If this was posted earlier I didn't see it and apoligize, but she's worth taking a second look at !! I read a story about her a few years ago, and WISHED I could have done just a FEW of the many things she did. Including driving a new 'Vette around at 85 ! Betty Skelton Erde, an auto racing pioneer who was once the fastest woman on Earth, has died. She was 85. Erde began as a female stunt pilot as a teenager in the 1940s. She achieved dozens of firsts: the auto industry's first female test driver in 1954; the first woman to set a world land speed record in 1956 (145 mph at Daytona Beach); and the world's land speed record for women in 1965, hitting 315.72 mph at Bonneville, Utah. She was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. Erde flew planes into her 70s. When she was 82, she drove around her retirement community in a red Corvette. She died Aug. 31 in The Villages, the central Florida city where she lived with her husband, Allan Erde. R.I.P.
Good call,kawboy!! There was an obituary in the Daily Telegraph(UK),last week.She was an amazing lady!! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8753660/Betty-Skelton.html
not heard of her but i like her may she rest in peace.. and i hope the vette goes to a good home.. man what a hoot, i can just see her crusing the retirement community and all the old guys checken her out. heh. chris.
<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="267" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=550a7ba998&photo_id=3770232786"></param> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"></param> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=550a7ba998&photo_id=3770232786" height="267" width="400"></embed></object> Word reaches us that Betty Skelton Erde, once dubbed The Worlds Fastest Woman and a groundbreaking presence in both cars and aviation, has passed away. The Orlando Sentinel reported that she died August 31, aged 85, having lived in a central Florida retirement community where she was known for driving a Corvette. Born in Pensacola, Florida, she soloed at age 12 and went on to become one of flyings great aerobatic pilots. She competed in the Cleveland Air Races and set an altitude record (29,050 feet) in a Piper Super Cub, but Skelton become truly famous for buying a then-new Pitts Special S-1C and winning an aerobatics title in 1948. That plane, the Little Stinker, now hangs as a display at the National Air and Space Museums Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport outside Washington, D.C. Skeltons fame prompted NASCAR founder Bill France to invite her to Daytona Speedweeks, where she set a record of 106 MPH on the beach course in 1954, driving a Dodge Red Ram Hemi. She set other records for Dodge on the Bonneville Salt Flats, and then became a Chevrolet advertising executive and spokeswoman for Corvette. In 1965, she drove Art Arfons Green Monster jet to a two-way average of 276 MPH at Bonneville. Skelton was enshrined in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in Detroit, which provided these photos, and in the National Corvette Museum Hall of Fame. Betty Skelton Erde driving a Corvette on the sands of Daytona Beach.
Yea, it was here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=626271 Found it on the 4th page. It's hard to keep up with the content here.
what she was doing would of been consider a rebel yeah? women were suppose to stay at home with the kids.. is my thinking right? not that i think a women should stay in a kitchen so do not kill me womens chris.
Read alot about her and her Daytona Beach exploits in Corvettes with the great Zora Duntov. Truly an amazing woman ! RIP
Many women ask for equality, she reached out and grabbed by the ass. May she rest in peace and my prayers go out to her family.
Not many have noticed it, but right now two women are duking it out to be the first female 300 mph club member at Bonneville. Rhonnie Vesco, of the Vesco family streamliner fame. And Tegan Hammod of the "No Nitro Hammond" lakester fame. No crowds at the Stateline. No hoards of fans at the bend in the road. but records are still being set and Bonneville racers are doing the same thing as last month..
[FONT=arial, helvetica]Betty Skelton Erde sitting in "Cyclops" - jet powered car she set the land speed record for women in at 315.72 mph at Bonneville Salt Flats [/FONT]
DAMN that dear lady had bigger balls than i do !!! rip god,please take care of her. she is yours now.
Bubba67, you can tell from the grin on her face that she's loving the flight in an airborne boat. My cousin, Laura Klock, and her two daughters went 196.797MPH, 194.657MPH, and 194.602MPH at Bonneville a couple of weeks ago. They didn't get to their goal of the 2 century mark, but there's always next year. I might mention that the youngest daughter is still in High School. I might also mention that they were on two wheels, not four.
Unreal.....She had some guts! I'll bet she is somewhere now doing mach II right now with her hair on fire and a huge grin on her face!!!! RIP
The Jalopy Journal
