Cirrus@Austlit

'Nancy Bird's training began in 1933, at the age of seventeen, in Sydney, where she was one of Charles Kingsford Smith's first pupils. Despite many obstacles -- including being too small to reach an aeroplane's controls without the aid of cushions -- Nancy was determined to fly, and in 1935, she became the youngest Australian woman to get a commercial pilot's licence.

'MY GOD! IT'S A WOMAN spans Nancy's flying experiences in the Outback, her travels in Europe and the USA, her association with famous aviators such as Jean Batten and Amy Johnson, and her flying comeback in the 1950s. In 1966, Nancy was awarded the Order of the British Empire in recognition of her support of charities, and in 1990 her significant contribution to aviation and her courageous work in the Outback was recognised with an Order of Australia. Qantas named its first A380 jet in her honour, in 2008.

'Her biography is a fascinating glimpse of a determined, courageous and glamorous aviatrix.' (Publication summary)