Nancy Ellis
{{Short description|Pilot and flying instructor (1915–1982)}}
{{about||the American environmentalist and political campaigner|Nancy Walker Bush Ellis}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox person/Wikidata
| fetchwikidata = ALL
}}
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.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article57123695 |title=AUSTRALIA'S WOMAN PILOT |newspaper=Morning Bulletin |issue=28,811 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=19 October 1951 |accessdate=19 January 2018 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}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.{{cite journal|last1=Holmes|first1=Natalie|title=A pioneering path|journal=Dubbo Photo News|date=4 October 2014|url=https://www.dubbophotonews.com.au/news/general-news/people/item/3521-a-pioneering-path|accessdate=19 January 2018}}{{cite web|title=Nancy Lorna Leebold|url=http://pioneerwomen.com.au/collection/herstory-archive/leebold|website=Pioneer Women|accessdate=19 January 2018}}
Life
Ellis was born in Adelaide. Her mother was Emilene May, née Webber and her father, John Eric Ellis, ran a garage in Vaucluse where Nancy became a skilled motor mechanic. After graduating from Cleveland Street High School, Ellis's father gave her control of his second garage at Narrabeen.
Following the outbreak of World War II, Ellis studied to be draftsman and began working at De Havilland. During this time she took a correspondence course in aeronautical engineering and commenced her training as a pilot.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article235987611 |title=NANCY LORNA ELLIS |newspaper=Smith's Weekly |volume=XXXII |issue=19 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=8 July 1950 |accessdate=19 January 2018 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}
During World War II, she was the first female technical officer to be admitted to the Department of Aircraft Production.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article235987611 |title=NANCY LORNA ELLIS |newspaper=Smith's Weekly |volume=XXXII |issue=19 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=8 July 1950 |accessdate=19 January 2018 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}
In 1953, she was the only Australian member of the Ninety-Nines and the winner of their Silver Jubilee Scholarship in the United States of America in 1954.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132602664 |title=Miss Nancy Ellis Is Member Of World Wide Group |newspaper=The Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate |volume=41 |issue=631 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=6 February 1953 |accessdate=19 January 2018 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132585397 |title=Nancy Ellis To Fly From U.S. To Aust. |newspaper=The Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate |volume=43 |issue=89 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=17 June 1954 |accessdate=19 January 2018 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132589430 |title=U.S. Award For Former Dubbo Pilot |newspaper=The Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate |volume=43 |issue=109 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=22 July 1954 |accessdate=19 January 2018 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite journal|last1=Hobson|first1=Cathy|title=AEMSF Down Under|journal=99 News|date=April–June 2011|page=8|url=https://www.ninety-nines.org/userfiles/file/newsletter/2011040506.pdf|accessdate=19 January 2018}}File:Australian_Women_Pilots'_Association_member_Nancy_Leebold_(nee_Ellis)_in_flying_suit_holding_onto_an_aeroplane's_propeller,_May_1954_(16102215278).jpg
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Nancy}}
Category:Women aviation pioneers
Category:20th-century Australian women
Category:Australian flight instructors
Category:Australian women commercial aviators