Nancy Ellis

For the American environmentalist and political campaigner, see Nancy Walker Bush Ellis.

Nancy Leebold in flying suit holding onto an aeroplane's propeller, May 1954

Nancy Lorna Leebold (née Ellis) (2 November 1915 – 13 July 1982) was an Australian aviator and the first female commercial pilot in Australia. She was also the first woman in Australia to co-pilot a commercial airliner carrying passengers, fly as a first officer on a commercial aircraft, secure a first class wireless operator's licence and be endorsed to fly heavy aircraft. At one stage in her career she was also the only female member of the Institute of Aeronautical Science in New York and the only female flying instructor in Australia.[1][2][3][4]

  1. ^ "AUSTRALIA'S WOMAN PILOT". Morning Bulletin. No. 28, 811. Queensland, Australia. 19 October 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 19 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ Sylvia Marchant, 'Leebold, Nancy Lorna (1915–1982)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/leebold-nancy-lorna-14148/text25159, published first in hardcopy 2012, accessed online 19 January 2018.
  3. ^ Holmes, Natalie (4 October 2014). "A pioneering path". Dubbo Photo News. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Nancy Lorna Leebold". Pioneer Women. Retrieved 19 January 2018.