Betty Miller (pilot)

Betty Jean Verret Miller (April 6, 1926 – February 21, 2018) was the first female pilot to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean, which she did in May 1963. Specifically, she flew from Oakland, California, USA to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, to deliver the plane (a twin-engine Piper) to a buyer. The flight also made her the first woman to fly solo from Oakland, California to Honolulu, Hawaii which she did in just over 17 hours. She started the first leg of the epic flight on April 25, 1963 from Oakland California and took over 17 hours to reach Honolulu. On May 5, she left Honolulu for the second leg of her flight to Canton Island, next Fiji and then New Caledonia. She landed in Brisbane, Australia, on May 13, 1963, Miller climbed out of the plane wearing a cotton dress and high heels to the cheers of a large crowd. The total elapsed flying time for the flight over the Pacific was 51 hours, 38 minutes. In recognition of her flight, she received the Federal Aviation Administration’s Gold Medal for Exceptional Service from President Kennedy, and later President Johnson presented her with the Harmon International Trophy for Aviatrix of the Year (1963).

Pilot Max Conrad suggested she make the flight over the Pacific and helped design the extra gas tanks for the plane. William Piper, who manufactured Piper airplanes, also helped her plan the trip.

She had been flying since 1952 and had become the 38th woman ever rated as a helicopter pilot. She was also an instructor, dispatcher, bookkeeper and maintenance scheduler at Santa Monica Flyers flight and ground school (which she co-founded with her husband Chuck) as well as an office manager. In 1961, she became the first woman to solo fly a Hughes Model 269A helicopter, and also helped set physical standards for female astronauts that are still used today by those participating in physical tests at the Lovelace Clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Miller died on February 21, 2018, at the age of 91.