Nancy Bird Walton was born in Sydney in 1915. She wanted to fly from an early age, and was known for climbing onto fences and declaring herself to be an "eppy plane". She flew for the first time at an air show, at the age of 13. She paid the pilot extra to perform aerobatics.
At the age of 18 she was learning to fly, under the tuition of Charles Kingsford-Smith. Nancy was among the first of his pupils at his Sydney flying school. She only needed cushions to reach the rudder pedals.
Nancy had no intention of flying just for sport, which was a common motivation among women pilots at the time. It was to earn a living and flying became her chosen career. She became the first woman pilot in the Commonwealth to get a commercial certification to carry passengers. Her family bought her first aircraft, a De Havilland Gipsy Moth. Nancy and a friend, Peggy, set off on a tour giving joy rides at country shows where many people had never seen an aircraft, let alone a woman pilot.
On tour, she met Rev. Stanley Drummond, who persuaded her to join a flying medical service in outback Australia. With a better equipped aircraft she worked for the Flying Doctor Service in remote parts of New South Wales.
In 1936 Nancy won the Ladies' Trophy in the Adelaide-Brisbane Air Race. After four years in the outback, she took a break, accepting an offer from a Dutch airline to do promotional work. She returned to Australia just before World War II began and undertook training to back up the men flying in the RAAF.
In 1950 Nancy founded the AWPA (Australian Women Pilots Association). The AWPA celebrated its 50th anniversary in October 2000 with a dinner at a restaurant near Adelaide, SA, attended by Nancy herself and sixty or so pilots in powered flight, gliding, ballooning - with hardly a man present. In 1966 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire.
At the age of 18 she was learning to fly, under the tuition of Charles Kingsford-Smith. Nancy was among the first of his pupils at his Sydney flying school. She only needed cushions to reach the rudder pedals.
Nancy had no intention of flying just for sport, which was a common motivation among women pilots at the time. It was to earn a living and flying became her chosen career. She became the first woman pilot in the Commonwealth to get a commercial certification to carry passengers. Her family bought her first aircraft, a De Havilland Gipsy Moth. Nancy and a friend, Peggy, set off on a tour giving joy rides at country shows where many people had never seen an aircraft, let alone a woman pilot.
On tour, she met Rev. Stanley Drummond, who persuaded her to join a flying medical service in outback Australia. With a better equipped aircraft she worked for the Flying Doctor Service in remote parts of New South Wales.
In 1936 Nancy won the Ladies' Trophy in the Adelaide-Brisbane Air Race. After four years in the outback, she took a break, accepting an offer from a Dutch airline to do promotional work. She returned to Australia just before World War II began and undertook training to back up the men flying in the RAAF.
In 1950 Nancy founded the AWPA (Australian Women Pilots Association). The AWPA celebrated its 50th anniversary in October 2000 with a dinner at a restaurant near Adelaide, SA, attended by Nancy herself and sixty or so pilots in powered flight, gliding, ballooning - with hardly a man present. In 1966 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire.
Source: http://www.australiansatwork.com.au/bird/bird_en7-8.php
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