National Aviation Hall of Fame

06/12/2026

NAHF Enshrinee Betty Skelton Frankman grew up with a well-established love for aviation, earning her pilot’s license as a teenager. Encountering barriers for women in commercial and military aviation, Frankman instead turned towards exhibition flying. Her professional aerobatic career began in 1946 at the Southeastern Air Exposition. She flew her first official shows at the same time the new U.S. Navy exhibition team, the Blue Angels, flew their first official shows. In 1948, Frankman won her first International Female Aerobatic Championship. She won her second and third consecutive International Female Aerobatic Championships in 1949 and 1950. Also in 1949, she set a women’s altitude record of 29,050 feet (8,854 meters) in a Piper Super Cub. She flew demonstration flights of the Beech T-24 for the Air Force evaluation team at the request of fellow NAHF Enshrinees Walter and Olive Ann Beech.

By the early 1950s, Frankman had accomplished the highest achievements in aerobatic flying and decided to move on to other endeavors. She did a few odd jobs before meeting the founder of NASCAR, Bill France, while flying charter flights out of Raleigh, North Carolina. France convinced her to drive at Daytona Beach during Speed Week where she not only drove the pace car, but she also set a stock car record. She found herself a new record-setting career. She became the auto industry's first woman test driver. She was part of the team that drove a 1955 Dodge 365 miles per hour at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. Frankman set a Women’s Land Speed Record of 276 miles (430kph) per hour average with one of her one-way runs topping out at 316 miles per hour (509 kph). She also set a transcontinental speed record and earned four Feminine World Land Speed Records. In 1959, Skelton became the first woman to undergo the same astronaut tests that the original Mercury 7 astronauts had endured for a media piece for NASA. She knew that there was no real possibility of NASA accepting women into the astronaut corps at that time, but nonetheless she went into the tests determined to convince them that a woman could successfully pass every one of them.

06/10/2026

NAHF Enshrinee Katherine Stinson grew up dreaming of being a concert pianist, not an aviator. In 1911, a balloon ride inspired Stinson to pursue a way to pay for her musical aspirations via the burgeoning world of aviation. She went to Max Lillie’s Flying School in Chicago and convinced Lilllie to make her his first female student. Within two months, she became a licensed pilot (only the fourth American woman to do so). What started out as a means to pursue a career in music, quickly became her career itself, as Stinson went on to become a popular, internationally recognized stunt and exhibition flyer.

In 1915, Stinson, her mother, and her siblings (including sister Marjorie and brother Eddie) incorporated the Stinson School of Flying in San Antonio, Texas. Both Katherine and her sister Marjorie served as instructors, brother Eddie as the chief mechanic, and mother Emma Beaver Stinson as the business manager.

Stinson was a woman of many firsts. She was the first woman to fly at night. On July 18, 1915 at Cicero Field in Chicago, Illinois, Stinson became the first woman to perform a loop in an aircraft. Also in 1915, in Los Angeles, California, Stinson became the first woman to perform night skywriting when she wrote the word CAL in the Los Angeles sky. Between 1916-1917, Stinson became the first woman to fly in Asia, performing exhibition flights in China and Japan. Finally, in 1918, Stinson was the first woman authorized to carry U.S. mail, flying a route between New York City and Chicago.

06/09/2026

Volunteers are part of what makes the National Aviation Hall of Fame so special. Their hard work behind the scenes helps us preserve and enhance the experiences that inspire visitors of all ages through curiosity, innovation, and a love of aviation history.

If you’d like to make a difference as a volunteer, contact us at 937-256-0944 ext. 16 or visit nationalaviation.org/contact

06/08/2026

On June 8, 1959 at Edwards Air Force Base in California, NAHF Enshrinee Scott Crossfield makes the first unpowered glide flight of the North American Aviation X-15-1 hypersonic aircraft with the flight lasting five minutes. Crossfield would go on to fly the X-15 many more times, reaching speeds of up to Mach 2.97 (about three times the speed of sound) and altitudes of more than 88,000 feet before the project was turned over to the NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Airforce.

06/05/2026

NAHF Enshrinee Phoebe Omlie was an aviation pioneer, barrier-breaker, and fearless aerial performer. In 1921, she began her own air show with husband Vernon Omlie called the Phoebe Fairgrave Flying Circus, later they combined forces with accomplished stunt flier Glenn Messer to run the Messer-Fairgrave Flying Circus. Stunts this team performed included mid-air plane-to-plane transfer, hanging from the plane by their teeth, and parachute jumps. On July 10, 1922, Omlie achieved the highest parachute jump by a woman at a distance of 15,200 feet. In 1927, she became the first woman to receive both an Federal Aviation Administration aircraft mechanic’s license and a transport pilot’s license.

Omlie participated, and racked up wins, in an array of air races including: the 1929 First National Women's Air Derby (came in first in her aircraft’s class), the 1930 Dixie Derby Air Race, the 1931 Transcontinental Handicap Sweepstakes Derby, and the 1931 National Air Races in Cleveland (this was the first year women were allowed to compete). In this time she also became a charter member of the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of licensed women pilots whose first president was fellow NAHF Enshrinee Amelia Earhart.

Omlie supported President Roosevelt during his presidential campaign, and he later assigned her as Special Adviser for Air Intelligence to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) making her the first woman to be appointed to a federal aviation position. While serving in this post, she worked on a variety of projects including: conducting a nation-wide survey of the Federal Airways System and running an air-marking program that would paint approximately 16,000 markers across the United States for easier aerial navigation. Later working with the Tennessee Bureau of Aeronautics, Omlie established a program to train women flight instructors. The first class of 10 women graduated in February 1943. These women would go on to instruct men and women pilots in both the military and civilian worlds, including the USAAF Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs).

06/04/2026

Blast into a world where aviation and science fiction collide at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force with "Iconic Starfighters: Rivals of the Silver Screen," now on display through Dec. 31, 2026. Continue the adventure at the Joe Clark Innovation Lab with interactive experiences for future innovators. We hope to see you this summer! 🚀

06/03/2026

June 3, 1974 was NAHF Enshrinee Russell W. Meyer Jr.’s first day working at the Cessna Aircraft Company. He had been head-hunted by the then-Chairman and CEO of Cessna fellow NAHF Enshrinee Dwane Wallace who asked Meyer to join the company as an executive vice president. Meyer would go on to be with the company for over 50 years, serving as the organization’s Chairman and CEO. Twenty years later Meyer would be a tireless, essential proponent of the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994, which led to major product liability reform, which led to the creation of thousands of new jobs.

06/02/2026

NAHF Enshrinee Lincoln Beachey is one of history’s first and most influential aerobatic fliers. Beachey began his aerial career in dirigibles, being hired by fellow NAHF Enshrinee Thomas Baldwin to serve first as a mechanic for the fleet of dirigibles he was building and then as a dirigible pilot. He then quickly joined forces with fellow NAHF Enshrinee and dirigible pilot Roy Knabenshue and the two hit the exhibition circuit. Knabenshue landed a gig with a brand-new amusement park in Arlington, VA; to drum up attention for his aerial shows, Knabenshue planned a dirigible flight across the Potomac to land on the White House roof. Beachey successfully convinced Knabenshue to make him the pilot for this flight, and on June 14, 1906, he took off. He first stopped at the Washington Monument before sailing on and landing on the edge of the White House lawn. He drew a large crowd before being shooed off by the police. He then flew around the Capitol building before returning to the amusement park. This flight gained Beachey his fame, and he continued to build that fame through his unparalleled abilities to fly dirigibles (and later airplanes), performing stunts and winning races.

Soon enough, Beachey moved on from dirigibles to airplanes, learning to fly from fellow NAHF Enshrinee Glenn Curtiss after he was hired to join Curtiss’ exhibition team. Like with dirigibles, Beachey took to flying an airplane like a fish to water. He was the first to fly upside down, quickly mastering the maneuver as well as a large variety of death-defying stunts including the loop-to-loop (he was the first American to perform one), and his famous “death dip” in which he flew straight towards the ground at full speed before pulling up at the last minute. He was also the first to purposefully perform a tail-slide, the first to fly inside a building, and the first to discover how to recover from a spin. He was the pioneer for many aerial stunts. In 1911, he flew over Niagara Falls, flying from the American side, dipping over Horseshoe Falls, flying under the Honeymoon Bridge, and finally landing on the Canadian side of the Falls. He eventually left Curtiss and joined forces with famous race-car driver Barney Oldfield; the two went on an exhibition tour during which Beachey would fly just above Oldfield’s head as he raced down dirt tracks.

In 1915, Beachey’s luck ran out. Flying a monoplane through a series of intense stunts including flying upside down and looping, he was performing one of his signature dives when his aircraft’s wings crumpled resulting in the plane crashing into the water, killing Beachey when he was unable to escape the wreckage.

06/01/2026

Get to know Dr. Peggy Chabrian, an aviation educator, advocate, founder of Women in Aviation International, and a National Aviation Hall of Fame Class of 2024 Enshrinee.
Dr. Chabrian began her career as a university professor and administrator, focusing on aviation education.
She became a flight instructor and later earned the role of FAA-designated pilot examiner, contributing to aviation training and safety.
In 1994, Dr. Chabrian founded Women in Aviation International (WAI), an organization dedicated to the advancement and support of women in the aviation industry.
She is a leading advocate for gender diversity in the aviation industry, working to increase opportunities and visibility for women in all aviation roles.
👉Get to know Dr. Chabrian and other Enshrinees during a special VIP day at the Dayton Air Show on June 14.
Learn more and get tickets: https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/nmeoQVhn-b6G5sjA0iqG_Q

06/01/2026