A Sad Day for the Aerobatic Community

The US Unlimited Team and friends are saddened to announce the passing
of Marta Meyer today in Yukon, OK.
Marta was an Unlimited Team member for two years and the Team Manager
this year in Spain where she was awarded the "Most Valuable Volunteer"
award for being the last minute warm-up pilot for the competition. She
has been a fixture in the aerobatic community for over 20 years. She and
her husband Bob built and flew the Giles 300 in many Unlimited
competitions. She worked for NASA and was one of two women ever to fly
in the SR-71 Blackbird.
Marta was practicing for the upcoming US Nationals. After about 5
minutes of practice, including several vertical maneuvers, Marta pulled
vertical to do a hammerhead and the canopy departed the aircraft. No
further control inputs were noted and the Giles crashed just off the
airport property. Speculation is that Marta was rendered unconscious at
the canopy departure. Bob has located the canopy and it was found
locked, with the pins also in the locked position. He and friends will
attempt to determine the cause of the failure tomorrow.
There will certainly be a memorial service for Marta, however no details
are available at this time. I, or someone will post them here as soon as
they are made available.
There are few women in this sport and to lose one as special as Marta is
a loss to us all. She was one of the happiest people I have ever met,
and brought this joy to everything she did. She was an outstanding Team
Manager and a good friend. She will be missed by all of us on the
Unlimited Team and many, many friends in the aerobatic and aviation
community.