[3][6] After World War I, and with the historic flights of Charles Kingsford Smith and Bert Hinkler, however, the Australian's public appetite for flying and air races was whetted.
Pilots such as Amelia Earhart and Amy Johnson, inspired Australian women to want to take to the air.
On 28 March 1927, widow Millicent Bryant from Vaucluse, Sydney became the first Australian woman to gain a pilot's 'A' or private licence.
[8] Jessie was born in the remote mining town of Southern Cross Western Australia and went on to become a pilot of international standing.
[10] On 19 March 1928 she, together with Bill Lancaster, completed a flight from London to Darwin and with Jessie becoming the first woman to fly across the equator.
[13] She was the second Australian woman to take a commercial pilot's licence after receiving training from the Aero Club of New South Wales, and qualified to fly seaplanes.
Margaret Skelton, the daughter of a grazier of Inverell, New South Wales,[16] was one of the six women pilots to escort Amy Johnson as she flew into Sydney, on her history making flight in 1930.
[17] After taking her licence in 1929, Skelton struggled to fulfil her ambition of flying to England during the years of the Great Depression, as she did not own a plane.
Following the war Thompson bought a de Havilland Hornet Moth, and named it Christopher Robin II.
Lores Bonney as she was known, although born in South Africa, was the first Australian woman to fly solo in a DeHavilland-60G Moth from Australia to England in 1933.
[26] After Harry Bonney discovered Lores' intention to gain a licence, he bought her a plane in 1931, which she named "My Little Ship".
Because of her husband's wealth and his ability to purchase a plane for her, the male oriented flying establishment who had had no wealthy patrons to assist them, were cynical about her achievements.
[26] Her solo flight from Australia to England was also overlooked due to the more public success of Amy Johnson.
Nancy Bird born in Kew, New South Wales, began taking flying lessons from the age of 18, in 1933, financing these by working in her father's shop.
She trained at the newly formed air school set up by Charles Kingsford Smith in Sydney, and took her commercial pilot's 'B' licence in 1934, the youngest woman to do so.
She bought her first aircraft, a de Havilland Gipsy Moth with money borrowed from her father, and a legacy from a relative.
She was also recruited to set up an air ambulance service in 1935 – the Royal Far West Children's Health Scheme, using her own plane, and later a much more spacious aircraft to transport patients.
Bird entered the Adelaide Centenary Air Race in 1936 along with fellow female pilots, Lores Bonney, May Bradford, Ivy Pearce and Freda Thompson and won the Ladies' Trophy.
She returned to Australia at the beginning of World War II and began training women in skills needed to assist servicemen flying in the Royal Australian Air Force.
Peggy McKillop, born in Scotland to Irish and Australian parents, began flying training in 1931 at the Aero Club of New South Wales.
She was First Officer of a Lockheed Lodestar for Air Cargo Pty Ltd.[44][45] She also became one of the 35 charter members of the Australian Women Pilots' Association begun in 1950.
After receiving an Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarship in 1954,[46] Ellis studied in the U.S. and England, where she met fellow pilot, Arthur Leebold and they married in 1955.
[43][47] The Australian Women Pilots' Association gave her the Evelyn Follett award for the year's most worthy flying performance, after this flight of over 12,000 km.
She ran her own business, Avmar Pty Ltd, which imported aircraft and marine accessories and offered chartered flights.
[50] Adastra also offered a flight school in Bega, New South Wales, and would conduct aerial survey services for geophysical study.
[51] Follett was one of the five female pilots[52] who flew in formation with Amy Johnson when she made her landmark arrival into Sydney during her England-Australia flight in 1930.
And with her flying licences she became the highest qualified female in aviation in Australia and the British Commonwealth[55][56] Financial constraints stopped a planned trip to England.
She completed the Adelaide Centenary Air Race of 1936[35][57] along with female pilots, Nancy Bird, Lores Bonney, Freda Thompson and Ivy Pearce.