Nancy Bird Walton AO OBE (1915-2009)
January 14, 2009 at 7:37 pm | Posted in writing | 11 CommentsTags: aviators, childhood heros, class, Nancy Bird Walton
Nancy-Bird as she liked to be known was a childhood hero of mine. Imagine the joy of a ten year old discovering a famous aviator whose name was Bird. She was the first woman in Australia to gain a commercial pilot’s licence (in 1934 at the age of nineteen). She pioneered a rural air ambulance service which in the 1930’s involved landing a tiger moth airplane in open fields. The list of her achievements is long and wondrous. She was named a National Living Treasure in 1997 and last year Qantas named their first Airbus A380 super jumbo ‘Nancy-Bird Walton’ as a tribute to her amazingness.
She was five feet zero inches tall and she passed away yesterday at the age of 93, coincidentally the same day I posted my piece doing away with the word ‘gravity’. The other thing that has stayed in my mind all these years about Nancy Bird Walton is that she was the first person I can remember discussing feminism. Before I heard her talking about the irrelevance of gender the issue had never appeared in my mind. So I will always be grateful that the first voice I heard discussing it was her sane and wonderful one.
Here’s to you Nancy Bird-Walton, defier of gravity. Thankyou.
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gingatao 
heartfelt condolences paul on the passing of a woman of historic conviction and thankyou for introducing her, bless her new journey
to the highest wonders amen
Comment by tipota— January 15, 2009 #
she certainly lived a long full influential life
very thoughtful touching tribute
there are no coincidences
Comment by art predator— January 15, 2009 #
Yes, thank you for the introduction and the tribute.
It is fitting that “gravity” is revived in her honor.
The photographs are as beautiful as your words.
Comment by PoeticGrin— January 15, 2009 #
Short women rock and she sure was one of the greatest we’ve produced.
Comment by Simonne— January 15, 2009 #
What an inspirational woman. May she soar to the very heavens themselves.
Comment by Selma— January 15, 2009 #
There was a British one too but I can’t remember her name. I remember I bought the stamps that they’d printed her on and stuck them all on an envelope and sent them to myself. Amy someone? Your memory is a lot better than mine. It’s lovely when people are recognised in such a way as this Paul.
Comment by Narnie— January 16, 2009 #
‘the engine is the heart of the aeroplane, but the pilot is its soul’.no person embodied this saying more than nancy. A wonderful character who has made some incredible achievements, i reccommend ‘flying sheilas’ documentary, recently released and a fitting tribute to nancy with her very last interviews, She will be missed!
Comment by Jane— January 22, 2009 #
Thank you for this. I never heard of her because the US is so egocentric we only focus on our own heroes.
Comment by The Querulous Squirrel— January 22, 2009 #
they just posted her obit in the LA Times—yours is so much better…i wish they’d published yours too
Comment by art predator— January 22, 2009 #
I just saw another tribute to her. What a wonderful story. A new documentary out that i saw on flyingsheilas.com. A tale about a number of Australian lady pilots showing what they saw when they went to work. This grand lady was the first of the 8 or so Flying Sheilas. inspirational
Comment by Eileen— January 22, 2009 #
[…] You can read the piece of prose this became here. Nancy Bird Walton AO OBE (1915-2009). […]
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