Going solo
An innate fascination for flying meant Eileen Ronalds had no intention of working behind a desk. Instead she took to the skies, paving the way for women in aviation.
WORDS KYLIE JACKES
During her career as a commercial pilot and instructor Eileen Ronalds’ passengers included snakes, chickens and pigs as well as nervous trainee pilots, government officials and stowaways. Reflecting on her diverse experiences flying in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, the 94-year-old admits she has never been able to explain exactly what prompted her to pursue a career as a pilot. “It’s something I have often asked myself,” says Eileen, who was one of Australia’s first female aviators. “I think a love of flying was just something I had within me. We’ve all got our dreams and sometimes they eventuate.”
Working as a seamstress and teacher at Melbourne’s Methodist Ladies’ College in the 1930s, Eileen says the jobs were simply a means to an end, with every penny earned spent on flying lessons or saved towards a down payment on her first plane. She was flying solo by the time she was 24, however her aspirations to become a full-time pilot were put on hold with the outbreak of World War II. Although the Women’s Australian Auxiliary Air Force had the country’s largest female participation in the global conflict, they were not permitted to be pilots. She served as an ambulance driver in the women’s army service instead.
After the war Eileen resumed training at Moorabbin airport in Melbourne and as soon as she gained her private pilot’s licence she bought an ex-RAAF Tiger Moth for $700. “My brother, Joseph, was very good to me and helped me buy it . . . and eventually I paid him back every penny,” she says. Juggling her time teaching at the college with instructing student pilots before and after school, Eileen recalls applying for a job at the Auckland Aeroclub in 1955, which fortuitously coincided with her school holidays. “I saw an advertisement in a flying magazine, which asked for a man with air force experience. I wasn’t a man and I didn’t have that experience, but I could fly and I got the job,” she says.
By the 1960s Eileen had fulfilled her dream of becoming a full-time pilot, landing a job in PNG for Territory Airlines flying a Cessna 185. “I nearly lost my life many times if it wasn’t for the Lord. Papua New Guinea was not a very friendly place for flying,” she says of the treacherous terrain and short landing strips, which were often obscured in bad weather. “The roads weren’t very good over there so we often carried things that would usually go in a truck. The most common cargo was pigs, which were good currency over there, as well as tea.
“I also flew around a lot of visiting officials from Australia and locals,” Eileen continues. “The locals called planes ‘balus’, which meant ‘big bird’ in pigeon English, and their biggest problem was what to call me. They called male pilots Master and I didn’t like that so they called me Missus Kaptain belong balus.” Although Eileen has fond memories of PNG, where she lived in the picturesque highlands of Goroka for three years, prolonged dosages of anti-malaria pills took their toll on her health and she decided to return to Australia.
Working in remote areas across the Northern Territory delivering supplies to cattle stations, she gained an appreciation for the vast landscape yet admits, “I didn’t really concentrate on the view. I was more focused on the navigational instruments and the map, which stayed on my knees.” Settling in Albury where she met and married her late husband, Les, at 61, before retiring to Caloundra, Eileen recalls, “He was my favourite passenger. I know it sounds corny but it is the truth. He was a builder and I flew him around Australia and several times to New Guinea.”
A contemporary of the late Nancy Bird Walton, who was the youngest Australian woman to gain a pilot’s licence and founded the Australian Women Pilots’ Association in 1950, Eileen treasured their friendship and camaraderie in the air. "Nancy gave up flying for 16 years while she brought up her family. When she came back the technology and instruments in aeroplanes had altered a lot and I was her first instructor when she got back" Eileen recalls. "And when I wrote a book (Flight Plan PNG, published in 1974)she sent me a lovely letter congratulating me.
Story: Kylie Jackes, weekender Issue 633, July 1st, 2010.
An innate fascination for flying meant Eileen Ronalds had no intention of working behind a desk. Instead she took to the skies, paving the way for women in aviation.
WORDS KYLIE JACKES
During her career as a commercial pilot and instructor Eileen Ronalds’ passengers included snakes, chickens and pigs as well as nervous trainee pilots, government officials and stowaways. Reflecting on her diverse experiences flying in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, the 94-year-old admits she has never been able to explain exactly what prompted her to pursue a career as a pilot. “It’s something I have often asked myself,” says Eileen, who was one of Australia’s first female aviators. “I think a love of flying was just something I had within me. We’ve all got our dreams and sometimes they eventuate.”
Working as a seamstress and teacher at Melbourne’s Methodist Ladies’ College in the 1930s, Eileen says the jobs were simply a means to an end, with every penny earned spent on flying lessons or saved towards a down payment on her first plane. She was flying solo by the time she was 24, however her aspirations to become a full-time pilot were put on hold with the outbreak of World War II. Although the Women’s Australian Auxiliary Air Force had the country’s largest female participation in the global conflict, they were not permitted to be pilots. She served as an ambulance driver in the women’s army service instead.
After the war Eileen resumed training at Moorabbin airport in Melbourne and as soon as she gained her private pilot’s licence she bought an ex-RAAF Tiger Moth for $700. “My brother, Joseph, was very good to me and helped me buy it . . . and eventually I paid him back every penny,” she says. Juggling her time teaching at the college with instructing student pilots before and after school, Eileen recalls applying for a job at the Auckland Aeroclub in 1955, which fortuitously coincided with her school holidays. “I saw an advertisement in a flying magazine, which asked for a man with air force experience. I wasn’t a man and I didn’t have that experience, but I could fly and I got the job,” she says.
By the 1960s Eileen had fulfilled her dream of becoming a full-time pilot, landing a job in PNG for Territory Airlines flying a Cessna 185. “I nearly lost my life many times if it wasn’t for the Lord. Papua New Guinea was not a very friendly place for flying,” she says of the treacherous terrain and short landing strips, which were often obscured in bad weather. “The roads weren’t very good over there so we often carried things that would usually go in a truck. The most common cargo was pigs, which were good currency over there, as well as tea.
“I also flew around a lot of visiting officials from Australia and locals,” Eileen continues. “The locals called planes ‘balus’, which meant ‘big bird’ in pigeon English, and their biggest problem was what to call me. They called male pilots Master and I didn’t like that so they called me Missus Kaptain belong balus.” Although Eileen has fond memories of PNG, where she lived in the picturesque highlands of Goroka for three years, prolonged dosages of anti-malaria pills took their toll on her health and she decided to return to Australia.
Working in remote areas across the Northern Territory delivering supplies to cattle stations, she gained an appreciation for the vast landscape yet admits, “I didn’t really concentrate on the view. I was more focused on the navigational instruments and the map, which stayed on my knees.” Settling in Albury where she met and married her late husband, Les, at 61, before retiring to Caloundra, Eileen recalls, “He was my favourite passenger. I know it sounds corny but it is the truth. He was a builder and I flew him around Australia and several times to New Guinea.”
A contemporary of the late Nancy Bird Walton, who was the youngest Australian woman to gain a pilot’s licence and founded the Australian Women Pilots’ Association in 1950, Eileen treasured their friendship and camaraderie in the air. "Nancy gave up flying for 16 years while she brought up her family. When she came back the technology and instruments in aeroplanes had altered a lot and I was her first instructor when she got back" Eileen recalls. "And when I wrote a book (Flight Plan PNG, published in 1974)she sent me a lovely letter congratulating me.
Story: Kylie Jackes, weekender Issue 633, July 1st, 2010.
