Betty Skelton Frankman
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Betty Skelton Frankman was born Betty Skelton in Pensacola, Florida, USA, in 1926. She soloed in a Taylorcraft airplane at the age of 12. Ms. Skelton was US Female Aerobatic Champion in 1948, 1949 and 1950. In 1959, Skelton took the same medical tests given to the Mercury 7 astronauts for a Look Magazine article.
She was the first woman to drive a jet car over 300 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats. She also set three women’s land speed records at the Daytona Beach Road Course at Daytona Beach, Florida.
Her little Pitts Special open-cockpit aerobatic plane, L’il Stinker, is on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Skelton had a small Chihuahua, Little Tinker, who flew with her in her lap.
Married to Allan Erde [citation needed], she now resides in Vero Beach, Florida.
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