Patty Wagstaff

Patty Wagstaff, born Patricia Rosalie Kearns Combs on 11 September 1951, is an American aviator and U.S. national aerobatic champion. She began flying after moving to Alaska in 1978, and qualified for the US National Aerobatic Team in 1985, competing nationally and internationally until 1996 and winning gold, silver and bronze medals in international events. In 1991 she won the first of three US National Aerobatic Championships, the first woman to do so, and she won the Betty Skelton First Lady of Aerobatics award six times from 1988 to 1994. In 1996 she was the top scoring US pilot at the World Aerobatic Championship and the first winner of the Charlie Hillard Trophy. Her Extra 260 airplane was displayed beside Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Her honours include the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2004. Based in St. Augustine, Florida, she runs an aviation safety company, flies airshows, serves as a film stunt pilot and flight instructor, and has trained Kenya Wildlife Service pilots.