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

aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...

pilot, test driver, and advertising executive who set 17 aviation and

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

records. Known as "The First Lady of Firsts", she helped create opportunities for

women in aviation Women have been involved in aviation from the Timeline of women in aviation, beginnings of both lighter-than air travel and as airplanes, helicopters and space travel were developed. Women pilots were also formerly called "aviatrices" (singular ...

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

astronautics Astronautics (or cosmonautics) is the practice of sending spacecraft beyond atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Spaceflight is one of its main applications and space science is its overarching field. The term ''astronautics' ...

, and

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

Early years

She was born Betty Skelton in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

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 A Naval Air Station (NAS) is a military air base, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of a navy (Naval aviation). These bases are typically populated by squadron ...

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 Taylorcraft airplane when she was 12 years old, which was not permitted. After receiving her Civil Aviation Authority private pilot's license at age 16, she qualified for the

Women Airforce Service Pilots The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (also Women's Army Service Pilots or Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became t ...

(WASP) program, but the minimum age was 18½, so she was forced to wait. WASP participants ferried

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

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.Watjen, Connie

AutoPilot Magazine, February/March 2008, "Betty Skelton Frankman Erde" 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 Eastern Air Lines (also colloquially known as Eastern) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade ...

as a clerk,
Monash University website, Hargrave the Pioneers-Betty Skelton 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. At age 18, she received her commercial pilot licence and was certified as a

flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...

the following year, so she began teaching at

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

's Peter O. Knight Airport. She joined the

Civil Air Patrol Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a Congressional charter, congressionally chartered, federally supported Nonprofit corporation, non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliaries, auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CA ...

a few years after it was formed in 1941. Women in Aviation International, 1997 Pioneer Hall of Fame, Betty Erde

Aerobatics

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

Jaycees The United States Junior Chamber, also known as the Jaycees, JCs or JCI USA, is a leadership training service organization and civic organization for people between the ages of 18 and 40. It is a branch of Junior Chamber International (JCI). A ...

. The airport manager in Tampa suggested that Skelton perform some basic stunts, but she had never done aerobatics. She borrowed a

Fairchild PT-19 The Fairchild PT-19 (company designation Fairchild M62) is an American monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served with the United States Army Air Forces, Royal Air Force, RAF and Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF during World War II. Design ...

and Clem Whitteneck, a famous aerobatic pilot from the 1930s, taught her to loop and roll. Within two weeks, she had honed her skills and mastered simple aerobatic maneuvers, which she repeated for the air show. Because neither the military nor commercial airlines would accept a female pilot, air shows provided the only opportunity for her to work as a pilot, other than instructing. In 1946, she purchased a 1929 Great Lakes 2T-1A Sport Trainer

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

and performed at the Southeastern Air Exposition, held in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. That was the start of her professional aerobatic career, and also that of the

Blue Angels The Blue Angels, formally named the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, are a Aerobatics, flight demonstration squadron of the United States Navy.. Blue Angels official site. Formed in 1946, the unit is the second oldest formal aerobatics ...

, a new US Navy precision-flying exhibition team. 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 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. Pitts S1S-b Lg

After winning the championship in 1948, she bought a rare

Pitts Special The Pitts Special (company designations S-1 and S-2) is a series of light aerobatics, aerobatic biplanes designed by Curtis Pitts. It has accumulated many competition wins since its first flight in 1944. The Pitts biplanes domina ...

— a lightweight, open-cockpit () biplane designed and hand built by Curtis Pitts for aerobatics. The plane was repainted a dramatic red and white, and Skelton's 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 Smithsonian in 1985. ''Little Stinker'' is now on inverted display at the

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, also called the Udvar-Hazy Center, is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)'s annex at Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia. It holds numerous exhibits, ...

Washington Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport ( ) – commonly known by its former name of Dulles International Airport, by its airport code of IAD, or simply as Dulles Airport – is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located w ...

, part of the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...

. In 1949, she set the world light-plane altitude record of in a

Piper Cub The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is P ...

. Two years later, she broke her own altitude record with a flight of , also in a Piper Cub. National Aviation Hall of Fame, Enshrinee list-Betty Skelton Frankman She held the world speed record for piston-engined aircraft: over a 3-km course in a

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...

racing plane. She became hostess of ''Van Wilson's Greeting Time'', a radio show in 1950.

Land racing

Skelton moved to

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, in 1951 and piloted charter flights. In 1953, the founder of

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

asked her to fly some auto racers from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. A friend,

Bill France Sr. William Henry Getty France (September 26, 1909 – June 7, 1992) was an American businessman and racing driver. He was also known as Bill France Sr. or Big Bill. He is best known for founding and managing NASCAR, a sanctioning body of US-based s ...

, invited her to

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach is a coastal Resort town, resort city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. Located on the East Coast of the United States, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Deltona� ...

, during speed week in February 1954. There, she drove the

pace car In motorsport, a safety car, or a pace car, is a car that limits the speed of competing cars or motorcycles on a racetrack in the case of a ''caution period,'' such as an obstruction on the track or bad weather. The safety car aims to enable th ...

at Daytona, then climbed into a Dodge sedan and was clocked at on the beach sand, setting a stock-car speed record for women. Skelton had discovered her second passion. She was granted an Automobile Association of America auto race driver's license, as the first woman with that distinction. She became the first female test driver in the auto industry in 1954 with Chrysler's

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

division. She drove the jump boat, ''L’il Miss Dodge'', in a movie stunt above a 1955 Custom Royal Lancer at

Cypress Gardens Cypress Gardens was a botanical garden and theme park near Winter Haven, Florida that operated from 1936 to 2009. As of 2011, the botanical garden portion had been preserved inside the newly formed Legoland Florida. History Billed as Florida' ...

in Florida. During that time, she also tried

skydiving Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For hu ...

. Women Fly Resource Center, Acrobatic women pilots The

National Aviation Hall of Fame The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) is a museum, annual awards ceremony and learning and research center that was founded in 1962 as an Ohio non-profit corporation in Dayton, Ohio, United States, known as the "Birthplace of Aviation" with ...

reports, "Betty earned a total of four Feminine World Land Speed Records and set a transcontinental speed record." She competed in races across the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

mountains in South America and drove the length of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. She set records at the Chelsea Proving Grounds and was the first woman to drive a jet car over at the

Bonneville Salt Flats The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah, United States. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land ma ...

. She also set three women's land speed records at the

Daytona Beach Road Course The Ormond Beach and Road Course was a motorsport race track that was instrumental in the formation of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It originally became famous as the location where 15 world land speed records were set. ...

,Florida Photographic Collection information
Retrieved April 2, 2007 the last one being in 1956. That same year, she broke Cannonball Baker's 40-year record for the Transcontinental Auto Race from New York to Los Angeles.

GM

In 1956, she became an advertising executive with

Campbell-Ewald Campbell Ewald is an advertising and marketing communications agency headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, with offices in Los Angeles and New York. Campbell Ewald is part of advertising company Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG). History In 19 ...

and worked with

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

on and in their TV and print ads. She was GM's first woman technical narrator at major auto shows, where she would talk about and demonstrate automobile features, later becoming official spokeswoman for Chevrolet. While Skelton was working with

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

, she set numerous records with

Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

s, and owned a total of 10 models.Lush, Tamara: Associated Press, August 13, 2008, "What a ride: Woman, 82, inducted into Hall of Fame" Between 1956 and 1957,

Harley Earl Harley Jarvis Earl (November 22, 1893 – April 10, 1969) was an American Automotive design, automotive designer and business executive. He was the initial designated head of design at General Motors, later becoming vice president, the first ...

and 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, then retired in 1976 after 20 years in advertising.

Astronautics

In 1959, Skelton was the first woman to undergo

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

's physical and psychological tests, identical to those given to the

Mercury Seven The Mercury Seven were the group of seven astronauts selected to fly spacecraft for Project Mercury. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1. Their names were publicly announced by NASA on April 9, 1959: Scott ...

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''. The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

even awarded her honorary

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

. 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."

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

naval surgeon A naval surgeon, or less commonly ship's doctor, is the person responsible for the health of the ship's company aboard a warship. The term appears often in reference to Royal Navy's medical personnel during the Age of Sail. Ancient uses Specialis ...

, and they resided in

The Villages, Florida The Villages is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sumter, Marion, and Lake counties in the U.S. state of Florida. It forms the core of a broader master-planned, age-restricted community of the same name. Located in central Florida, approxi ...

. 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. She died on August 31, 2011.

Hall of Fame inductions

* Florida Sports Hall of Fame, 1977''Florida Sports Hall of Fame Yearbook & Souvenir Program'', April 19, 1993. *

International Motorsports Hall of Fame The International Motorsports Hall of Fame (IMHOF) is a List of halls and walks of fame, hall of fame located adjacent to the Talladega Superspeedway (formerly Alabama International Motor Speedway) located in Talladega County, Alabama, Talladeg ...

*NASCAR International Automotive Hall of Fame, 1983 - the 1st woman *

International Aerobatic Club The International Aerobatic Club (IAC) is a division of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and the National Aeronautics Association (NAA). It promotes aerobatics and governs the sport of competition aerobatics in the United States under ...

Hall of Fame, 1988 *Florida Women's Hall of Fame, 1993 *Women in Aviation, Pioneer Hall of Fame, 1997 * Corvette Hall of Fame, 2001
National Corvette Museum, Archives-Hall of Fame members, Betty Skelton *International Council of Air Shows Foundation Hall of Fame, 2003 *

, 2005 *

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is a hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles ...

,Betty Skelton
at the

2008

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". In 1988, the

established the Betty Skelton First Lady of Aerobatics Trophy, International Aerobatic Club, Betty Skelton "First Lady of Aerobatics" Trophy awarded to the highest-scoring woman pilot at the United States National Aerobatic Championships.

References

External links

National Air and Space Museum, Archives Division, Betty Skelton Collection

at Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association

, ''The New York Times'' obituary

audio interview with Betty Skelton {{DEFAULTSORT:Skelton, Betty 1926 births 2011 deaths Aerobatic pilots American female racing drivers Land speed record people National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Pensacola, Florida Racing drivers from Florida People from The Villages, Florida American commercial aviators American aviation record holders Aviators from Florida American women commercial aviators American women aviation record holders 21st-century American women 20th-century American sportswomen