAI Women's World HAB Championships; Birstonas, Lithuania
2nd- Round 2, Japanese Honda Balloon Grand Prix, ; Saku, Japan

2015:
14th - Saga International Fiesta and Pre-world Championships; Saga, Japan
2nd - Australian National Hot Air Balloon Championships; Northam, WA
1st - Canowindra International Balloon Challenge; Canowindra, NSW

2014:
1st - 1st FAI Women’s World Hot Air Ballooning Championships; Leszno, Poland
5th - UK National Hot Air Ballooning Championships; Gloucestershire, UK
4th - Australian National Hot Air Ballooning Championships; Canowindra, NSW

2013:
9th - Australian National Hot Air Ballooning Championships; Canowindra, NSW