An extract to a letter to the editor I sent earlier today...
Today is a truly tragic day in Australian aviation. Nancy-Bird Walton was a hero. To a nation, a national treasure, to an aspiring pilot, a hero and to a female pilot, the ultimate role model. She deserved every part of her OBE. I remember meeting her at an early fundraising event for the Bankstown Aviation Museum, as an eager 8 year old she was a delightful and lovely woman, who gladly autographed something for me and spoke to me about aeroplanes. She was delightful! Her impact will be felt forever, as an innovator (with her development of aeromedical services), as the leader and patron of the Australian Women Pilots’ Association (which she founded), as a delightful, caring, intelligent, legitimate and beautiful woman, and most importantly as a fantastic wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and daughter.
Long live the Queen of the Skies. May you enjoy the great blue skies of Heaven. God Bless.
Vale Nancy-Bird Walton. 16/10/1915-13/1/2009.