![Two men standing and leaning against a small passenger plane in front of an aircraft hangar](/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/media/images/2024-02/collection-photo-aviation-horrie-miller-jim-woods-nla.obj-148194215.jpeg?itok=nUR5qM8l)
The early 1900’s gave flight to a new breed of daredevils: aviators. People had a desire to take to the skies and experience an equally thrilling and terrifying form of transportation.
Why is it that some people have the desire to take on these terrifying feats? Looking back through aviation history the argument could be made that a propensity for flying is passed through generations. Join us as we explore the prominent aviation families in our collection.
A Sister Act
![Female pilot in long coat smiling and shaking hands with a large man. Around them are 5 other smiling men. In the background, a wing of a plane can be seen](/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/media/images/2024-02/collection-photo-aviation-freda-thompson-martin-studio-nla.obj-147641468.jpeg?itok=A1iAGwtb)
Aviator sisters Freda Thompson OBE and Claire Embling (née Thompson) were pioneers in their time. They dared to attempt feats in aviation that were once reserved for men. This tenacity led Freda to become the first female President of the Royal Victorian Aero Club Committee.
![Old pilot's goggles and a leather pilot's cap with metal tubes coming from the back](/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/media/images/2024-02/collection-object-freda-thompson-cap-goggles-nla.obj-139636336.jpeg?itok=k882X-eT)
Freda travelled the globe and held pilot’s licenses in other countries, we hold six of these licenses in our collection.
![Four small, thin books of various colours (blue, green and brown) sitting on a wooden table](/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/media/images/2024-02/collection-object-freda-thompson-pilots-licenses-nla-obj-296604917.jpg?itok=dWuh6cAd)
The sisters’ contribution to aviation has also been honoured with the Freda Thompson and Claire Embling Aviation Award given annually by the Australian Women Pilots’ Association (AWPA).
![Four medals on a black fabric surface. The ribbons of the medals are various colours, mostly red and blue, and the medals themselves are engraved with a portrait](/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/media/images/2024-02/collection-object-freda-thompson-pilot-medals-nla-obj-296605537.jpg?itok=cjHgCqNK)
The Natural Air to the Thorne
![An old plane on the ground in a desert. A man is poking his head out from the cockpit and can be seen behind the wings of the plane](/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/media/images/2024-02/collection-photo-aviation-horrie-miller-plane-nla.obj-148196856.jpeg?itok=9DW2pmtJ)
Aviator Horace (Horrie) Miller was another pioneering figure in Australian aviation. He built a successful career as a pilot before eventually cofounding his own airline called MacRobertson-Miller Aviation Company.
Amongst his many impressive achievements, he was an Oswald Watt Medal recipient, an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) and winner of the Sydney to Perth Centenary Air Race.
He also piloted many emergency air ambulance flights including one occasion when a 14-year old boy and his father were flown from Broken Hill to Ru Rua hospital.
Horrie’s work in combining aviation with medical transport inspired his daughter Robin to take it a step further. She went on to become a qualified nurse while also earning her private pilot’s license.
![Family with mother, father and four young daughters sitting around a table with papers and boxes on it. The daughters al have bows in their hair and they all look content](/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/media/images/2024-02/collection-photo-aviation-horrie-miller-robin-family-nla.obj-148182269.jpeg?itok=4dgB6uwZ)
Once Robin successfully upgraded to her commercial pilot’s license, she borrowed money to buy her own aircraft and worked out an arrangement with the Western Australian Department of Health to administer polio vaccines to remote communities. The vaccines were administered orally and to combat the bitter taste Robin would add it to sugar cubes, in the process earning herself the nickname ‘Sugar Bird Lady.’
Robin administered 37,000 doses of the polio vaccine and, in case that wasn’t impressive enough, on one occasion she delivered a baby mid-flight.
![Photographs of various sizes on a wooden table. Three of the photos show a woman at various time in her childhood, and the fourth shows her and another girl with two men](/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/media/images/2024-02/collection-photos-robin-miller-pilot-nla-obj-249122796.jpg?itok=ybDRhoz3)
She went on to marry Dr Harold Dicks and together they co-piloted a number of flights for the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. In this role, she also used her nursing training.
Robin died in 1975 at aged 35, but in her short life she had a profound impact on remote Western Australian communities, which led to a monument being erected in her honour at Jandakot Airport. She also received the Nancy Bird Walton Award in 1970 and was posthumously awarded the Paul Tissandier diploma.
U-Knighted Brothers
![Three men in military uniform, including hats, standing closely together in front of a car.](/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/media/images/2024-02/collection-painting-ross-keith-smith-nla.obj-135310840.jpeg?itok=DdDptOEH)
A board game was also created shortly after the brothers’ winning the 1919 air race to commemorate the achievement. In the game players move around the board and visit the various countries on the brothers’ flight path from England to Australia. The board game varies slightly from the original route by including a few diversions.
![Colourful board game wear players fly by plane around Australia, Africa, Asia and Europe](/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/media/images/2024-02/collection-object-ross-smith-aeroplane-race-board-game-nla.obj-574721888.jpeg?itok=1bUvCytV)
The cherry on top was Captain Ross won 800 pounds for coming first place in a Kodak Competition for Photographs for the negatives taken by the four-man crew during the pioneering flight.
![Man in military uniform standing next to front of plane, reaching up with camera in his hand while man in cockpit reaches down to grab it](/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/media/images/2024-02/collection-photo-aviation-ross-smith-camera-keith-plane-nla.obj-472920954.jpeg?itok=vFytn7Mr)
In 2012 the brothers’ contribution to aviation was acknowledged with both brothers being jointly inducted into the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame.
The Library’s collection is rich in aviation ephemera, see what you can discover!