There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.
To view items in this collection, use the Online Finding Aid
Betty June Skelton Frankman Erde (1926--2011) was a three-time Female Aerobatic Champion who set 17 aviation and race car records, at one point earning her the nickname the "First Lady of Firsts." This collection consists of a photograph of Skelton posed beside her Great Lakes (1929) Model 2T-1A, circa 1948.
Betty June Skelton Frankman Erde (1926--2011) was a three-time Female Aerobatic Champion who set 17 aviation and race car records, at one point earning her the nickname the "First Lady of Firsts." Skelton bought her first aircraft in 1946, a Great Lakes (1929) Model 2T-1A. In this aircraft, Skelton started her aerobatic career, performing in the Southeastern Air Exposition in Jacksonville, Florida, and then touring the southeastern air show circuit. It was also in her Great Lakes aircraft that Skelton won her first International Female Aerobatic Championship on January 1, 1948.
NASM.2024.0012
Circa 1948
Richard Gombosh, Gift, 2003, NASM.2024.0012.
0.01 Cubic feet (1 folder)
National Air and Space Museum Archives
This collection consists of one 8 by 10 inch brown toned photograph of Betty Skelton posed beside her Great Lakes (1929) Model 2T-1A, circa 1948. The collection also includes two additional copies of the same image, one of which measures 8 by 10 inches and one of which measures 4.75 by 3.75 inches.
Collection is a single item.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
No restrictions on access
Betty Skelton Great Lakes (1929) Model 2T-1A Photograph, NASM.2024.0012, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Aeronautics
Women air pilots
Great Lakes (1929) Model 2T-1A
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs