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Wall of Honor Level: Air and Space Friend
Honored by:
Debra Erb
Has over 40,000 flying hours and 50 years in aviation
Began flying in 1967 and received private pilots license in October 1968
Flew in the Powder Puff Derby twice:
July of 1970 with another woman and flew cross country from Monterey, CA to Bristol, PA, over four days in a Cessna 210 for 2,759 miles
1976 with a different lady and flew from Sacramento, CA to Wilmington, Delaware
Active in the formation of the West Virginia Chapter of the “Ninety-Nines” group – international organization of women pilots of which Amelia Earhart was the first president
First woman Flight Examiner (tests to give licenses) in West Virginia in 1982 for private, instrument, commercial, sport pilot, flight instructor renewal licenses (not sure if ones after private were in 1982 or later)
Mom’s licenses – Private, Instrument, Commercial, Multi-engine, Flight Instructor, advance ground school instructor
Certified in operating Hot Air Balloon and Aerobatics (not sure if she had a license or how that’s classified)
Co-owned French/Belgium antique “Stampe” bi-plane and rebuilt it with her husband
Built an experimental plane called a “Smith Mini-Plane” with husband
Co-operated the Blue Ridge County Airport with her husband in Martinsville, Virginia for 15 years and was an instructor there
Was a flight instructor at Averett University in Danville, Virginia
Received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award (FAA’s highest award) in 2018
Wall of Honor profiles are provided by the honoree or the donor who added their name to the Wall of Honor. The Museum cannot validate all facts contained in the profiles.