Walton, Nancy Bird (1915 - )

Nancy Bird Walton was Australia's youngest female pilot.She was awarded imperial honours for her work with the Far West Children's Health Scheme.

In 1937-1938 Walton operated a charter service in Queensland followed by a two year world tour studying civil aviation. In 1950 she founded the Australian Women's Pilots' Association. She won the Ladies Trophy in the South Australian Centenary Air Race from Brisbane to Adelaide in 1936 and came fifth in the All Women's Transcontinental Air Race, America, in 1958.

Walton was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) in 11 June 1966 for her work as pilot to the Far West Children's Health Scheme. She was also appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia on 26 January 1990 for 'service to aviation, particularly the participation of women in aviation'.

Books

• Flynn, Randal, Nancy Bird, born to fly, Macmillan, South Melbourne, 1991, 32 pp. [ Details... ]
• Hughes, Robin and Heimans, Frank, Nancy Bird [videorecording] : born 1915 : aviatrix, Film Australia, Lindfield, NSW, 1992. [ Details... ]
• Walton, Nancy Bird, My God! its a woman : the autobiography of Nancy Bird, Angus & Robertson, North Ryde, N.S.W., 1990, 216 pp. [ Details... ]

Online Resources

• Naughton, Russell, Nancy Bird-Walton (1915-), Australian Pioneer Aviatrix, Monash University, 1999, http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/nancy_bird_walton_bio.html. [ Details... ]

See also

• De Vries, Susanna, Great Australian Women Volume II: from pioneering days to the present, HarperCollinsPublishers, Pymble, NSW, 2002, 320 pp. [ Details... ]
• Lofthouse, Andrea (ed.), Who's who of Australian women, Methuen Australia, North Ryde (NSW), 1982, 504 pp. [ Details... ]