Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Thursday 2 October 1947, page 12


[Aero Club's "Coming Of Age" Party]

Few Women Fliers Trained

During 21 Years

-.

An aerial display at Banks-town on October 11 will com-memorate the "coming of age" of the Royal Aero Club of New South Wales-the conclusion of 21 years of flying during which time 658 men, but only 31 women, have obtained their lic-ences as pilots.

After winning their primary "A"

licences, five of these few women went on to receive their commercial licences. They were Misses Phyllis Arnott, Nancy Bird, Peggy Mc-Killop, Gwen Stark and Nancy Ellis.

The first woman in Australia to receive her licence-in 1926-was a member of the Club. She was Miss Evelyn Follett who was so small that she was obliged to sit on a cushion while flying one of

the Club's two Cirrus moths. Miss Follett served with the W.A.A.A.F. during the war and became well known to hundreds of Waaafs who met her in her position as wel-fare officer for the service at the R.T.O. at Central Station.

AIDED BY CUSHIONS.

Only Miss Nancy Edwards was a smaller pilot than Miss Follett-she never went up without 3 or 4 cush-ions to sit upon.

The unprecedented happened

when Miss Phyllis Arnott took out her commercial licence, but she has not carried on her flying. She is at present a secretary with a city news-

paper.

Perhaps Australia's best-known airwoman was Nancy Bird, now Mrs Charles Walton, of Pymble, and the

mother of two children. In 1933

at the age of 17 years, she obtained

her "A" and advanced "A" licences and two years later, at the age limit of 19 years, she received her com-mercial licence.

The First Ladies' Flying Tour was arranged in 1935 by Mrs. Walton and Miss Peggy Mckillop, who is now Mrs. Colin Kelman, of Moree. These two flew approximately 22,000 miles around Australia.

While winning the Ladies' Trophy

in the Brisbane to Adelaide Air Race in 1936. Mrs. Walton recorded the greatest speed of all 31 starters on the route from Melbourne to Ade-laide.

At the end of 1944, Mrs. Walton retired from her position as Aus-tralian commandant of the Women's Air Training Corps.

Miss Gwen Stark, another holder of a commercial licence is at pres-ent in England on a vacation from her farm at Bowral. At the end of the war she retired from the W.A.A.A.F. as a wing-officer and staff officer at No. 2 Training Group Headquarters.

A more recently trained pilot is Miss Nancy Ellis, one of six active women members of the Aero Club.

But the first women to be asso-ciated with the Aero Club were not airwomen-they were the wives of the airmen who every week-end, in one corner of the hangar, pre-pared afternoon tea for the fliers.

They included Mesdames H. D. Arnott, Geoffrey Hughes, Garnet Malley, S. L. Tyler, G. N. Mills. Bunny Hammond, George Hartman, Hal Lockley, Milton Kent, and Miss Vidal, sister of Mrs. Hughes.

MRS. S. C. BAKER, MISSES J. RICHARDSON and J.

HALLORAN, three members of the social committee of the Royal Aero Club of N.S.W., who had a lunch-hour meetinq in Hyde Park to discuss arrangements for the

club's birthday party on October 11. The party, which will be held at the club house at Mascot, will follow the aerial

display at Bankstown.