Usage conditions may apply for digital images, video, and sound recordings linked within SOVA collections. While digital content may be restricted, SOVA collection descriptions and catalog records are available CC0 for re-use. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
National Air and Space Museum Archives
Patty Wagstaff Papers
Summary
- Collection ID:
- NASM.2005.0053
- Creators:
-
Wagstaff, Patty.
- Dates:
-
bulk 1984 - 2004
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
10.2 Cubic feet(34 box)
- Repository:
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of ten cubic feet of magazines, newspaper articles, flight sequences, photographs, correspondence and airshow programs chronicling the aerobatic career of Patty Wagstaff.
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
In 1991, Patty Wagstaff became the first woman to win the title of US National Aerobatic Champion, a title she then successfully defended in 1992 and 1993. Wagstaff, now based in St. Augustine, Florida, was raised in Japan and worked as a model and a shipwreck diver in Australia before moving to Alaska in 1978. There she began flight instruction in a Cessna 185 on floats and earned her private pilot license in 1979. Wagstaff moved quickly to earn her commercial and instrument ratings for single and multiengine aircraft and seaplanes. She entered her first aerobatic competition in 1984 and moved to the Unlimited category (most proficient) in only two years. Wagstaff was a six-time member of the US Aerobatic Team, which competes in world competition every two years, until her retirement from competition in 1996. Today, Wagstaff is a premier aerobatic pilot in air shows throughout the United States, performing dynamic and precise routines in her Extra 300L. She is also a commercially rated helicopter pilot, a flight instructor for unlimited aerobatics, and she flies for motion pictures and television. Wagstaff is a four-time winner of the Betty Skelton First Lady of Aerobatics Trophy and was the 1995 recipient of the National Air and Space Museum Trophy for Current Achievement in Aviation. She has written, with Ann Cooper, her autobiography, Fire and Air: A Life on the Edge. The aircraft in which she became US National Aerobatic Champion is the Extra 260, a German-built aircraft which is on display in the Pioneers of Flight gallery of the National Air and Space Museum. In 2004, Wagstaff was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
Administration
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Patty Wagstaff, Gift, 2005
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access.
Preferred Citation
Patty Wagstaff Papers, Accession number 2005-0053, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Use
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
Keywords
Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
---|---|---|---|
Aeronautics -- Exhibitions | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Aeronautics -- Competitions | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Stunt flying | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Extra 300L | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Correspondence | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Periodicals | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Newspaper clippings | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Photographs | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Programs | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
National Air and Space Museum Archives
14390 Air & Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, VA 20151
NASMRefDesk@si.edu