Early Australian female aviators were generally active since 1927 when it became possible for an Australian woman to hold a pilot's licence and fly within Australia. Women had participated in gliding, or taken a licence overseas, but they had not been permitted to fly a plane under licence within Australia. The first Aero Club in Australia was established in 1915.
Florence Taylor was the first Australian woman to fly a plane, a glider built by her husband, George Augustine Taylor, in 1909. Emma Schultz also went up in Florence Taylor's glider.
Hilda Hope McMaugh, was a nurse who served with the Australian Army Nursing Service during World War I. She took a pilot's licence in England in 1919, and her achievement was recorded on film, but McMaugh was not allowed to use her licence within Australia.
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.
Millicent Bryant (1878–1927) On 28 March 1927, widow Millicent Bryant from Vaucluse, Sydney became the first Australian woman to gain a pilot's 'A' or private licence. She died seven months later in a Sydney ferry accident. Her funeral, at Manly in Sydney, included a flypast by five aircraft.
Jessie "Chubbie" Keith Miller (1902-1972) Jessie was born in the remote mining town of Southern Cross Western Australia and went on to become a pilot of international standing. Her flying exploits places her amongst the greatest of the early pioneers of aviation. 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. She went on to participate in international air races and broke the speed record for crossing the US in both directions.
Florence "Bobby" Mary Terry (1898–1976) Bobby Terry as she was known, the wife of John Edgar Terry, grazier of Gunnedah, New South Wales, was the first Australian woman to own her own airplane in 1929. She was the second Australian woman to take a commercial pilot's licence, and qualified to fly seaplanes. She was a member of the group who flew with Amy Johnson into Sydney in 1930. She was a member of the Ninety-Nines. She later married Monte Fowler.
Margaret "Meg" Skelton (1903–unknown) Margaret Skelton, the daughter of a grazier of Inverell, New South Wales, was one of the six women pilots to escort Amy Johnson as she flew into Sydney, on her history making flight in 1930. 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. She was no longer flying by 1953.
Phyllis Arnott (1907–2002) Phyllis Rogers Arnott from Sydney, Australia, a member of the Arnott's biscuit manufacturing family, was the first Australian woman to take a commercial pilot's licence 'B' in 1931. Her two brothers had a plane, and she wanted to keep up with them. She continued to fly, but did not make a living from it. By 1940 she had moved on to studying engines and she eventually moved away from flying. QANTAS named an A380 aircraft after her.
Freda Thompson OBE (1909–1980) Freda Thompson born in Yarra, Victoria took her first flying lesson in 1930 at Essendon. From a wealthy family, Thompson would swap music lessons for flight lessons receiving a private 'A' pilot's licence in 1929. In 1932 she gained a commercial 'B' pilot's licence and became only the fifth woman in Australia to do so. She won the Adelaide Aerial Derby in 1932. In 1933 Thompson was the first woman in the British Empire to obtain an Instructors Licence, although she never worked as an instructor.
In 1934, Thompson sailed for England to pick up her new De Havilland Moth Major plane. She planned to participate in the England to Australia Air Race but was unable to complete the necessary preparations in time. Her new plane was specially fitted with long range fuel tanks for the journey to Australia. When she arrived in Australia, she was acclaimed as the first Australian woman to fly from England to Australia. Thompson's sister, Clare Embling would also learn to fly, taking her licence in 1936.
At the start of World War II, Thompson sold her plane, named Christopher Robin. She was commandant of the Woman's Air Training Corps in Victoria from 1940–1942. Despite applying to join the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force, their lack of interest prompted her to enlist in the Australian Women's Army Service in 1942. She instead served as an ambulance driver.