Bird, Nancy (1915–)

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Bird, Nancy (1915–)

Australian aviator. Name variations: Nancy Bird-Walton. Born 1915 in Sydney, NSW, Australia; m. Charles Walton (Englishman), 1939; children: Anne Marie and John.

One of Australia's aviation pioneers, was the 1st female poilot in the Commonwealth to carry passengers; began flight training under Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (1933); was hired to operate an air ambulance service in outback New South Wales (1935); founded the Australian Women's Pilots Association (1950), remaining its president until 1990. Named OBE (1966).

See also autobiographies, Born to Fly and My God! It's a Woman.