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251:. Bird wanted to fly almost as soon as she could walk. As a teenager during the Depression in Australia, Nancy Bird found herself in the same position as many other children of the time, leaving school at 13 to assist her family. In 1933, at the age of 18, her passion drove her to take flying lessons.
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was named in her honour. Her name on the A380 was originally written "Nancy Bird Walton", but Qantas respected her preference for the hyphenation that her late husband used ("Nancy-Bird"), and the hyphen was added before the aircraft's naming, shortly after she was aboard the ceremonial flight above
255:, who was the first man to fly across the mid-Pacific, had just opened a pilots' school near Sydney, and she was among his first pupils. Most women who learned to fly did so for recreation, but Bird planned to fly for a living, which had never been achieved by a woman before.
328:(AWPA), where she remained president for five years. In 1958, she decided to return to flying after a hiatus of over twenty years. Nancy-Bird Walton became Patron of the AWPA in 1983, following the death of
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The Nancy-Bird Walton
Memorial trophy, sponsored by the family, is presented by the Australian Women Pilots' Association for the "most noteworthy contribution to aviation by a woman of Australasia".
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She was 24 when she married an
Englishman, Charles Walton, and had two children. He preferred to call her "Nancy-Bird" rather than "Nancy", and she became generally known as "
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360:(AO) in 1990. She was the inspiration for generations of female pilots. She was never involved in an accident, despite the risks of early aviation.
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Throughout her life, Walton was notable for her support of charities and people in need. As a result, she was invested as an
Officer of the
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In the 1930s, she became a fully qualified pilot at the age of 19 to become the youngest
Australian woman to gain a pilot's license.
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290:. Bird's own Gipsy Moth was used as an air ambulance. She bought a better-equipped aircraft and began covering territory, including
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313:) invited her to do some promotional work in Europe, where she stayed for a couple of years. She returned to Australia soon after
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tour, dropping in on country fairs and giving joyrides to people who had never seen an aircraft before, let alone a female pilot.
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On 10 September 2008, shortly before her death, Walton conducted a 45-minute interview for the one-hour documentary.
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While touring, Bird met
Reverend Stanley Drummond. He wanted her to help set up a flying medical service in outback
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200 from a great aunt, plus money loaned from her father (which she paid back), Bird bought her first aircraft, a
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in 2010; coincidentally, Walton wrote the first officer's reference when he first joined Qantas as a pilot.
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Monash
University, 2004, Hargrave : the Pioneers, Celebrating the bicentennial of aviation 1804–2004
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My God! It's a woman: The inspiring story of one woman's courage and determination to fly
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which provided an insight into her life along with seven other
Australian female pilots.
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When she was awarded a commercial pilot's license at the age of 19, through a legacy of
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broke out. She began training women in skills needed to back up the men flying in the
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689:"Western Sydney airport named after Australian aviation icon Nancy-Bird Walton"
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Video showing Qantas plane "Nancy-Bird Walton" being painted for the first time
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Youngest woman pilot to gain a
Commercial Pilot's Licence in the British Empire
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One of her last main interviews was for the feature-length documentary film
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when it suffered a serious uncontained engine failure after takeoff from
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will be named
Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport.
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Nancy Bird Walton (right) with another pioneering
Australian aviator,
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220:(16 October 1915 – 13 January 2009) was a pioneering Australian
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On 13 January 2009, Nancy Bird Walton died at the age of 93.
589:"AWPA Scholarships & Awards - Egilibility Requirements"
286:. In 1935, she was hired to operate the service, named the
567:. Vol. 17. Melbourne University Press. p. 195.
298:. She told others that it was rewarding but lonely work.
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Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire
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332:, the original Patron. Walton purchased Lady Casey's
356:(OBE) in 1966. She was appointed an Officer of the
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469:. Sydney Morning Herald. Accessed 3 February 2009.
747:Aussie female air pioneer Nancy Bird Walton dies
374:in 1997, and in 2001 she was inducted into the
301:In 1936, Nancy Bird entered an air race from
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710:ABC, 2002, Australians, Nancy-Bird Walton
489:. London. 1 February 2009. Archived from
385:(VH-OQA) delivered to Australian airline
657:VH-OQA aircraft naming ceremonial flight
615:"Qantas receives second A380 superjumbo"
296:Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia
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741:Aviation pioneer Nancy Bird Walton dies
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288:Royal Far West Children's Health Scheme
514:"Australian Women Pilots' Association"
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466:A Little Bird who achieved big things
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593:Australian Women Pilots` Association
539:"Northern Beaches Library Services:
512:Francis, Rosemary (1 October 2004).
390:Sydney. This aircraft was operating
326:Australian Women Pilots' Association
226:Australian Women Pilots' Association
271:. Soon after, Bird and her friend,
848:Officers of the Order of Australia
565:Australian Dictionary of Biography
243:, Australia on 16 October 1915 as
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613:Platt, Craig (16 December 2008).
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757:State Library of New South Wales
853:People from the Mid North Coast
518:The Australian Women's Register
673:de Crespigny, Richard (2012).
376:Victorian Honour Roll of Women
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753:Nancy Bird Walton 1915 – 2009
27:Australian pioneering aviator
368:National Trust of Australia
354:Order of the British Empire
253:Sir Charles Kingsford Smith
144:Order of the British Empire
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372:Australian Living Treasure
319:Royal Australian Air Force
188:Nancy Bird in London, 1939
838:Australian women aviators
726:Walton, Nancy-Bird 2002
619:The Sydney Morning Herald
324:In 1950, she founded the
294:, not yet reached by the
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730:HarperCollinsPublishers
833:Women aviation pioneers
563:Diane Langmore (2007).
417:announced that the new
348:Recognition and honours
269:de Havilland Gipsy Moth
249:Brighton College, Manly
541:The Brighton Chronicle
419:Western Sydney Airport
247:, she was educated at
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755:, photo gallery from
743:Sydney Morning Herald
543:, December 1933, p 8"
336:which had been named
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241:Kew, New South Wales
86:Kew, New South Wales
828:Australian aviators
723:Angus and Robertson
483:"Nancy Bird Walton"
358:Order of Australia
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138:Order of Australia
431:Nancy-Bird Walton
205:Nancy Bird Walton
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174:27 September 1933
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18:Nancy Bird-Walton
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259:Aviation career
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157:Aviation career
149:Centenary Medal
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142:Officer of the
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99:(2009-01-13)
58:Portrait by
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823:2009 deaths
818:1915 births
749:News.com.au
721:Born to Fly
392:flight QF32
383:Airbus A380
342:Baron Casey
111:, Australia
88:, Australia
812:Categories
624:13 January
548:7 November
497:11 January
443:References
381:The first
338:Lady Casey
334:Cessna 180
330:Lady Casey
292:Queensland
245:Nancy Bird
235:Early life
198:Jean Burns
78:1915-10-16
72:Nancy Bird
790:Biography
778:Australia
396:Singapore
62:, c. 1943
802:Aviation
693:ABC News
307:Brisbane
303:Adelaide
239:Born in
764:Portals
662:YouTube
645:YouTube
222:aviator
200:(2006).
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598:16 May
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523:16 May
387:Qantas
151:(2001)
146:(1966)
140:(1990)
133:Awards
125:Spouse
105:Sydney
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213:,
732:ISBN
675:QF32
626:2009
600:2021
569:ISBN
550:2021
525:2021
499:2019
366:The
166:1933
94:Died
68:Born
660:on
643:on
433:".
340:by
311:KLM
305:to
217:OBE
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