Lyle Thomas Shelton (1933–2010) was an American

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

who set the world's absolute propeller-driven 3-kilometer speed record of 528.329 mph.

Early life

Lyle Thomas Shelton was born in

Brownfield, Texas Brownfield is a city in and the county seat of Terry County, Texas, United States. Its population was 8,936 at the 2020 census. Brownfield is southwest of Lubbock. History In 1903, town promoters W. G. Hardin and A. F. Small purchased the coun ...

, on June 15, 1933.

Career

A former US

naval aviator Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. It often involves '' navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use. Seaborne aviation encompas ...

, Shelton was an

airline pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they are ...

for his professional career, flying for

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles ...

(TWA). During his career at TWA, he flew

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...

s, 727s,

Douglas DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell ...

s and the

Lockheed L-1011 The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar (pronounced "El-ten-eleven") is an American medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation. It was the third wide-body airliner to enter commercial operations, after the Boeing 74 ...

. He retired from TWA in 1991. As an air race pilot, he won ten Unlimited

air races An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

, more than any other pilot, and six U.S. national championships at the Reno National Championship Air Races, second only to

Darryl Greenamyer Darryl George Greenamyer (August 13, 1936 – October 1, 2018) was an American aviator. He started his flying career in the US Air Force Reserve. After leaving the Air Force, he then began to work at Lockheed where he eventually became an SR-71 ...

. He set the world's absolute propeller-driven 3-kilometer speed record of 528.329 mph. He was inducted into the

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 ...

in 1999. As an air race pilot, Lyle is best known for flying the highly modified Grumman F8F "

Rare Bear ''Rare Bear'' is a highly modified Grumman F8F Bearcat that saw major success at the Reno Air Races over multiple decades. History The Bearcat that became Rare Bear was a severely damaged wreck when discovered by Lyle Shelton in 1969. It ha ...

", which he restored in 1969 and raced until his retirement from racing after the 1997 Reno National Championship Air Races.

Death

Shelton died in 2010.

Notable wins

* 1971 Cape May * 1971 National point champion for Unlimited * 1973 Miami * 1973 Reno (Unlimited national champion) * 1973 National point champion for Unlimited * 1975 Reno (Unlimited national champion) * 1975 National point champion for Unlimited * 1976 Mojave * 1988 Hamilton * 1988 Reno (Unlimited national champion) * 1988 National point champion for Unlimited * 1989 Reno (Unlimited national champion) * 1989 National point champion for Unlimited * 1990 Reno (Unlimited national champion) * 1990 National point champion for Unlimited * 1991 Reno (Unlimited national champion) * 1991 National point champion for Unlimited

Notable speed records

* 1972 "Time to Climb" (standing start to 10,000 feet), 91.9 seconds (still stands as of July 2011) * 1973 Reno qualifying speed record, 426.602 mph * 1973 Reno Unlimited Gold race speed record, 428.155 mph * 1974 Reno qualifying speed record, 432.252 mph * 1975 Reno Unlimited Gold race speed record, 429.916 mph * 1988 Reno qualifying speed record, 474.622 mph * 1988 Reno Unlimited Gold race speed record, 456.821 mph * 1989 world's absolute propeller-driven 3k speed record, Las Vegas, 528.329 mph (still stands as of July 2011) * 1990 Reno Unlimited Gold race speed record, 468.620 mph * 1991 Reno qualifying speed record, 475.899 mph * 1991 Reno Unlimited Gold race speed record, 481.618 mph * 1992 Reno qualifying speed record, 482.892 mph

Early life

Career

Death

Notable wins

Notable speed records

See also

References

Further reading