Famed Australian aviation pioneer Nancy Bird Walton has died aged 93, just months after fulfilling her dream to see the launch of the Qantas super jumbo named in her honour. The National Living Treasure, as named by the National Trust of Australia in 1997, died from natural causes at her Mosman home on Sydney's north shore about 2pm (AEDT) on Tuesday.
Taught to fly by Charles Kingsford-Smith at age 17, Ms Walton became Australia's first commercially licensed female pilot two years later.
One of the first people to enrol in Kingsford Smith's Mascot flying school, the 150cm-tall Ms Walton needed to sit on two cushions to be able to reach the pedals and see out of the cockpit.
But despite her lack of height and disapproval from her tutor, the NSW-born woman went on to become one the country's most inspirational aviators.
"Smithy didn't quite approve of women flying," Ms Walton once said.
With support from her family, Ms Walton purchased her own Gypsy Moth aircraft and flew around NSW, promoting aviation and taking passengers into the skies. READ MORE
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