Patty Wagstaff
Encyclopedia
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Wagstaff traveled all over the world as a child: her father was a pilot for Japan Airlines
Japan Airlines
is an airline headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. It is the flag carrier of Japan and its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Tokyo International Airport , as well as Nagoya's Chūbu Centrair International Airport and Osaka's Kansai International Airport...
, and Wagstaff would travel to Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
to prepare for her own career as a pilot. Her first lesson was on a Cessna 185
Cessna 185
-Specification for differing configurations:-References:* Jan Churchill, Hit My Smoke: Forward Air Controllers in Southeast Asia, Sunflower University Press, Manhattan KS, ISBN 0-89745-215-1...
; since then, she has earned licenses to fly multiple aircraft, including helicopters. Her sister, Toni, is a pilot for Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines was a major American airline now merged with United Airlines. On May 3, 2010, Continental Airlines, Inc. and UAL, Inc. announced a merger via a stock swap, and on October 1, 2010, the merger closed and UAL changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc...
.
In 1985, Wagstaff qualified for the US Aerobatic Team and competed until 1996. She was the top U.S. medal winner, winning gold, silver and bronze medals in international competition for several years. In 1987, she earned the Rolly Cole memorial award for her contributions to the aerobatic sports, and in 1991, she won her first of three US National Aerobatic Championships. In 1991, Western Flyer's Magazine readers chose her as their favorite pilot. She was the International aerobatic champion in 1993. In 1994, her Goodrich-sponsored
Goodrich Corporation
The Goodrich Corporation , formerly the B.F. Goodrich Company, is an American aerospace manufacturing company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in Akron, Ohio in 1870 as Goodrich, Tew & Co. by Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich. The company name was changed to the "B.F...
Extra 260
Extra Flugzeugbau
The Extra Aircraft company was established in 1980 as Extra Flugzeugbau in Germany by Walter Extra, an aerobatic pilot, to design and develop his own aerobatic aircraft. The company is located at Dinslaken airfield in Hünxe, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany....
airplane
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
was put on display next to Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
's Lockheed Vega
Lockheed Vega
|-See also:-References:NotesCitationsBibliography* Allen, Richard Sanders. Revolution in the Sky: Those Fabulous Lockheeds, The Pilots Who Flew Them. Brattleboro, Vermont: The Stephen Greene Press, 1964....
at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
's National Air and Space Museum
National Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution holds the largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft in the world. It was established in 1976. Located in Washington, D.C., United States, it is a center for research into the history and science of aviation and...
.
From 1988 to 1994, she won the Betty Skelton First Lady of Aerobatics award six times in a row.
The awards kept on coming, and in 1996, she was the top scoring American pilot at the World Aerobatics Championship. That year also, she won the GAN
Gan
Gan may refer to:-Computing and telecommunications:*.gan, the file extension for documents created by GanttProject*Generic Access Network formerly known as Unlicensed Mobile Access *Global Area Network- Mythology :...
and Flyers Magazine Reader's Choice awards as favorite female pilot, as well as the Charlie Hillard
Charlie Hillard
Charlie Hillard was an American aerobatics pilot, and the first American to win the world aerobatics title.Hillard formed the Red Devils aerobatic team in 1971 with fellow pilots Gene Soucy and Tom Poberezny...
trophy.
Wagstaff's honors were not limited to awards and championships, and in 1997, she received her first Hall of Fame induction, being inducted into the Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
Aviation Hall of Fame as well as the International Women's Aviation Hall of Fame. In 1997, she was the recipient of the NAA
NAA
NAA can refer to:* 1-naphthaleneacetic acid - synthetic auxin * N-Acetylaspartate, a neurochemical often imaged in magnetic resonance spectroscopy* NAA, a radio station in Cutler, Maine, operated by the United States Navy...
Paul Tissandier
Paul Tissandier
Paul Tissandier was a French aviator.-Biography:Tissandier was the son of aviator Gaston Tissandier and nephew of Albert Tissandier, Gaston's brother....
diploma, and she won the Bill Barber
Bill Barber
William Charles Barber is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played twelve seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers in the National Hockey League . As part of the famed LCB line, Barber helped lead the Flyers to the franchise's two Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975...
award for sportsmanship in 1998. In 2002, she won the Katherine and Marjorie Stinson
Katherine Stinson
Katherine Stinson was an early female flier. She was the fourth woman in the United States to obtain a pilot's certificate, which she earned on July 24, 1912, at the age of 21 while residing in Pine Bluff, AR...
award, and in 2004, she was elected into what is arguably aviation's most prestigious Hall of Fame, the National Aviation Hall of Fame
National Aviation Hall of Fame
The American National Aviation Hall of Fame is located at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, east Dayton, Ohio...
. In December 2006 Wagstaff was inducted into the International Council of Air Shows Foundation Hall of Fame.
Based in St. Augustine, Florida, Wagstaff continues working in the aviation field as an airshow pilot, stunt pilot for films, consultant, flight instructor and author. She is Emeritus Board Member of the Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum. She was on the Presidential Advisory Committee to the Centennial of Flight commission. She flies airshows across North America in a variety of airplanes including the Extra, T-6, P51 Mustang and others.
Patty Wagstaff has been featured numerous times in Microsoft's Flight Simulator
Microsoft Flight Simulator
Microsoft Flight Simulator is a series of flight simulator programs for the Microsoft Windows operating system, although it was marketed as a video game. It is one of the longest-running, best-known and most comprehensive home flight simulator series...
series.
She was also arrested on July 31, 2008 for drunk driving and resisting arrest at the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. She pled no contest to the charges, was fined $500 and ordered not to drive for eight months. However, she was allowed to keep flying in high performance aerobatic aircraft despite other pilots previously having their certificates revoked or suspended for similar actions.