Lyle Thomas Shelton (1934–2010) was an American aviator who set the world's absolute propeller-driven 3-kilometer speed record of 528.329 mph. He was born in Brownfield, Texas on June 15, 1933. A former US Naval Aviator, he was an airline pilot for his professional career, flying for Trans World Airlines (TWA). During his career at TWA, he flew Boeing 707s, 727s,

Douglas DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

s and the

Lockheed L-1011 The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, also known as the L-1011 (pronounced "El-ten-eleven") and TriStar, is an American medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation. It was the third wide-body airliner to enter comme ...

. He retired from TWA in 1991. As an air race pilot, he won ten Unlimited air races, more than any other pilot, and six U.S. national championships at the Reno National Championship Air Races second only to

Darryl Greenamyer Darryl George Greenamyer (August 13, 1936 – October 4, 2018) was an American aviator. He started his flying career in the US Air Force Reserve. After leaving the Air Force, he then began to work at Lockheed where he eventually became an SR-7 ...

. He was inducted into the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles, ...

in 1999. As an air race pilot, Lyle is best known for flying the highly modified Grumman F8F "

Rare Bear ''Rare Bear'' is a highly modified Grumman F8F Bearcat that dominated the Reno Air Races for decades. History The Bearcat that became Rare Bear was a severely damaged wreck when discovered by Lyle Shelton in 1969. It had been abandoned next ...

" which he restored in 1969 and raced until his retirement from racing after the 1997 Reno National Championship Air Races.

Notable wins

* 1971 Cape May * 1971 National point champion for Unlimited * 1973 Miami * 1973 Reno (Unlimited national champion) * 1973 National point champion for Unlimited * 1975 Reno (Unlimited national champion) * 1975 National point champion for Unlimited * 1976 Mojave * 1988 Hamilton * 1988 Reno (Unlimited national champion) * 1988 National point champion for Unlimited * 1989 Reno (Unlimited national champion) * 1989 National point champion for Unlimited * 1990 Reno (Unlimited national champion) * 1990 National point champion for Unlimited * 1991 Reno (Unlimited national champion) * 1991 National point champion for Unlimited

Notable speed records

* 1972 "Time to Climb" (standing start to 10,000 feet), 91.9 seconds (still stands as of July 2011) * 1973 Reno qualifying speed record, 426.602 mph * 1973 Reno Unlimited Gold race speed record, 428.155 mph * 1974 Reno qualifying speed record, 432.252 mph * 1975 Reno Unlimited Gold race speed record, 429.916 mph * 1988 Reno qualifying speed record, 474.622 mph * 1988 Reno Unlimited Gold race speed record, 456.821 mph * 1989 world's absolute propeller-driven 3k speed record, Las Vegas, 528.329 mph (still stands as of July 2011) * 1990 Reno Unlimited Gold race speed record, 468.620 mph * 1991 Reno qualifying speed record, 475.899 mph * 1991 Reno Unlimited Gold race speed record, 481.618 mph * 1992 Reno qualifying speed record, 482.892 mph

References

Notes

Bibliography

* http://planenews.com/archives/13125/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20111001055609/http://www.warbirdaeropress.com/articles/HotestCats/HotCats.htm * https://books.google.com/books?id=6xQw3F-r-LcC&pg=PA114 {{DEFAULTSORT:Shelton, Lyle American air racers 1934 births 2010 deaths American aviation record holders

Notable wins

Notable speed records

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography