The First Lady of Firsts set 17 aviation and automobile records. She flew helicopters, jets, airships and gliders, and participated in practically all US major air events of the 1940s. She prised open many doors for women in the male-dominated fields of aviation, automobile racing, astronautics and advertising.

Betty Skelton Erde was one of the most famous aerobatic pilots the world has seen, and a top-notch land speed record holder. During her short career, The First Lady of Firsts, set 17 aviation and automobile records. She flew helicopters, jets, airships and gliders, and participated in practically all US major air events of the 1940s. She prised open many doors for women in the male-dominated fields of aviation, automobile racing, astronautics and advertising.

Born on June 28, 1926, little Betty despised dolls and preferred to play with model aircraft. Her parents also encouraged her to seek and enjoy every challenge. She soloed illegally at 12 and then repeated the feat legally at 16. The trend continued as she became a commercial pilot at 18 and a flight instructor at 20.

When an air show was planned at Tampa, Florida, someone suggested that Betty should take part. She hadn’t flown aerobatics till then, but was not one to turn down a dare. Clem Whittenbeck, a famous aerobatic pilot of the time, taught her to do loops and rolls, and she was soon manoeuvring like a pro. A determined competitor, Betty practised and honed her talents and became the International Feminine Aerobatic champion on January 4, 1948. That same year, she purchased a Pitts Special—an experimental single-seat, open cockpit biplane, weighing just 544 pounds (247 kg). The Pitts was powerful, intensely manoeuvrable and skittish and needed deft handling. Since Betty herself never grew beyond five-foot three-inch and about 100 pounds (46 kg), they seemed made for each other. On her very first landing attempt however, the plane ground-looped and Betty hissed “You little stinker!” under her breath. So Little Stinker it was named, and with Betty’s skilful touch it eventually became one of the most famous aerobatic aircraft ever. It helped her to become the International Feminine Aerobatic champion twice more in successive years. She was inducted into the International Aerobatics Hall of Fame—the first woman to be so honoured.

Flying aerobatics in those days was intensely competitive and challenging. Betty would sometimes practise a single manoeuvre for hours together. Doing outside loops continuously would force the blood to her head and give her black eyes and splotches on her face. But safety always came first. She routinely practised at an altitude of 3,000 feet and perfected each difficult manoeuvre to a T before descending to treetop level. Whenever possible, she kept an extra 10 per cent margin of airspeed or altitude or both for the low-level displays. Several other competitors had lost their lives—it was a reminder that aerobatic pilots constantly fly in the shadow of death. Was she ever scared? “Learning to fear death without actually being afraid was something you had to do to make it through,” she once said. And she nearly paid the ultimate price. Which pilot would not shudder to contemplate a sudden engine failure while flying inverted, less than 10 feet off the ground? The manoeuvre, which unfailingly drew gasps from the crowds, was the “inverted ribbon cut”, and only a handful of fearless male pilots had ever attempted it. It involved cutting a ribbon strung between two poles, just 10 feet from the ground, flying upside down. Her friends were aghast at the prospect and tried to dissuade her, but Betty had a stubborn streak. After practice runs a little higher, she was ready to slice the ribbon. As she rolled inverted in the open-cockpit biplane, at about 240 km per hour, a few feet above the ground, the engine quit. In a lightning-fast reaction, made possible only by the 10 per cent extra speed she always kept, she rolled the plane upright and landed safely. The mechanics investigated, found the engine’s fuel injector jets clogged, cleaned them, and Little Stinker was ready to go again.