Nancy Bird-Walton (Aviator)

posted by Scott Andrew Bird

Nancy is one of Australia's aviation pioneers, and the first female pilot in the Commonwealth to carry passengers.

Born in Sydney in 1915, Nancy left school early to work in her father's general store in the country.

Nancy was 13 when she flew for the first time while at an air pageant. She paid the pilot a bit extra to do some aerobatics! Five years later that passion drove Nancy to take flying lessons, and not with any old instructor.

Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, the first man to fly across the mid-Pacific, had just opened a pilots' school near Sydney, and Nancy was among his first pupils. She was so tiny she needed cushions to reach the controls!

When she obtained her commercial license, her family bought Nancy her first plane, a De Havilland Gipsy Moth.

Nancy and friend Peggy soon took off on a barnstorming tour, dropping in on country fairs and giving joy rides. It was the first time some people had seen a plane, let alone a female pilot!

While touring, Nancy met Reverend Stanley Drummond. He wanted her to help set up a flying medical service in outback New South Wales.

Nancy bought a better-equipped plane, and began covering territory not yet reached by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Commercial aviation was still in its infancy when 31 aircraft competed in the 1936 air race. In 1936 Nancy entered an air race from Adelaide to Brisbane, and won the Ladies Trophy.

After working in the outback for more than four years, Nancy knew she needed a break from flying. When a Dutch airline company invited her to do some promotional work in Europe, she accepted.

World War Two broke out soon after Nancy's return to Australia. She began training women in skills needed to back-up the men flying in the Australian Airforce.

In 1950, Nancy founded the 'Australian Women Pilots' Association'. Eight years later Nancy decided she wanted to fly again, after a 20 year absence.

Her entry in a famous all-women race in America, called the Powder Puff Derby, made headlines. It was the first time a woman from overseas had competed.

Throughout her life Nancy has supported charities, and people in need. This generous spirit earned her the Order of the British Empire in 1966.