Joann Osterud
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Joann Osterud (November 14, 1945 - March 12, 2017) was an American pilot who flew for commercial airlines as well as stunt performances.


Biography

Joann Osterud was born in
Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
, Minnesota on November 14, 1945 to parents Kenneth Osterud (1914-1994) and Dorothy (Wellington) Osterud (1919-1971). She had an older brother and a younger sister. Her father taught biology at the
University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
from 1941 until 1948, when the family relocated to
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
,
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, for Kenneth Osterud's teaching post at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
. She married John Gregory Hull (1939-2012) in Seattle on April 15, 1971 and they divorced in July 1973. On November 5, 1978, she married fellow pilot Robert H. Nottke (1939-2012) in
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; they divorced in 1984. Osterud was a longtime animal rescuer, specifically cats and tortoises, and a member of Concerned People for Animals. She died of natural causes on March 12, 2017 at age 71.


Education and early life

Osterud graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle in 1964, and then attended
Reed College Reed College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland, Portland, Oregon, E ...
in
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...
, OR, graduating in 1968 with a degree in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
.“Reed Afterlives: Stunt Pilot,” The Reed Magazine, Nov. 1991 https://rdc.reed.edu/c/reedhisttxt/s/r?_pp=20&query=osterud&s=4f6bbfa7f227939f13e8e60964af4557b1ead7b7&p=1&pp=1&part=1 She was a member of
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
and wrote her senior thesis on science and public policy, but discovered a love of
physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
late in college while working on the installation of the Reed reactor, and was one of the original students licensed to operate it. During Osterud's summers, as well as the year after graduation, she worked at Seattle's
Pacific Science Center Pacific Science Center (PacSci) is a nonprofit science education organization in Seattle, Washington, United States. Its main science museum is on the ground of the Seattle Center near Downtown Seattle with auxiliary facilities in Bellevue, Washi ...
as the Science Education Coordinator. Her boss was Dr. Dixie Lee Ray who would later be Washington's first female
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, but who was then a colleague of Osterud's father at the University of Washington. Osterud also briefly attended
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
, working on a graduate degree in science and public policy, but was disappointed with the school and left after one year.


Flight and world records

Osterud started taking flying lessons in 1968 from a female instructor at
Hillsboro Airport Hillsboro Airport , also known as Portland–Hillsboro Airport, is a corporate, general aviation and flight-training airport serving the city of Hillsboro, Oregon, Hillsboro, in Washington County, Oregon, Washington County, Oregon, United States ...
, just outside
Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
, and earned her pilot's license while at MIT as a grad student. She worked briefly as a flight instructor for Bell Air Service in Seattle, before being hired as both a secretary and pilot for Lynden Transport in
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
. Osterud's first appearance as a stunt pilot at an airshow appears to have been in 1974 at the Abbotsford Air Show, flying clipped wing Cub aerobatics. In 1975, she became the first female pilot employed by Alaska Airlines, starting out as a co-pilot on Alaska's DHC Twin Otter turboprop out of Juneau. This made her the sixth female commercial pilot in the country. After flying for Alaska for three years, Osterud became the fourth woman graduate of the United Airlines training school, and in May 1978, was hired by
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
, becoming the sixth female pilot to fly for the airline. During her employment with Alaska Airlines, she participated in the investigation into the cause of an Alaska Airlines 727 crash at Juneau on September 4, 1971. Her research was key to finding the elusive cause of an error in VOR station propagation which resulted in the aircraft descending into terrain. Despite her time spent flying for major airlines, Osterud worked steadily as a stunt pilot, working at airshows across the
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and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
most weekends between March and November. She bought her first plane in 1976, a Stephens Akro plane built by Gerry Zimmerman in 1971, which was the first amateur-built Akro to fly. Osterud used the Akro for stunt performance maneuvers like hammerhead turns, tailslides, and lomcevaks (tumbling end over end) in the air show circuit. She donated the Akro to the Museum of Flight in 1994. Osterud almost set her first record in 1987, where she was supposed to be the first woman to compete in the
Reno Air Races The Reno Air Races, or Roswell Air Races, officially known as the National Championship Air Races, are a multi-day event tailored to the aviation community that took place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, ...
. A technical requirement kept her from competing during the weekend in a 40 year old British plane called Blind Man's Bluff. The plane had been converted to burn
methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical compound and the simplest aliphatic Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with the chemical formula (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often ab ...
, and because of this, it did not pass race checkout. At an airshow on July 13, 1989 in North Bend, Oregon, Osterud set her first world flight record, flying 208 outside loops in her Sorrell Biplane Supernova. The plane was 21 feet long with a 23-foot wingspan, and topped out at 170 MPH. It had a 230-horsepower engine and a
nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or factitious air, among others, is a chemical compound, an Nitrogen oxide, oxide of nitrogen with the Chemical formula, formula . At room te ...
injection system for an extra boost.Sam Moses, “Sky Princess Passes on Her Scepter,” Sports Illustrated, Dec. 18, 1989. https://www.si.com/vault/1989/12/18/121278/sky-princess-passes-on-her-scepter Osterud modified it with straps to hold her feet to the pedals, and she trained for the time upside down with a special harness that allowed her to hang upside down for long periods of time. Previous record holder Dorothy Stenzel set the record of 62 outside loops in 1931 and, after seeing Osterud perform at an airshow, encouraged her to break her record. Stenzel commented to ''Sports Illustrated'', "I believed it was well past time the record was broken… She's a smooth flyer and I didn't think she'd tear her wings off." The 208 outside loops took her 2 hours, 4 minutes, 38 seconds, and not only broke Stenzel's record of 62 outside loops, but also the unofficial men's record of 180 outside loops, which was set by Hal McClain in the 1980s. Osterud also used the record-breaking stunt to raise money for United Way of
Southeastern Oregon Southeastern Oregon is a geographical term for the area along the borders of the U.S. state of Oregon with Idaho, California, and Nevada. It includes the populous areas of Burns, Oregon, Burns, Klamath Falls, Oregon, Klamath Falls and Lakeview, ...
, allowing people to sponsor individual loops. She raised $1,364.67, and would have quit at 200 loops, but one of her favorite Eagles songs was playing, so she kept going. Osterud next set two records at once on July 24, 1991, for both the longest flight upside down and the longest flight upside down in one stretch, flying for 4 hours and 38 minutes over 658 miles in her Ultimate 10-300S biplane between Vancouver BC and Vanderhoof BC.Ann Lewis Cooper, Stars of the Sky, Legends All Zenith Press, 2008, p. 144-145 She was scheduled to perform in the 1990 Vanderhoof Air Show, so decided to try her hand at breaking Milo Burcham's 1933 record. She had previously attempted the flight in 1990, but had to end the flight early due to an engine oil leak. Burcham flew 4 hours, 5 minutes, 22 seconds flying upside down from Long Beach to
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and back in a Boeing 100 where he had inverted the engine. The records were part publicity stunt for the Vanderhoof Air Show, partly to fundraise for the Canadian Air Cadets, and also to prove that she could do it.Rhonda Nowak, “Oxnard: Pilot Sets Records by Flying Upside Down,” LA Times, Aug. 1, 1991. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-08-01-me-200-story.html Osterud upgraded her biplane with six fuel tanks, specialized oil and electrical systems, special seat belts and drinking tubes, the last two for making the long flight more comfortable. She had the same problems she always did with her body on her inverted flights: painful leg cramps, facial swelling, eyes swelling, and head congestion. During the record-setting flight, she was accompanied by five other planes, including an official observer from the Canadian Federation Aeronautique Internationale and another to navigate for her. "The world looks real weird upside down," she said. "The normal points of reference just aren't there." As of 1991, she was flying 20-25 airshows a year as well as flying for
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
, and compared the difference between the two types of planes as "the difference between driving a Cadillac and riding a dirt bike."


Last flight and career ending accident

Osterud's last stunt flight ended abruptly, when she crashed during an airshow at the MCAS Yuma Airshow in
Yuma, Arizona Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 95,548 at the 2020 census, up from the 2010 census population of 93,064. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, Metropolitan ...
, at the MCAS,
Yuma International Airport Yuma International Airport is a joint use airport with civilian and military flight activity operated in conjunction with the U.S. Marine Corps via the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. The airfield is located south of the central business dist ...
on April 11, 1997. She was flying her Ultimate 10-300S biplane in a performance at the airshow she called "Ring of Fire", which she had performed numerous times over the years both in the United States and abroad. The stunt centered on a giant ring of flames at center stage of the show. She would make multiple passes through the flaming ring, and on the last pass, flew upside down and cut a ribbon suspended between two poles with the tail of her plane, while the plane was 10–20 feet off the ground. According to the NTSB accident report, Osterud had personally chosen the location for the poles and ribbon, which was just to the south of the runway over old asphalt and concrete. This meant that her path was free of any obstacles and would parallel the runway. She planned to cut the ribbon while flying inverted on her third pass, and then land. She ended up flying at dusk, and then had to fly directly into the setting sun before turning around for her last pass, which was the one that was upside down. "I remember the turn-around at the west end, rolling inverted ndestablishing my sight picture for the run-in. However, the next few seconds are a total blank in my memory. I can remember the sound of the impact, but my recollection of a visual picture resumes only with the sparks created by the inverted slide." Osterud crashed into the runway while upside down on the third pass, totaling the plane, but was able to walk away from the crash unhurt. She apparently went back to the grandstand covered in soot, dirt and mud in her hair and apologized to the crowd for crashing. Her insurance covered the remaining debt on the plane, but did not leave enough for her to buy another plane. This crash ended her stunt career. The NTSB inspector found no mechanical or engine problems with the plane and cited "the pilot's failure to maintain adequate vertical clearance from the runway, while flying inverted" as well as "the light conditions at dusk, and the pilot's lack of visual ques icdue to the light conditions" as factors relating to the accident.


External links


Joann Osterud , Museum of Flight Digital Collections


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osterud, Joann 1945 births 2017 deaths Aviators from Minnesota Aerobatic pilots Reed College alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni People from Minneapolis Aviators from Washington (state) Aerobatic record holders American commercial aviators American aviation record holders American women commercial aviators American flight instructors American women flight instructors American women aviation record holders 21st-century American women