The Women of The Stephens Akro
By
Amelia Kraskouskas
on
Of the planes hanging in the Museum’s Great Gallery, only one is positioned on its side as opposed to parallel to the floor. This plane is the Stephens Akro, a monowing aerobatic plane originally designed for Margaret Ritchie, a stunt pilot from the 1960s.
Margaret’s husband George bought her her first plane, a clipped-wing Taylorcraft, in 1963. Nicknamed “The Flying Grandmother,” she won the 1966 National Women’s Aerobatic Championship in her Taylorcraft but decided she wanted something smaller and more maneuverable as she became better at flying.
George teamed up with two others at Flabob Airport in Riverside, California, Clayton Stephens and Ed Allenbaugh, to design his wife a better plane, which would be the Stephens Akro. Among decisions they made to improve its stunt-flying capabilities, the plane was also built with an expanded canopy to accommodate Margaret’s beehive hairdo, a popular style at the time. The prototype of the Akro made its first flight in July 1967 and as her husband described it, it was love at first flight for Margaret.
She noted that the plane was capable of much more than she could even accomplish at the time and was far more responsive than her previous plane, which took some adjustment. Margaret took second place at the 1967 National Women’s Aerobatic Championship in Reno, just two months into her time with her new plane. The Akro was a success in terms of capability and soon plans for the plane were available to home builders.
Tragically, Margaret Ritchie died in an accident in 1968 at age 43 when she lost consciousness while flying. She was buried with her Akro, which had been chopped into pieces following the crash.
Around the same time, a woman named Joann Osterud, who grew up in Seattle, was just beginning her flight career. She got her license in 1969 and worked for Lynden Air Transport in Alaska as a pilot and secretary. She later became the first female pilot hired by Alaska Airlines in 1975, making her the sixth female commercial airline pilot in the United States.
As she continued her commercial pilot career with Alaska Airlines and then later United Airlines, Joann also began stunt-flying in her free time. In 1976, she bought a Stephens Akro from Jerry Zimmerman, who had built the plane himself. The Akro was one of a few aerobatic planes she trained and flew in during her stunt career.
In 1989, Joann broke the record for most outside loops, beating the previous record of 62 set by Dorothy Stenzel in 1931. In reference to the feat, Stenzel told Sports Illustrated, “I believed it was well past time the record was broken.” Joann completed 208 loops in just over 2 hours, raising $1,364.67 for United Way of Southeastern Oregon by having donors sponsor individual loops. She planned to only do 200 loops but kept going because one of her favorite songs by the Eagles was playing.
In 1991, she made history again by breaking the records for longest inverted flight and longest continuous inverted flight by flying upside down for 4 hours and 38 minutes. She trained for the inversions by hanging upside-down in a pilots’ seat attached to the ceiling of her garage for 20 minutes at a time. Her stunt-flying career ended in 1997 when an accident totaled her plane, but left her, luckily, unharmed.
Joann donated her plane to The Museum of Flight in 1994, where it now hangs on its side in the Great Gallery. In addition to the plane, the Museum also has images from her air show performances, including the one at the top of this article. Joann Osterud passed away in 2017, leaving behind an inspirational legacy of fearlessly breaking barriers guided by her passion.