to be awarded a commercial pilot's licence. Now 74, she still holds her licence and last flew in July this year. But Nancy, who became Bird-Walton after her marriage to Charles Walton, no longer flies solo. Life has never slowed down for the aviator who is constantly in demand as a public speaker. She is waiting to find out when her autobiography - My God | It's a Woman -will be published. Nancy describes it as "anecdotal with a sprinkling of aviation history". As she points out, it is a history she has lived - her first flying lesson was from Charles Kingsford Smith. Born in Kew, northern NSW, in 1915, Nancy's ambition to be a pilot was inspired by Bert Hinkler's epic solo flight from London to Darwin in 1928. Four years later she had gained her A licence and two years later - after more than 200 hours of flying solo - she gained her commercial licence. Her family chipped in to help her buy a battered Gypsy Moth, which launched her on a barnstorming career round the country with Peggy McKillop, as Big Bird and Little Bird. The two girls captured the hearts and the imaginations of Australia as they flew from country show to country show. In 1935 Nancy was approached by the Far West Children's Health Scheme in NSW and started a flying ambulance service, flying nursing sisters to Bourke and outback sheep and cattle stations. It was property owner Charles Russell who uttered the