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Australian Women Pilots' Association (1950 - )

From
16 September 1950
Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia
Occupations
Membership organisation
Website
http://www.awpa.org.au

Summary

The inaugural meeting of the Australian Women Pilots' Association (AWPA), was held at the Royal Aero Club of New South Wales at Bankstown on 16 September 1950. Thirty-five women became charter members. Nancy Bird Walton, the catalyst for the formation of the Assocation was elected founding president, with Maie Casey wife of the Governor-General at the time, R. G. Casey, its patron. The aims of the Association include encouraging women to gain flying licenses of all types, maintaining pilot networks in state and local areas where women in aviation can meet and exchange information, promoting training, employment and careers in aviation and assisting in the future of aviation through public interest, safety and education. Full membership is open to any female pilot who holds or has held a pilot's licence.

Details

The precursor to the formation of the Australian Women Pilots' Association was the meeting of women pilots which Nancy Bird Walton had called in 1949 to discuss their work during World War II. As a result of this discussion the women pilots developed an interest in each other, which in turn led to the formation of the Association the following year. Maie Casey's patronage assisted the Association in its attempts to gain widespread recognition and respect. In the view of Nancy Bird Walton the AWPA initiated the return of many old hands into flying as they wanted to regain their licences after many years on the ground.

The AWPA operates with a national executive and state branches. Association members meet annually for a four day conference and annual general meeting, which is held in a different state each year.
Nancy Bird Walton became patron after Maie Casey's death in 1981.

Sources used to compile this entry: Walton, Nancy Bird, My God! its a woman : the autobiography of Nancy Bird, Angus & Robertson, North Ryde, N.S.W., 1990, 216 pp.

Archival resources

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

  • Australian Women Pilots' Association records, [ca.1934]-1970, 1934? - 1970, MS 1985; Australian Women Pilots' Association (1950 - ); National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Kentley, Margaret, Sometimes the pilot wears a skirt 1920-1970 [manuscript], 1920 - 1970, MS 6938; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Papers of Walton, Nancy Bird, 1915-, 1933? - 1972, MS 3862; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Papers of Blackburn, Helen, Lady, 1918-, 1944 - 1990, MS 9146; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

  • Australian Women Pilots' Association, Australian women pilots., The Association, [Sydney?], 1995, 61 pp. Details

Booklets

  • Australian Women Pilots' Association, Australian Women Pilots' Association twenty-one years of history from 16th September, 1950 / researched and compiled by Marie Richardson., Express Printing, Sydney, 1971, [8] pp. Details
  • Australian Women Pilots' Association, Careers for pilots., [Sydney?], 1996?. Details

Journals

  • Membership list / Australian Women Pilots' Association, The Association, Springvale, Vic.?, 1967?. Details
  • Airnews / Australian Women Pilots' Association, no. 75, The Association, [Roleystone, W.A., 1969. Details
  • Minutes of the… Annual General Meeting of the Australian Women Pilots' Association, The Association, [Perth, W.A.], 1975. Details
  • Federal treasurer's report / Australian Women Pilots' Association, The Association, Queensland, 1975/76. Details

Newsletters

  • Newsletter Australian Women Pilots' Association, The Association, Mt Lofty, S.Aust., -1969. Details

Online Resources

See also

  • Walton, Nancy Bird, My God! its a woman : the autobiography of Nancy Bird, Angus & Robertson, North Ryde, N.S.W., 1990, 216 pp. Details

Rosemary Francis

Created: 1 October 2004, Last modified: 29 April 2009

Comments

Am doing some research on a lady named Mrs Margaret Enid Grace Davis (nee Reardon). we believe she was the 2nd lady to gain her pilots licence after Nancy Bird-Walton . Also Margaret Davis won an air race. The research is being done for the Garden Clubs of Australia which Mrs Davis was also the founder of this organisation.

Margaret Watts - 25 November 2011, 3:57 PM EST

Margaret, Please contact the organisation itself,. This website is merely a register of information about women and their organisations.

AWAP Administrator - 15 December 2011, 12:16 PM EST

Thank you for your reply- sorry so long for e to reply-will contact organisation

Margaret Watts

Margaret Watts - 10 January 2012, 3:43 PM EST

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