Departed Oakland for Pacific flight

On April 30, 1963, Betty Miller departed Oakland, California, in a twin-engine Piper Apache as part of her trans-Pacific delivery flight to Australia. Contemporary reporting notes that she had already been delayed by weather before taking off, underscoring the practical challenges of an ambitious ferry flight over the Pacific.

This departure was the opening move in one of the era’s most closely watched women’s aviation achievements. Flying a light twin-engine aircraft across the Pacific demanded endurance, navigation, mechanical confidence, and a willingness to operate far beyond the usual routes expected of women pilots. The journey was not merely symbolic; it required real technical competence and the ability to manage a multi-leg international crossing in a small aircraft.

In historical context, the Oakland departure marked the moment when Miller transformed her earlier credentials into a world-recognized challenge. The route from California to Australia was especially notable because it placed a woman pilot in a space associated with long-range commercial and military aviation. That she undertook the trip without a navigator made the flight even more remarkable and helped make the eventual landing a landmark in aviation history.