In 1960 Ivy sold Ivy Hassard Fashions and opened a beauty salon, Jolie Madame, and another in the Chevron hotel, both in Gold Coast. In 1968 Ivy sold the salons and returned to fashion, and it was around that time that this photograph of her posing with a Tiger Moth was taken, harking back to her days as one of Australia’s most famous pioneering female pilots.

Seen here with its racing number “45” for the Brisbane-Adelaide Air Race, General Aircraft Monospar VH-UTK (c/n 38) was borrowed from Airlines of Australia, the manufacturer also being a subsidiary of the British Pacific Trust. The figure in black repairing the nose is almost certainly qualified engineer and pilot May Bradford.

Ivy and Jason pose for a photograph in the cabin of Monospar VH-UTK at the time of the Brisbane-Adelaide Centenary Air Race. It is probable the pair were already romantically involved, but the official line was that Hassard was accompanying Ivy as a navigator and radio operator. Note Ivy’s bespoke khaki flying jacket.

Ivy posing with a Monospar, presumably VH-UTK, in 1936. The aircraft was a de Havilland Gipsy Major-powered ST-12; after returning to service on Airlines of Australia’s Brisbane-Townsville route following Ivy and Jason’s participation in the centenary race, it was destroyed by fire on the ground at Mackay on July 1, 1938.

Ivy posing for a photograph in one of the de Havilland D.H.60 Moths operated by the Queensland Aero Club (later Royal Queensland Aero Club). Formed in 1910 as the Australian Aero Club (Queensland Section), the still-active RQAC is the oldest aviation organisation in the Southern Hemisphere.

D.H.60G Moth VH-UIQ (c/n 893) outside the RQAC hangar at Archerfield in the late 1930s. This was one of the club’s numerous Moths (at least 19 were operated by the QAC/RQAC) flown regularly by Ivy.

A newspaper cutting of Brisbane’s Archbishop James Duhig thanking Ivy for his flight from Archerfield to Ipswich.

A splendid portrait of Ivy was used for the cover of the January 9, 1936, issue of The Queenslander Pictorial periodical, with Ivy in spotless white flying overalls, helmet and goggles, with the legend “The Aviatrix” beneath the image

A classic portrait of Ivy in her flying gear in one of the RQAC’s Moths circa 1935. Even when flying, her appearance was always elegant and stylish.

Another photograph of one of the RQAC’s Moths bearing the club’s distinctive rudder stripes. This example, VH-UKG (c/n 897), was sold to the RQAC in June 1936, where it remained until being impressed into RAAF service in 1940 as A7-84, as which it served with No 2 EFTS at Archerfield.