Betty Skelton

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Betty Skelton
Born(1926-06-28)June 28, 1926
Pensacola, Florida, U.S.
DiedAugust 31, 2011(2011-08-31) (aged 85)
The Villages, Florida, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Aerobatic pilot, test driver, advertising executive
Spouses
Donald Frankman
​
​
(m. 1965; died 2001)​
Dr. Allan Erde
​
(m. 2005)​
Children3
Parent(s)Myrtle and David Skelton

Betty Skelton Frankman Erde (June 28, 1926 – August 31, 2011) was a

advertising.[3][4]

Early years

She was born Betty Skelton in Pensacola, Florida on June 28, 1926. Her parents were teenagers and she was their only child. As a toddler, she was fascinated by the airplanes that flew over her home near the Naval Air Station and preferred model airplanes over dolls. When she turned eight, she started reading books on aviation and made her parents realize that she was serious about flying. Whenever they could, the family spent time at the municipal airport. She would talk pilots into letting her ride on local flights.

Kenneth Wright, a Navy ensign, took a special interest in the Skeltons and provided instruction to Betty and her parents. He allowed her to solo in his

Civil Aviation Authority private pilot's license at age 16, she qualified for the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program, but the minimum age was 18½, so she was forced to wait.[2] WASP participants ferried Air Force pilots and aircraft to their duty stations, and it was the only flying program that accepted women. However, it was discontinued four months before Skelton reached the required age.[3]

While she was a teenager, Skelton flew whenever she could. She graduated from high school in 1944 and wanted a career in aviation, so she claimed to be 18 to get a job with

Eastern Airlines as a clerk,[5] working at night. The job allowed her to rent planes and fly during the day. She earned ratings for single and multiengine on land and sea.[5] At age 18, she received her commercial pilot licence and was certified as a flight instructor the following year, so she began teaching at Tampa's Peter O. Knight Airport. She joined the Civil Air Patrol a few years after it was formed in 1941.[6]

Aerobatics

Little Stinker in the Smithsonian

Source:[7]

Skelton's father, David, organized an amateur airshow in 1945 to raise funds for the local

Great Lakes 2T-1A Sport Trainer biplane and performed at the Southeastern Air Exposition, held in Jacksonville, Florida. That was the start of her professional aerobatic career, and also that of the Blue Angels, a new US Navy precision-flying exhibition team.[5] Skelton's repertoire included dozens of acrobatic tricks, but her most impressive maneuver involved cutting a ribbon strung between two fishing poles with her propeller, while flying upside down 10 feet (3.0 m) off the ground. She held the rank of major in the CAP and became a test pilot. Besides piston-driven airplanes, she also flew blimps, gliders, helicopters, and jets.[6]

S-1S

After winning the championship in 1948, she bought a rare

Chihuahua
, Little Tinker, outfitted with a custom-made working parachute, flew in her lap.

Skelton was US Female Aerobatic Champion in 1948, 1949, and 1950. Her last two championships made her and her plane, Little Stinker, famous. After her third championship, she was frustrated because no other challenges existed in aerobatics, and she was mentally and physically exhausted from the hectic, nonstop air-show circuit. She retired from aerobatics and sold the plane in 1951, but her first husband Don Frankman and she reacquired the airplane and donated it to the

Washington Dulles International Airport, part of the National Air and Space Museum
.

In 1949, she set the world light-plane altitude record of 25,763 feet (7,853 m) in a

P-51 Mustang
racing plane.

She became hostess of Van Wilson's Greeting Time, a radio show in 1950.[3]

Land racing

Skelton moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1951 and piloted charter flights. In 1953, the founder of NASCAR asked her to fly some auto racers from Pennsylvania to North Carolina.

A friend, Bill France Sr., invited her to Daytona Beach, Florida, during speed week in February 1954. There, she drove the pace car at Daytona, then climbed into a Dodge sedan and was clocked at 105.88 mph (170.40 km/h) on the beach sand, setting a stock-car speed record for women. Skelton had discovered her second passion.

She was granted an

skydiving.[8]

The

Daytona Beach Road Course,[9] the last one being 156.99 mph (252.65 km/h) in 1956. That same year, she broke Cannonball Baker's 40-year record for the Transcontinental Auto Race from New York to Los Angeles.[3]

GM

In 1956, she became an advertising executive with

Bill Mitchell designed a special, translucent gold Corvette for her, which she drove to Daytona in 1957 to serve as the NASCAR pace car. She helped launch Corvette News, the company's internal employee magazine, and served as its editor for many years. The publication is now known as Corvette Quarterly. She became vice president of Campbell-Ewald's new Women's Market and Advertising department in 1969,[3]
then retired in 1976 after 20 years in advertising.

Astronautics

In 1959, Skelton was the first woman to undergo NASA's physical and psychological tests, identical to those given to the Mercury Seven astronauts. NASA administered the tests at the request of Look for an article. She met and charmed the astronauts with her personality, then impressed them with her pilot skills. They nicknamed her "7½", and she was featured on the February 2, 1960 cover of Look.[2] The United States Navy even awarded her honorary wings.[5] However, nothing changed. "I complained that NASA wasn't giving more thought to women pilots... I wanted very much to fly in the Navy... But all they would do is laugh when I asked."[11]

Personal life

Skelton married Hollywood TV director/producer and Navy veteran Donald A. Frankman in 1965. They moved to Florida in 1976, where she kept a seaplane docked at their lakefront home in Winter Haven.[12] She became a real estate agent in 1977 and published her book, Little Stinker. At the end of the century, Skelton was taking care of her ailing husband, who died in 2001, and she flew less often. "I just felt I wasn't as safe as I used to be," she said.[11]

In 2005, she married Dr. Allan Erde, a retired

naval surgeon, and they resided in The Villages, Florida. Both in their 80s, they lived in a retirement community where most residents used golf carts for transportation. Skelton drove a Corvette convertible with a color that nearly matched her red hair.[11]

She died on August 31, 2011.[1]

Hall of Fame inductions

Honors

Bill France stated, "I would venture to say there is no other woman in the world with all the attributes of this woman. The most impressive of them all is her surprising and outstanding ever-present femininity, even when tackling a man's job".[11]

In 1988, the International Aerobatic Club established the Betty Skelton First Lady of Aerobatics Trophy,[18] awarded to the highest-scoring woman pilot at the United States National Aerobatic Championships.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Dennis Hevesi (September 10, 2011). "Betty Skelton, Air and Land Daredevil, Dies at 85". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "NAHF". Archived from the original on 2007-07-07. Retrieved 2009-11-03. National Aviation Hall of Fame, Enshrinee list-Betty Skelton Frankman
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Watjen, Connie: [1] AutoPilot Magazine, February/March 2008, "Betty Skelton Frankman Erde"
  4. ^ Period Paper. "1961 Ad Betty Skelton Astronaut Record Holder Camel Cigarettes Reynolds SEP5". Period Paper. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e [2] Monash University website, Hargrave the Pioneers-Betty Skelton Archived 2010-04-17 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ a b c "Women in Aviation, International - 1997 Pioneer Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2009-10-11. Retrieved 2009-11-03. Women in Aviation International, 1997 Pioneer Hall of Fame, Betty Erde
  7. ^ "Skelton, Betty; Pitts S-1C Special. Photograph | National Air and Space Museum". Archived from the original on 2019-10-13. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  8. ^ "Betty Skelton Frankman". Archived from the original on 2008-12-18. Retrieved 2009-11-03. Women Fly Resource Center, Acrobatic women pilots
  9. ^ a b Florida Photographic Collection information[permanent dead link], Retrieved April 2, 2007
  10. ^ a b [3] Archived 2011-10-14 at the Wayback Machine National Corvette Museum, Archives-Hall of Fame members, Betty Skelton
  11. ^ a b c d e Lush, Tamara: "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-12-31. Retrieved 2009-11-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Associated Press, August 13, 2008, "What a ride: Woman, 82, inducted into Hall of Fame"
  12. ^ Steindorf, Sara: [4] Christian Science Monitor, December 9, 1999, "Daredevil Betty Skelton"
  13. ^ a b c Florida Sports Hall of Fame Yearbook & Souvenir Program, April 19, 1993.
  14. ^ "Betty Skelton Frankman". Archived from the original on 2010-06-05. Retrieved 2009-11-03. Florida Commission on the Status of Women, Florida Women's Hall of Fame, Betty Skelton Frankman
  15. ^ "Betty Skelton Frankman, Air Show Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2010-04-16. Retrieved 2009-11-03. International Council of Air Shows Foundation, Hall of Fame, BETTY SKELTON FRANKMAN
  16. ^ "National Aviation Hall of Fame Members - Table - MSN Encarta". Archived from the original on 2009-10-30. Retrieved 2009-11-03. ENCARTA, National Aviation Hall of Fame Members
  17. ^ Betty Skelton at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
  18. ^ "Betty Skelton "First Lady of Aerobatics" Trophy". Archived from the original on 2010-07-12. Retrieved 2009-11-03. International Aerobatic Club, Betty Skelton "First Lady of Aerobatics" Trophy

Further reading

  • Holden, Henry. Betty Skelton: The First Lady of Firsts. 1994.
  • Skelton, Betty. Betty Skelton's "Little Stinker". Winter Haven, FL: Cross Press, 1977.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Betty_Skelton&oldid=1219089330"