Lady Betty's Drive
Full Real Name : Betty Skelton Frankman Erde
Born in Pensacola, Florida, USA on 28th June 1926
Died in The Villages, Florida, USA on 31st August 2011
Known as "The First Lady of Firsts" she was an aerobatic pilot and test driver holding 17 aviation and automobile records including a land speed record.
She first flew solo at the age of only 12 years old and eventually gained her CAA Private Pilot's Licence when she reached the legal age of 16. By the time she was 18 she had achieved her Commercial Pilot's Licence and by 19 was a certified Flight Instructor.
Unfortunately neither the military nor commercial airlines would accept female pilots so the only flying she was able to do was at airshows or as an instructor.
She became a very accomplished acrobatic pilot becoming the US Female Acrobatic Champion in 1948, 1949 and 1950.
Little Stinker (above) was the plane she flew for the Championships in 1949 and 1950 and is on display in the Washington Dulles International Airport.
Her most amazing stunt was to fly upside down, only 10 feet off the ground, and cut a ribbon held between two fishing poles with her propeller.
In 1949 she also set the world light-plane altitude record at 25,763 feet which she was to go on to set again two years later at 29,050 - both times in a Piper Cub. She also held the world speed record for piston-engined aircraft at 421.6 mph over a 3-km course in a P-51 Mustang racing plane.
It wasn't until 1954 that she discovered racing on land when she was invited to drive the Pace Car at Daytona. She then got into a Dodge Sedan and drove at 105.88mph on the beach setting a stock-car speed record for women.
With this title she was given an Automobile Association of America auto race driver's licence and she became the first female test driver in the car industry.
She went on to earn four "Feminine World Land Speed Records" and set a transcontinental speed record in 1956 for the race from New York to Los Angeles.
In 1959 Betty took part in NASA's Physical and Physiological tests (the first woman to do so) and the US Navy awarded her her honorary Wings.
References:
https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/women-in-aviation/Skelton.cfm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Skelton
Known as "The First Lady of Firsts" she was an aerobatic pilot and test driver holding 17 aviation and automobile records including a land speed record.
She first flew solo at the age of only 12 years old and eventually gained her CAA Private Pilot's Licence when she reached the legal age of 16. By the time she was 18 she had achieved her Commercial Pilot's Licence and by 19 was a certified Flight Instructor.
Unfortunately neither the military nor commercial airlines would accept female pilots so the only flying she was able to do was at airshows or as an instructor.
She became a very accomplished acrobatic pilot becoming the US Female Acrobatic Champion in 1948, 1949 and 1950.
Little Stinker (above) was the plane she flew for the Championships in 1949 and 1950 and is on display in the Washington Dulles International Airport.
Her most amazing stunt was to fly upside down, only 10 feet off the ground, and cut a ribbon held between two fishing poles with her propeller.
In 1949 she also set the world light-plane altitude record at 25,763 feet which she was to go on to set again two years later at 29,050 - both times in a Piper Cub. She also held the world speed record for piston-engined aircraft at 421.6 mph over a 3-km course in a P-51 Mustang racing plane.
It wasn't until 1954 that she discovered racing on land when she was invited to drive the Pace Car at Daytona. She then got into a Dodge Sedan and drove at 105.88mph on the beach setting a stock-car speed record for women.
With this title she was given an Automobile Association of America auto race driver's licence and she became the first female test driver in the car industry.
She went on to earn four "Feminine World Land Speed Records" and set a transcontinental speed record in 1956 for the race from New York to Los Angeles.
In 1959 Betty took part in NASA's Physical and Physiological tests (the first woman to do so) and the US Navy awarded her her honorary Wings.
References:
https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/women-in-aviation/Skelton.cfm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Skelton
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