14 Facts About Sheila Scott

Sheila Christine Scott OBE was an English aviator who broke over 100 aviation records through her long-distance flight endeavours, which included a 34,000-mile "world and a half" flight in 1971.

Sheila Scott was the first European woman to fly solo around the world.

Sheila Scott had a short marriage from 1945 to 1950 to Rupert Bellamy.

Sheila Scott's first aircraft was a Thruxton Jackaroo G-APAM, which she owned from 1959 to 1964.

In May 1965 the Piper Aircraft company loaned their Piper Comanche 400 European demonstrator N8515P to Sheila Scott, enabling her to set a number of European speed records for its class, such as return trips from London to The Hague, Brussels, Dublin, and Belfast.

Sheila Scott was the only solo female pilot participating in the race, and experienced problems on the course.

Sheila Scott was plagued by technical problems during the race, and was stranded for several days due to broken navigational equipment.

Sheila Scott sold the aircraft in 1971, and some years later it crashed following engine failure.

Sheila Scott then continued via Anchorage and San Francisco to Hawaii, before crossing the equator again on her way to Darwin, Australia.

Sheila Scott was the founder and the first governor of the British branch of the Ninety-Nines, an association for licensed women pilots which had been created by Amelia Earhart.

Sheila Scott was a member of the International Association of Licensed Women Pilots and of the Whirly-Girls, an association of women helicopter pilots.

Sheila Scott was a published author as well as an aviator.

Sheila Scott wrote I Must Fly in 1968 and On Top of the World in 1973, the latter being published in the US as Barefoot in the Sky in 1974.

Sheila Scott was diagnosed with cancer and died at age 66 at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London, in 1988.