Nancy Bird-Walton

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Nancy Bird in London (1939)

Nancy Bird-Walton , also written Nancy-Bird Walton , AO , OBE , OSJ (born October 16, 1915 in Kew , New South Wales , Australia , † January 13, 2009 in Mosman , a suburb of Sydney , New South Wales) was an Australian aviation pioneer . At the age of 19, she became the youngest Australian to receive a pilot's license . She later founded an airborne medical service in the outback in New South Wales, for which she was referred to as “The Angel of the Outback” ( German  “the angel of the outback” ). In 1950 she founded the Australian Women Pilots' Association .

Early life

Nancy was one of six children born to William and Fanny Bird. The family moved from Kew to Sydney when she was very young. She attended Collaroy School until the age of 13. Then she had to leave school during the Great Depression and assist her father, who worked in a merchandise store in Mount George near Taree .

At the age of 24 she married Charles Walton, a Briton, with whom she had a daughter and a son. After they got married, she wrote herself Nancy-Bird Walton .

Life as a pilot

In 1933, at the age of 18, Nancy Bird-Walton took flying lessons from Sir Charles Kingsford Smith . This Australian aviation pioneer made the first flight across the Pacific from the USA to Australia in 1928 .

After they had passed the test on August 11, 1933 she bought with the financial support of their parents a single-engine biplane of the type De Havilland Gipsy Moth . With this aircraft, the woman, who is around 150 centimeters tall, first went on sightseeing flights with a pilot friend. After completing 200 solo flights , she received a professional pilot's license . On her air travel through Australia she was motivated to set up an airborne medical service in the outback of New South Wales. In 1935 she began working as a pilot in the Royal Far West Children's Health Scheme with her own Havilland plane. She transported patients, mothers and babies, as well as nursing staff. This made her the first female pilot in Australia to operate commercial flights.

In 1936, Nancy Bird-Walton took part in a flight race from Adelaide to Brisbane and won the advertised award for female pilots. In 1938 she worked for the Dutch airline KLM . She stayed in Europe until the beginning of World War II . In 1950 she founded the Australian Women Pilots' Association (AWPA), which she chaired until 1990. In other sources her presidency is given as five years. From 1958 she flew airplanes again. She took part three times in a US aviation competition for female pilots called the Powder Puff Derby . At her first start she finished fifth out of 61 participants.

Honors

During her lifetime, Nancy Bird-Walton was honored with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1966 , the Order of Australia in 1990 and the Dame of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem . The National Trust of Australia declared her a historically significant Australian figure in 1997.

The first Airbus A380 acquired by the Australian airline Qantas was named after her.

publication

  • In 1990, Nancy Bird-Walton wrote an autobiographical book: My God! It's a woman: The inspiring story of one woman's courage and determination to fly . Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0-7322-7370-6

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bonnie Malkin: Australian aviation pioneer Nancy-Bird Walton dies, aged 93 , on telegraph.co.uk (English). Retrieved January 4, 2015
  2. ↑ "Angels of the Outback". Australian aviation pioneer Nancy Bird Walton has died. In 1950 she founded the “Australian Women Pilots' Association” on January 13, 2009. on focus.de. Retrieved January 2, 2015
  3. ↑ Malcolm Brown, Harriet Veitch: Walton, Nancy-Bird (1915–2009) on oa.anu.edu.au (English). Retrieved January 2, 2014
  4. ↑ a b c Nancy-Bird Walton , on telegraph.co.uk (English). Retrieved January 2, 2015
  5. ↑ a b Nancy-Bird Walton, 1915–2009 , on smh.com.au (English). Retrieved January 2, 2014
  6. ↑ Jordan Chong: Qantas welcomes back A380 after repairs , on news.smh.com.au (English), April 21, 2012. Accessed January 2, 2014

Web links

Commons : Nancy Bird-Walton  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Bird-Walton, Nancy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Walton, Nancy-Bird
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian aviation pioneer
DATE OF BIRTH October 16, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Kew , New South Wales , Australia
DATE OF DEATH January 13, 2009
Place of death Mosman , a suburb of Sydney , New South Wales