Vicki Cruse took her fear of flying to new altitudes over the span of her 41 year life.

Her brother John says from a young age she was hooked, but his lifelong fear came true on Saturday when her plane spiraled from the sky and crashed killing her instantly.

"Always in the back of our mind was the thought that she could crash.  She was always like, no I'm really safe.  So, it was in the back of our mind it was going to happen eventually, or could happen," said John Cruse.

But her life was not taken before she made her mark on the world.

In 2007 Cruse won the U.S. National Unlimited Aerobatic Championship, putting her well ahead of the rest.

Her aunt Janet Noenning remembers watching her perform in dozens of aerobatic shows.

"I'm just awed by what she can do.  Just to stand on the ground and watch all of them do their maneuvers, but Vicki was so precise," said Janet Noenning.

But precise isn't always enough to deter tragedy.

Even Cruse herself commented about the many things that could go wrong in a commercial she did with Zulu Aviation Headsets.

"Engine failure, prop failure, a bird strike, a mid-air collision, control failure, running out of gas," said Vicki Cruse in the commercial.

The plane Cruse was flying was not her own, and it reportedly had mechanical problems prior to her fatal flight---though, it was thought they had been corrected.

Now, as the world mourns the loss of one of its best pilots, her family mourns the loss of a sister and a niece.

"It's been a few weeks since I talked to her.  Now I don't get a chance to say anything at all.  So, it's kind of hard," said John Cruse.

"She was more than a niece to me.  She was like a daughter, and it's a terrible loss, but I know that she died doing something that she loved," said Noenning.

Cruse was participating in the World Aerobatic Championships in Britain at the time of the crash.

She was also the president of the International Aerobatics Club.

Family tell KSPR they expect her remains will be cremated before returning home to the United States.

Cruse was born and raised in Springfield.  She is a graduate of Glendale High School.

Story ideas or comments?  Email me at wcarter@kspr.com