The Omakau resident was one of a few Central Otago people taught how to fly by North Otago instructors following World War 2.
Mrs Sinnamon (65) got together with about 20 of her fellow trainees during a reunion in Central Otago at the weekend.
She joined George Dundass, of Ranfurly, James Armstrong, of Becks, and Barclay Hall, of Patearoa, as well as others from the district, at various flying strips throughout the area over the weekend.
A get-together at Forrys Bar and Cafe in Ranfurly on Friday night started the reunion and, on Saturday, the group visited airstrips used by members at Lauder and Patearoa.
Yesterday, about five trainees took the opportunity to fly one of the planes they learnt in, a Cessna 172, at the Alexandra airport.
Mrs Sinnamon, who was the first female taught to fly in Central Otago, was also the only female at the reunion.
She took flying lessons in the early 1960s with her father and brother (both now deceased), because the Government offered to pay half the fees for everyone willing to learn, in case another war broke out and pilots were needed.
"We learnt to fly for about $120 and now it costs about $180 an hour. It was a dirt cheap, fun thing to do.
"I would have been 18 or 19 at the time. Back then it was a bit of a radical thing to be a woman learning to fly, although there were some female trainees at Oamaru, where the North Otago Aero Club was based," she said.
During training each student would be instructed for up to eight hours before being assessed for the opportunity to fly solo.
Mrs Sinnamon said she had flown for about four hours with an instructor before tackling the challenge.
"The first time I went solo was really really scary, knowing you are up there and you've got to get the plane down again on your own. We would take off, turn left, climb to 1000ft and start coming down again to land - it was called a circuit and a bump," she said.
Mrs Sinnamon said a few of the trainees went on to be commercial pilots, but most stayed "social pilots".
"To get a licence we had to learn to fly with four others on board because the weight of the plane makes a big difference to how the plane performs. There would have been about three or four fabric planes in Central Otago at the time," she said.
