Fran Bera was an American aviatrix, record-setting pilot, numerous aviation hall of Fame inductee and the first woman to fly a helicopter with no tail rotor. She was a first-generation American born to Hungarian parents Elizabeth and Fred Sebastian.
From the age of 12, Fran knew she wanted to fly. While attending Lake Odessa High School (near Grand Rapids), young ‘Fanny’ Sebastian, as she was known then, skipped lunch and saved the money for 4 years so she could take flying lessons. In December of 1940, at age 16, she had $80. After telling her parents she was going to a friend's house, she hitchhiked 35 miles to the local airport and hired a flight instructor to teach her. The following month when her instructor informed Fran she would need her parents’ permission to solo, Bera was a little worried about having to confess her recent flying adventures but was able to convince her parents to sign the papers. Afterward, they even encouraged her, saying “Good luck! Do it well.” After graduation from High School in 1942, Fran was too young to join the Women Airforce Service Pilot program. When she was old enough, they had changed their height requirement to 5'4" and she was only 5'1"! Since the WASP was not an option, she went on to secure her commercial pilot license, became a free-fall parachutist and ferried surplus aircraft after World War II. After the ferrying company she worked for went out of business, Fran got her flight instructor ratings in 1946. After, she went to work for Gordon Bera Air Service. She married him in 1947 and in 1950 they relocated to California. She used to joke Gordon "married me to cut down on his overhead".
Fran was one of the first women to be designated as a Federal Aviation Agency Pilot Examiner at the then minimum age of 24. She actually took the test at age 23, and was told to come back after her birthday for the certificate. She never lacked for a job in aviation. “I was having so much fun getting paid for what I loved to do, that I didn’t know I wasn’t liberated,” she said. “I was always so happy to be flying, I never felt discriminated against.” Fran went on to certify over 3,000 pilots during the course of her 25-year examiner career with the Long Beach Flight Standards District Office. She was a chief pilot for several aviation firms, as well as owning and operating her own flight school and aircraft sales business. During the 1960's she worked as a charter pilot, flight operations manager and as an experimental test pilot for Lift Systems Inc., which had developed a new design in rotorcraft with no tail rotor. She became the first woman to fly a helicopter with no tail rotor as their test pilot. She took part, along with 24 other women, in a week-long testing program of potential women astronauts at the Lovelace Clinic in Albuquerque.
One of Fran’s favorite hobbies was air racing where she set an unequaled record as a seven-time winner of the All-Women Transcontinental Air Race, also known as the "Powder Puff Derby". The race dates back to 1929, when 20 women flew from Santa Monica, Calif., to Cleveland, Ohio. Women were not allowed to fly in men’s air races at that time, so they organized their own. Fran was a true record setter having won seven 1st place, four 2nd place, and one 3rd place air racing titles. Her plaque in the Museum of Women Pilots was accidentally engraved "Seven Time Sinner" instead of "Winner", referencing her unsurpassed Powder Puff Derby 1st place finishes, and she refused to let them correct it! From 1953 to 1961, Fran won five of the ATWAR Races. She used her purse money from a finish to pay for her Air Transport Rating. When asked how she managed to dominate the air races, she replied “I guess I just fly faster.” Faster indeed, at full throttle.
Fran set the world altitude record for Class C-1-d in June 1966 in Long Beach, Calif., in a Piper Aztec going up to an incredible 40,194ft! (She had to do the attempt while on oxygen twice as the recording device didn't work properly on the first try.) The record still stands. On March 4, 1975, her name was written into the Congressional Record in A Salute to Women in Aerospace, by the Honorable Don H. Clausen, naming her as one of the dedicated women who were aviation pioneers. She is listed in “Who’s Who in Aviation – 1973, “Two Thousand Notable American Women” and the “Directory of Distinguished Americans – 1985.” A granite plaque in Memory Lane at the International Forest of Friendship in Atchison, Kan., was inscribed with her name in 1978, along with other aviation pioneers. She served on government committees, including the Women’s Advisory Committee on Aviation, and Gov. Ronald Reagan’s Aviation Educational Taskforce in California.
She worked the last 15 years of her career for Beech Aircraft Company as a sales representative, demonstrating and selling new aircraft in Southern California. Fran also named the popular Beechcraft 76 light twin the "Duchess" and won $150 for her moniker from Walter Beech. She retired in 1985. Fran said, “When I retire, I’ll get my own plane and go where I want to go, when I want to go.” and bought her own airplane, enjoying many trips and mentoring young people interested in aviation.
In 1993, she flew her single-engine Piper 235 Cherokee to Siberia. “Just for the fun of it”. Fran decided she needed a faster plane, explaining, “I’m getting older, I need to get places faster.” and purchased a Piper Comanche 260B complete with all the latest avionics, which included autopilot and GPS. Her white Commanche was painted with hot pink and fuchsia cheatlines, a hot pink spinner and had the words ‘Kick Ass’ stenciled under the tail section. At age 70, Fran decided she needed a challenge got a Citation Jet type rating.
Throughout her life, Fran was an active member many aviation organizations including the Whirly-Girls, licensed women helicopter pilots; Silver Wings; Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association; Women in Aviation International; and The Ninety-Nines. Of all her affiliations, The Ninety-Nines was the one nearest and dearest to her heart. She was a life member of the organization, mentored many women and helped them become pilots through the 99s. Her hangar at KSEE was built not only to house her aircraft but to become the 'clubhouse' for the San Diego Chapter of the 99s.
Many awards were bestowed upon Fran during her life, including several for career achievement. In 2004, her name was placed on the Wall of Honor at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, on a permanent memorial dedicated to honor the pioneers of flight. In 2005, she received the Livingston Award by the Whirly-Girls (she was member #56) for contributions to the helicopter industry. March of 2006 saw her inducted into the Women in Aviation Pioneer Hall of Fame. In November of that same year, she was named “Elder Statesman of Aviation” by the National Aeronautic Association in Washington, D.C. Bera is a member of the UFOs, also known as United Flying Octogenarians.In 2007, she was awarded the FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, and inducted into the International Aviation Hall of Fame.Not done yet, in 2010, she received the Award of Achievement for her contributions to aviation from the Ninety-Nines. Following that, in 2011, Bera accepted the National Aeronautics Association Katherine Wright Award in Washington, D.C. for a lifetime working in aviation, setting records and mentoring young people.
Fran was married three times. Her last husband to whom she was married over 40 years, Ted McLin, died in 2016. She has no children of her own but is survived by her stepchildren and many nieces and nephews.
More about Fran -
https://airandspace.si.edu/support/wall-of-honor/fran-bera
https://www.wai.org/pioneers/2006/fran-bera
http://sandiegoairandspace.org/hall-of-fame/honoree/fran-bera
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2013/august/01/pilots-fran-bera
http://legacy.sandiegouniontribune.com/uniontrib/20070121/news_lz1j21force.html
All about Fran, in her own words- https://vimeo.com/112569600
From the age of 12, Fran knew she wanted to fly. While attending Lake Odessa High School (near Grand Rapids), young ‘Fanny’ Sebastian, as she was known then, skipped lunch and saved the money for 4 years so she could take flying lessons. In December of 1940, at age 16, she had $80. After telling her parents she was going to a friend's house, she hitchhiked 35 miles to the local airport and hired a flight instructor to teach her. The following month when her instructor informed Fran she would need her parents’ permission to solo, Bera was a little worried about having to confess her recent flying adventures but was able to convince her parents to sign the papers. Afterward, they even encouraged her, saying “Good luck! Do it well.” After graduation from High School in 1942, Fran was too young to join the Women Airforce Service Pilot program. When she was old enough, they had changed their height requirement to 5'4" and she was only 5'1"! Since the WASP was not an option, she went on to secure her commercial pilot license, became a free-fall parachutist and ferried surplus aircraft after World War II. After the ferrying company she worked for went out of business, Fran got her flight instructor ratings in 1946. After, she went to work for Gordon Bera Air Service. She married him in 1947 and in 1950 they relocated to California. She used to joke Gordon "married me to cut down on his overhead".
Fran was one of the first women to be designated as a Federal Aviation Agency Pilot Examiner at the then minimum age of 24. She actually took the test at age 23, and was told to come back after her birthday for the certificate. She never lacked for a job in aviation. “I was having so much fun getting paid for what I loved to do, that I didn’t know I wasn’t liberated,” she said. “I was always so happy to be flying, I never felt discriminated against.” Fran went on to certify over 3,000 pilots during the course of her 25-year examiner career with the Long Beach Flight Standards District Office. She was a chief pilot for several aviation firms, as well as owning and operating her own flight school and aircraft sales business. During the 1960's she worked as a charter pilot, flight operations manager and as an experimental test pilot for Lift Systems Inc., which had developed a new design in rotorcraft with no tail rotor. She became the first woman to fly a helicopter with no tail rotor as their test pilot. She took part, along with 24 other women, in a week-long testing program of potential women astronauts at the Lovelace Clinic in Albuquerque.
One of Fran’s favorite hobbies was air racing where she set an unequaled record as a seven-time winner of the All-Women Transcontinental Air Race, also known as the "Powder Puff Derby". The race dates back to 1929, when 20 women flew from Santa Monica, Calif., to Cleveland, Ohio. Women were not allowed to fly in men’s air races at that time, so they organized their own. Fran was a true record setter having won seven 1st place, four 2nd place, and one 3rd place air racing titles. Her plaque in the Museum of Women Pilots was accidentally engraved "Seven Time Sinner" instead of "Winner", referencing her unsurpassed Powder Puff Derby 1st place finishes, and she refused to let them correct it! From 1953 to 1961, Fran won five of the ATWAR Races. She used her purse money from a finish to pay for her Air Transport Rating. When asked how she managed to dominate the air races, she replied “I guess I just fly faster.” Faster indeed, at full throttle.
Fran set the world altitude record for Class C-1-d in June 1966 in Long Beach, Calif., in a Piper Aztec going up to an incredible 40,194ft! (She had to do the attempt while on oxygen twice as the recording device didn't work properly on the first try.) The record still stands. On March 4, 1975, her name was written into the Congressional Record in A Salute to Women in Aerospace, by the Honorable Don H. Clausen, naming her as one of the dedicated women who were aviation pioneers. She is listed in “Who’s Who in Aviation – 1973, “Two Thousand Notable American Women” and the “Directory of Distinguished Americans – 1985.” A granite plaque in Memory Lane at the International Forest of Friendship in Atchison, Kan., was inscribed with her name in 1978, along with other aviation pioneers. She served on government committees, including the Women’s Advisory Committee on Aviation, and Gov. Ronald Reagan’s Aviation Educational Taskforce in California.
She worked the last 15 years of her career for Beech Aircraft Company as a sales representative, demonstrating and selling new aircraft in Southern California. Fran also named the popular Beechcraft 76 light twin the "Duchess" and won $150 for her moniker from Walter Beech. She retired in 1985. Fran said, “When I retire, I’ll get my own plane and go where I want to go, when I want to go.” and bought her own airplane, enjoying many trips and mentoring young people interested in aviation.
In 1993, she flew her single-engine Piper 235 Cherokee to Siberia. “Just for the fun of it”. Fran decided she needed a faster plane, explaining, “I’m getting older, I need to get places faster.” and purchased a Piper Comanche 260B complete with all the latest avionics, which included autopilot and GPS. Her white Commanche was painted with hot pink and fuchsia cheatlines, a hot pink spinner and had the words ‘Kick Ass’ stenciled under the tail section. At age 70, Fran decided she needed a challenge got a Citation Jet type rating.
Throughout her life, Fran was an active member many aviation organizations including the Whirly-Girls, licensed women helicopter pilots; Silver Wings; Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association; Women in Aviation International; and The Ninety-Nines. Of all her affiliations, The Ninety-Nines was the one nearest and dearest to her heart. She was a life member of the organization, mentored many women and helped them become pilots through the 99s. Her hangar at KSEE was built not only to house her aircraft but to become the 'clubhouse' for the San Diego Chapter of the 99s.
Many awards were bestowed upon Fran during her life, including several for career achievement. In 2004, her name was placed on the Wall of Honor at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, on a permanent memorial dedicated to honor the pioneers of flight. In 2005, she received the Livingston Award by the Whirly-Girls (she was member #56) for contributions to the helicopter industry. March of 2006 saw her inducted into the Women in Aviation Pioneer Hall of Fame. In November of that same year, she was named “Elder Statesman of Aviation” by the National Aeronautic Association in Washington, D.C. Bera is a member of the UFOs, also known as United Flying Octogenarians.In 2007, she was awarded the FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, and inducted into the International Aviation Hall of Fame.Not done yet, in 2010, she received the Award of Achievement for her contributions to aviation from the Ninety-Nines. Following that, in 2011, Bera accepted the National Aeronautics Association Katherine Wright Award in Washington, D.C. for a lifetime working in aviation, setting records and mentoring young people.
Fran was married three times. Her last husband to whom she was married over 40 years, Ted McLin, died in 2016. She has no children of her own but is survived by her stepchildren and many nieces and nephews.
More about Fran -
https://airandspace.si.edu/support/wall-of-honor/fran-bera
https://www.wai.org/pioneers/2006/fran-bera
http://sandiegoairandspace.org/hall-of-fame/honoree/fran-bera
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2013/august/01/pilots-fran-bera
http://legacy.sandiegouniontribune.com/uniontrib/20070121/news_lz1j21force.html
All about Fran, in her own words- https://vimeo.com/112569600
Fran Bera was an American aviatrix, record-setting pilot, numerous aviation hall of Fame inductee and the first woman to fly a helicopter with no tail rotor. She was a first-generation American born to Hungarian parents Elizabeth and Fred Sebastian.
From the age of 12, Fran knew she wanted to fly. While attending Lake Odessa High School (near Grand Rapids), young ‘Fanny’ Sebastian, as she was known then, skipped lunch and saved the money for 4 years so she could take flying lessons. In December of 1940, at age 16, she had $80. After telling her parents she was going to a friend's house, she hitchhiked 35 miles to the local airport and hired a flight instructor to teach her. The following month when her instructor informed Fran she would need her parents’ permission to solo, Bera was a little worried about having to confess her recent flying adventures but was able to convince her parents to sign the papers. Afterward, they even encouraged her, saying “Good luck! Do it well.” After graduation from High School in 1942, Fran was too young to join the Women Airforce Service Pilot program. When she was old enough, they had changed their height requirement to 5'4" and she was only 5'1"! Since the WASP was not an option, she went on to secure her commercial pilot license, became a free-fall parachutist and ferried surplus aircraft after World War II. After the ferrying company she worked for went out of business, Fran got her flight instructor ratings in 1946. After, she went to work for Gordon Bera Air Service. She married him in 1947 and in 1950 they relocated to California. She used to joke Gordon "married me to cut down on his overhead".
Fran was one of the first women to be designated as a Federal Aviation Agency Pilot Examiner at the then minimum age of 24. She actually took the test at age 23, and was told to come back after her birthday for the certificate. She never lacked for a job in aviation. “I was having so much fun getting paid for what I loved to do, that I didn’t know I wasn’t liberated,” she said. “I was always so happy to be flying, I never felt discriminated against.” Fran went on to certify over 3,000 pilots during the course of her 25-year examiner career with the Long Beach Flight Standards District Office. She was a chief pilot for several aviation firms, as well as owning and operating her own flight school and aircraft sales business. During the 1960's she worked as a charter pilot, flight operations manager and as an experimental test pilot for Lift Systems Inc., which had developed a new design in rotorcraft with no tail rotor. She became the first woman to fly a helicopter with no tail rotor as their test pilot. She took part, along with 24 other women, in a week-long testing program of potential women astronauts at the Lovelace Clinic in Albuquerque.
One of Fran’s favorite hobbies was air racing where she set an unequaled record as a seven-time winner of the All-Women Transcontinental Air Race, also known as the "Powder Puff Derby". The race dates back to 1929, when 20 women flew from Santa Monica, Calif., to Cleveland, Ohio. Women were not allowed to fly in men’s air races at that time, so they organized their own. Fran was a true record setter having won seven 1st place, four 2nd place, and one 3rd place air racing titles. Her plaque in the Museum of Women Pilots was accidentally engraved "Seven Time Sinner" instead of "Winner", referencing her unsurpassed Powder Puff Derby 1st place finishes, and she refused to let them correct it! From 1953 to 1961, Fran won five of the ATWAR Races. She used her purse money from a finish to pay for her Air Transport Rating. When asked how she managed to dominate the air races, she replied “I guess I just fly faster.” Faster indeed, at full throttle.
Fran set the world altitude record for Class C-1-d in June 1966 in Long Beach, Calif., in a Piper Aztec going up to an incredible 40,194ft! (She had to do the attempt while on oxygen twice as the recording device didn't work properly on the first try.) The record still stands. On March 4, 1975, her name was written into the Congressional Record in A Salute to Women in Aerospace, by the Honorable Don H. Clausen, naming her as one of the dedicated women who were aviation pioneers. She is listed in “Who’s Who in Aviation – 1973, “Two Thousand Notable American Women” and the “Directory of Distinguished Americans – 1985.” A granite plaque in Memory Lane at the International Forest of Friendship in Atchison, Kan., was inscribed with her name in 1978, along with other aviation pioneers. She served on government committees, including the Women’s Advisory Committee on Aviation, and Gov. Ronald Reagan’s Aviation Educational Taskforce in California.
She worked the last 15 years of her career for Beech Aircraft Company as a sales representative, demonstrating and selling new aircraft in Southern California. Fran also named the popular Beechcraft 76 light twin the "Duchess" and won $150 for her moniker from Walter Beech. She retired in 1985. Fran said, “When I retire, I’ll get my own plane and go where I want to go, when I want to go.” and bought her own airplane, enjoying many trips and mentoring young people interested in aviation.
In 1993, she flew her single-engine Piper 235 Cherokee to Siberia. “Just for the fun of it”. Fran decided she needed a faster plane, explaining, “I’m getting older, I need to get places faster.” and purchased a Piper Comanche 260B complete with all the latest avionics, which included autopilot and GPS. Her white Commanche was painted with hot pink and fuchsia cheatlines, a hot pink spinner and had the words ‘Kick Ass’ stenciled under the tail section. At age 70, Fran decided she needed a challenge got a Citation Jet type rating.
Throughout her life, Fran was an active member many aviation organizations including the Whirly-Girls, licensed women helicopter pilots; Silver Wings; Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association; Women in Aviation International; and The Ninety-Nines. Of all her affiliations, The Ninety-Nines was the one nearest and dearest to her heart. She was a life member of the organization, mentored many women and helped them become pilots through the 99s. Her hangar at KSEE was built not only to house her aircraft but to become the 'clubhouse' for the San Diego Chapter of the 99s.
Many awards were bestowed upon Fran during her life, including several for career achievement. In 2004, her name was placed on the Wall of Honor at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, on a permanent memorial dedicated to honor the pioneers of flight. In 2005, she received the Livingston Award by the Whirly-Girls (she was member #56) for contributions to the helicopter industry. March of 2006 saw her inducted into the Women in Aviation Pioneer Hall of Fame. In November of that same year, she was named “Elder Statesman of Aviation” by the National Aeronautic Association in Washington, D.C. Bera is a member of the UFOs, also known as United Flying Octogenarians.In 2007, she was awarded the FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, and inducted into the International Aviation Hall of Fame.Not done yet, in 2010, she received the Award of Achievement for her contributions to aviation from the Ninety-Nines. Following that, in 2011, Bera accepted the National Aeronautics Association Katherine Wright Award in Washington, D.C. for a lifetime working in aviation, setting records and mentoring young people.
Fran was married three times. Her last husband to whom she was married over 40 years, Ted McLin, died in 2016. She has no children of her own but is survived by her stepchildren and many nieces and nephews.
More about Fran -
https://airandspace.si.edu/support/wall-of-honor/fran-bera
https://www.wai.org/pioneers/2006/fran-bera
http://sandiegoairandspace.org/hall-of-fame/honoree/fran-bera
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2013/august/01/pilots-fran-bera
http://legacy.sandiegouniontribune.com/uniontrib/20070121/news_lz1j21force.html
All about Fran, in her own words- https://vimeo.com/112569600
From the age of 12, Fran knew she wanted to fly. While attending Lake Odessa High School (near Grand Rapids), young ‘Fanny’ Sebastian, as she was known then, skipped lunch and saved the money for 4 years so she could take flying lessons. In December of 1940, at age 16, she had $80. After telling her parents she was going to a friend's house, she hitchhiked 35 miles to the local airport and hired a flight instructor to teach her. The following month when her instructor informed Fran she would need her parents’ permission to solo, Bera was a little worried about having to confess her recent flying adventures but was able to convince her parents to sign the papers. Afterward, they even encouraged her, saying “Good luck! Do it well.” After graduation from High School in 1942, Fran was too young to join the Women Airforce Service Pilot program. When she was old enough, they had changed their height requirement to 5'4" and she was only 5'1"! Since the WASP was not an option, she went on to secure her commercial pilot license, became a free-fall parachutist and ferried surplus aircraft after World War II. After the ferrying company she worked for went out of business, Fran got her flight instructor ratings in 1946. After, she went to work for Gordon Bera Air Service. She married him in 1947 and in 1950 they relocated to California. She used to joke Gordon "married me to cut down on his overhead".
Fran was one of the first women to be designated as a Federal Aviation Agency Pilot Examiner at the then minimum age of 24. She actually took the test at age 23, and was told to come back after her birthday for the certificate. She never lacked for a job in aviation. “I was having so much fun getting paid for what I loved to do, that I didn’t know I wasn’t liberated,” she said. “I was always so happy to be flying, I never felt discriminated against.” Fran went on to certify over 3,000 pilots during the course of her 25-year examiner career with the Long Beach Flight Standards District Office. She was a chief pilot for several aviation firms, as well as owning and operating her own flight school and aircraft sales business. During the 1960's she worked as a charter pilot, flight operations manager and as an experimental test pilot for Lift Systems Inc., which had developed a new design in rotorcraft with no tail rotor. She became the first woman to fly a helicopter with no tail rotor as their test pilot. She took part, along with 24 other women, in a week-long testing program of potential women astronauts at the Lovelace Clinic in Albuquerque.
One of Fran’s favorite hobbies was air racing where she set an unequaled record as a seven-time winner of the All-Women Transcontinental Air Race, also known as the "Powder Puff Derby". The race dates back to 1929, when 20 women flew from Santa Monica, Calif., to Cleveland, Ohio. Women were not allowed to fly in men’s air races at that time, so they organized their own. Fran was a true record setter having won seven 1st place, four 2nd place, and one 3rd place air racing titles. Her plaque in the Museum of Women Pilots was accidentally engraved "Seven Time Sinner" instead of "Winner", referencing her unsurpassed Powder Puff Derby 1st place finishes, and she refused to let them correct it! From 1953 to 1961, Fran won five of the ATWAR Races. She used her purse money from a finish to pay for her Air Transport Rating. When asked how she managed to dominate the air races, she replied “I guess I just fly faster.” Faster indeed, at full throttle.
Fran set the world altitude record for Class C-1-d in June 1966 in Long Beach, Calif., in a Piper Aztec going up to an incredible 40,194ft! (She had to do the attempt while on oxygen twice as the recording device didn't work properly on the first try.) The record still stands. On March 4, 1975, her name was written into the Congressional Record in A Salute to Women in Aerospace, by the Honorable Don H. Clausen, naming her as one of the dedicated women who were aviation pioneers. She is listed in “Who’s Who in Aviation – 1973, “Two Thousand Notable American Women” and the “Directory of Distinguished Americans – 1985.” A granite plaque in Memory Lane at the International Forest of Friendship in Atchison, Kan., was inscribed with her name in 1978, along with other aviation pioneers. She served on government committees, including the Women’s Advisory Committee on Aviation, and Gov. Ronald Reagan’s Aviation Educational Taskforce in California.
She worked the last 15 years of her career for Beech Aircraft Company as a sales representative, demonstrating and selling new aircraft in Southern California. Fran also named the popular Beechcraft 76 light twin the "Duchess" and won $150 for her moniker from Walter Beech. She retired in 1985. Fran said, “When I retire, I’ll get my own plane and go where I want to go, when I want to go.” and bought her own airplane, enjoying many trips and mentoring young people interested in aviation.
In 1993, she flew her single-engine Piper 235 Cherokee to Siberia. “Just for the fun of it”. Fran decided she needed a faster plane, explaining, “I’m getting older, I need to get places faster.” and purchased a Piper Comanche 260B complete with all the latest avionics, which included autopilot and GPS. Her white Commanche was painted with hot pink and fuchsia cheatlines, a hot pink spinner and had the words ‘Kick Ass’ stenciled under the tail section. At age 70, Fran decided she needed a challenge got a Citation Jet type rating.
Throughout her life, Fran was an active member many aviation organizations including the Whirly-Girls, licensed women helicopter pilots; Silver Wings; Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association; Women in Aviation International; and The Ninety-Nines. Of all her affiliations, The Ninety-Nines was the one nearest and dearest to her heart. She was a life member of the organization, mentored many women and helped them become pilots through the 99s. Her hangar at KSEE was built not only to house her aircraft but to become the 'clubhouse' for the San Diego Chapter of the 99s.
Many awards were bestowed upon Fran during her life, including several for career achievement. In 2004, her name was placed on the Wall of Honor at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, on a permanent memorial dedicated to honor the pioneers of flight. In 2005, she received the Livingston Award by the Whirly-Girls (she was member #56) for contributions to the helicopter industry. March of 2006 saw her inducted into the Women in Aviation Pioneer Hall of Fame. In November of that same year, she was named “Elder Statesman of Aviation” by the National Aeronautic Association in Washington, D.C. Bera is a member of the UFOs, also known as United Flying Octogenarians.In 2007, she was awarded the FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, and inducted into the International Aviation Hall of Fame.Not done yet, in 2010, she received the Award of Achievement for her contributions to aviation from the Ninety-Nines. Following that, in 2011, Bera accepted the National Aeronautics Association Katherine Wright Award in Washington, D.C. for a lifetime working in aviation, setting records and mentoring young people.
Fran was married three times. Her last husband to whom she was married over 40 years, Ted McLin, died in 2016. She has no children of her own but is survived by her stepchildren and many nieces and nephews.
More about Fran -
https://airandspace.si.edu/support/wall-of-honor/fran-bera
https://www.wai.org/pioneers/2006/fran-bera
http://sandiegoairandspace.org/hall-of-fame/honoree/fran-bera
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2013/august/01/pilots-fran-bera
http://legacy.sandiegouniontribune.com/uniontrib/20070121/news_lz1j21force.html
All about Fran, in her own words- https://vimeo.com/112569600
