Betty Scott – Possibly the First American Woman Aviator
A Female Hall of Famer
In the early 20th century, air planes were only beginning to take off as a new, riveting technology and women were at the end of the list for potential flyers. Blanche “Betty” Scott, however, was ahead of her time, becoming possibly the first female aviator in America.
From an early age, Betty was considered a tomboy for the times. She became interested in automobiles as her father was a rich, successful businessman. Betty became most well-known for her transcontinental road trip across the United States 1910 from New York to San Francisco. At the time, there were only about 220 miles of paved roads in cities, but Betty reported that the car she drove faired the journey well. She was the second woman to do it, so she kept going onto more ambitious feats.
Publicity surrounding her adventure caught the eye of American aviator Glenn Curtiss, whom Betty had asked to receive flying lessons from. In fact, she was the only woman to have one on one instruction with Curtiss. On September 6, 1910, she’d take off.
On her first day at the Glenn Curtiss Exhibition Company in Hammondsport, New York, she attended a pre-flight briefing. Glenn wasn’t very confident in her ability to fly or operate mechanics since she was a woman, so he had her start off simply driving around a farmer’s field to get used to the various buttons and levers on the dash. Once she could handle that, he would consider letting her lift her wheels. The next day, he thinks that perhaps she should have another go around in the field, just to make sure she’s proficient. By the third day, Glenn claimed he didn’t have time to spend on her and that she could spend another day taxiing in the field. Well, while she was doing so, the limiter on the throttle Glenn had installed didn’t work. It’s not fully known how it happened, but the plane gained enough speed to lift Betty off the ground about 40 feet in the air before gently landing. Whether the throttle slipped or Betty meant to make the flight, it was dubbed as potentially the first flight ever taken by a women.
Shortly after, Betty became the first female in America to fly at a public event, and to fly long distance—60 miles non-stop. In 2005, Betty was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Though Bessica Medlar Raiche was titled the official first female aviator by the Aeronautical Society of America just 10 days after Betty’s potentially unintentional flight, Betty still remains a pioneer for women in aviation.
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