Country's First Female Commercial Pilot Was 93

Aero-News was saddened to hear Tuesday of the loss of a true aviation legend, one who paved the way into the sky for innumerable Australian women.

Nancy Bird Walton was the first woman in Australia to operate a commercial aircraft. She learned to fly in 1933 at the age of 17, becoming the youngest Australian woman to earn a pilot license. She was taught by Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith -- the first man to fly across the mid-Pacific.

The Associated Press notes that by the age of 19, Watson had earned her commercial pilot's license. At first she used the license to take paying passengers on sightseeing flights over her native land, in a Gipsy Moth biplane... but that was just the beginning.

Shortly after beginning her flightseeing business, Walton started up an air ambulance service to serve communities in the Outback region of New South Wales. That operation -- the Far West Children's Health Scheme -- served areas not covered by Australia's Royal Flying Doctor Service. Walton's work with the air ambulance earned her the nickname "Angel of the Outback."

In 1950, Walton founded the Australian Women Pilots' Association, mentoring female pilots who wished to follow in her footsteps.

She was named a Living National Treasure by the National Trust of Australia in 1997; in 2003, Women in Aviation International selected Walton as one of the '100 Most-Influential Women in Aviation' throughout the world.

Walton died at her Sydney home Tuesday, at the age of 93... but her name and legacy will survive for years to come. In addition to the continued work of the AWPA, the first Airbus A380 operated by Qantas bears her name.

"I was asked if Qantas could name this plane after me at my 90th birthday three years ago and I made it my decision to stay alive," Walton said during the September 2008 delivery ceremony.

Walton will also live on through her two children, four four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. One of them gave a fitting postscript to Walton's life Tuesday.

"I most remember her as my grandmother, who was a part of my everyday life and who was exceptionally inspirational to women all over Australia," recounted Walton's granddaughter, Anna Holman. "But most of all, she made great chocolate cakes with peppermint icing."

FMI: www.awpa.org.au/