January 25th, 2015: Flying Ms Scott

[xoxoxoBruce]

Blanche Stuart 'Betty' Scott, was born in 1885 and a precocious tomboy. Her father was an early adopter of the automobile which Betty loved driving around town before there were any restrictions. She liked driving so much that in 1910 she became the second woman to drive across the US, in a promotion by the Willys-Overland Company. OK, that completed, what to do next?



Yeah, that's it, fly! So in 1910 Betty became the first woman to solo in the US, by accident, while being taught by Glenn Curtiss. Curtiss had Betty doing taxiing practice with a limited throttle when a sudden gust of wind sent her airborne for 40 feet. Betty was the only woman Curtiss ever taught to fly, so take from that what you will.

However after she barnstormed air shows for two years, Curtiss did hire her as a test pilot, and remember this was at a time when women didn't even wear pants. Most everything she did has been tagged, first woman to do that. Like being first licensed U. S. woman pilot, a year behind the French Baroness Raymonde de la Roche... but Betty had been flying seven years without a license.

Later on she was a radio broadcaster, then a scriptwriter for RKO, Universal Studios and Warner Brothers in California. She was the first American woman to fly in a jet when she was taken for a ride by Chuck Yeager, who treated her to some snap rolls and a 14,000 foot dive, in a TF-80C. Oh, she also worked for the Air Force Museum.

Quite an amazing woman with an unparalleled career.