The Ninety-Nines organization came into being November 2, 1929, at Curtiss Field, Valley Stream, Long Island, New York. All 117 American female pilots had been invited to assemble for mutual support and the advancement of aviation. Louise Thaden was elected secretary and worked tirelessly to keep the group together as we struggled to organize and grow until 1931, when Amelia Earhart was elected as first president and the group was named for the 99charter members.
The Tucson Chapter has a great history as well...
Formed in the summer of 1951 with 5 members.
1958 Airlift
1964 Pennies a Pound
1977 Powder Puff Derby
2005 Dime A Pound
2009: News:
~
March 2009
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/messina/Content?oid=1149354
Female pilots are a passionate bunch, even if their numbers are small
by Irene Messina
It's a sunny and clear morning as I sit in the pilot's seat of a Piper Cherokee at Ryan Airfield. The winds are calm, and it's a perfect day for flying. As I look out the window, I see several other planes lined up nearby on the tarmac.
The four-seater I am in is quiet at the moment. I quickly glance at the instrument panel before proceeding further. Slowly, I reach over and turn on the power--to my digital voice recorder. To my right is the real pilot of the plane, Juliana Rose Teal.
Teal is a petite, young-looking 41-year-old with shoulder-length, brown wavy hair and eyes that light up when she talks about aviation. She's the chairman of the local chapter of the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of licensed women pilots.
Teal is happy to sit with me in the cockpit and talk about flying and the Piper Cherokee. She co-owns the plane with three other pilots and says it's a 1970 low-wing with only 500 hours on the engine. Teal explains that low-wing means the wings are below the fuselage of the plane.
She also points out the six dials and gauges on the instrument panel, called the standard six-pack. Teal describes each one and also tells me about the flaps and throttle. She is a good teacher, but what stands out most is the ear-to-ear smile on her face. Her facial expression can only be described as pure joy.
"When I'm around airplanes, I can't stop smiling," she says.
Teal's flight path to becoming a pilot hit some turbulence in the beginning. Until 2001, she had a phobia of flying and was genuinely frightened when she boarded a plane. But on one flight from Tucson to California, her fear vanished.
"It was the first time I'd been on a plane and wasn't scared. I was looking out the window, and it was the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced. ... A thought came into my head: I wondered what it would be like to fly in a small plane."
Teal took her first flying lesson in January 2005 and got her private pilot's license in April 2007. She recently received her instrument-panel rating and plans to become a commercial pilot.
Teal was elected as chairman of the Tucson Ninety-Nines last summer. The organization provides networking, scholarship and education opportunities and preserves the history of women in aviation. Teal says the chapter has 62 members, including military, civilian and retired pilots.
Various fundraisers take place throughout the year, such as the pound rides coming up this Saturday, March 28, at Ryan Airfield (near Ajo Way and Valencia Road). You hop on a scale and get weighed; for 15 cents a pound, you take a 20-minute ride. (Visit the Ninety-Nines' Web site for more info.)
Teal says she has heard from many women who were inspired to learn to fly from attending the event. She encourages women who want to learn to fly to go for it.
"It's the most wonderful, satisfying experience you can have. You learn a lot about yourself, about self-sufficiency, and gain confidence in your abilities. ... If I can do it, I believe anyone can do it. Learning to fly is complicated, but it's doable."
This encouraging view is shared by another member of the Tucson Ninety-Nines, Roxanne Beckman. With more than 30 years of experience as a pilot, Beckman has seen the aviation industry change.
Beckman was the first woman hired at WestAir Commuter Airlines in Chico, Calif., in the early-'80s. She later became a flight instructor and was one of two women instructors at her school. Beckman says she occasionally had a student who didn't want to be taught by a woman, but her gender generally wasn't a problem.
Now she flies for NetJets, a private aviation company. Beckman says attitudes have changed, leading to a wider acceptance of women in the cockpit.
This is a far cry from the time of Helen Richey, the first female commercial pilot for Central Airlines in 1934. She worked 10 months before resigning after being barred from joining the union. She continued to fly, but she later died at the age of 37 from an apparent suicide. Reports indicate she was despondent over the lack of job opportunities.
From Richey to Beckman to Teal, women can fly with the same passion for aviation as men. Even so, the number of women pilots is surprisingly low. According to December 2007 data from the Federal Aviation Administration's Aeronautical Center, women pilots represent only 6 percent of the total U.S. pilot population. The reason for this is not clear.
It seems apparent that women aviators have come a long way, but still have miles to fly.
~
Oct 2009
Tucson 99s keep Earhart legacy alive
Posted: Oct 23, 2009 10:33 AM MST
Tucson 99s keep Earhart legacy alive
By Scott Kilbury - bio | email
Tucson, AZ (KOLD)- It's a day for celebration at at Marana Regional Airport. Laura Zaccaria was about to pilot her first flight with a passenger. "There are three milestones in a pilot's life," she said. "When you get your license, when you fly solo and your first passenger." Zaccaria's husband Bert, who has been a pilot for 30 years, had the honors.
In the neighboring hanger, Connie Nicholson was touching up her plane while it was getting a tune-up. Nicholson has been flying for more than three decades. "It was important for me as an individual to do something that really makes me happy," she said.
Kaye Craig knows what she's talking about. She's been soaring through the air for nearly as long. "I've been a pilot for 26 years, flown in 27 different states and raced three times," Craig said.
You'd think with this sampling at the airport there would be more women pilots across the nation. Surprisingly, only six percent of the pilots in the United States are females. That's where the 99s come in to play. It's an international organization of women pilots created in 1929. Tucson's chapter came to be in 1951 and today has 61 members.
"The 99s are always looking for more members and lately looking for younger ones," Jennifer Treese, a member and executive assistant at the airport, said.
"Our mission is to maintain the fellowship that Amelia created back in her day," Tucson 99s former chair person Fran Strubeck said.
While most are familiar with Earhart's ambitious solo flight around the world in the summer of 1937, many don't know that she was the first elected president of the 99s named so after the number founding members. Now, the recent movie starring Hilary Swank has brought the spotlight back on her achievements. The 99s are hoping this translates into more membership down the runway.
"If I had seen this movie when I was a little girl, I would have started flying at a younger age," Kimberly Schiff said. Schiff, whoteaches lessons in San Manuel and Marana, saw a sneak preview of the movie a week early with the rest of the Tucson 99s. "I hope this lets girls know that flying is another option for them."
If that's not motivation enough, the 99s offers added incentive. They give scholarships to women aspiring to be pilots. Ashley Baker received one three years ago. "I grew up with people telling me girls aren't supposed to be pilots but I knew that's what I always wanted to do," she said. "Gender doesn' matter up there where the birds are... So, I started flying three years ago and it's been up, up and away ever since."
Maybe more and more women will catch on to the same idea and follow in Amelia and Ashley's footsteps. Then women piloting the friendly skies will really take off.
For more information on the Tucson 99's click here.
©2009 KOLD. All rights reserved.
~
Nov 2009
Female pilots soar on wings of trailblazers
By Ellen Sussman
Special to the Green Valley News
In an era when all fields of employment are open to women, female pilots — whether professional or private — are still regarded with awe.
In 1929, when aviation was only in its 26th year, a group of 99 daring, can-do women in Valley Stream, Long Island, formed the all-female pilots organization known as the Ninety-Nines.
Two years later, aviator Amelia Earhart was elected the organization’s first president. Today, the non-profit Ninety-Nines includes pilots from 35 countries and has a membership of 5,500.
“Today, Ninety-Nines are professional pilots for airlines, industry and the government,” the group’s Web site says. “We are pilots who teach and pilots who fly for pleasure; we are pilots who are technicians and mechanics. But first and foremost, we are women who love to fly.”
The Tucson chapter
Sixty pilots, including those who are newly licensed and some with decades of experience, comprise the Tucson chapter.
And every pilot has a story about how they got hooked and took to the sky.
Jonna Douglas was 15 when she had the chance to go for a short ride in a four-seat, single-engine Piper Cherokee out of Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix.
“From the time we pulled that hangar door open, I was hooked. I was lucky that my family was very supportive,” she said. “It was funny to ask your parents to drive you to the airport so that you could go flying.”
She got her license at 19, and said her greatest challenge was time and money.
“It’s why groups like the Ninety-Nines are so helpful. Their scholarship program and resources have helped many women get licensed... flying is its own reward. Having a skill that is fun, challenging and provides the utmost feeling of freedom is the best reward a girl could ask for.”
Ashley Baker grew up living down the road from the local airport.
“I watched those metal birds leave the confines of the earth to take their passengers off on adventures I could only ever read and dream about,” she said.
Told that flying was a man’s job and too dangerous for women, she says it’s “indescribably incredible” when she speaks with her nieces or any little girl about soaring.
More than Amelia Earhart, Baker credits Louise Thaden, Bessie Coleman and all the female pilots who preceded her for their perseverance and quiet determination in the face of discrimination.
Baker quotes the writer Anon, who once said, “To most, the sky’s the limit. To those who love aviation, the sky is home.”
A five-dollar ride
At 36, when Nancy Teel’s husband decided to take flying lessons, she did too.
A $5 coupon for a ride in a Cessna got her started and today Teel is instrument rated and licensed to fly a multi-engine airplane. She’s an airline transport pilot, a certified flight instructor and instrument ground instructor.
She’s flown for 20 years, has logged more than 5,000 hours, owned three airplanes and has encountered a number of skeptics.
“When I got the ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) rating in 1976, I was the 125th woman in the U.S. to hold this rating. Now there are a whole lot more as women have broken through another ‘glass ceiling,’” Teel said.
Roxanne Beckman caught the flying bug when she visited a 747 cockpit at age 10.
“Of course, some family and friends’ replies were along the line of, ‘Well, you can be a stewardess... but a pilot... I don’t know about that.’”
Beckman is a captain of a mid-size business jet for NetJets Aviation and even today said some people are in awe, which isn’t unusual in a male-dominated field.
In a recent union publication, Beckman said, “The NetJets culture is one in which women have incredible potential to achieve professional success.” She considers her years with the company as the most rewarding of her professional career.
“The movie ‘Amelia’ is a wonderful segue to educating people about the Ninety-Nines and the many inspiring women pilots who went before us,” she said.
As a junior in high school, Heidi Theile’s inspiration was seeing a female commercial pilot at the St. Louis airport.
Now a captain, she said, “I get quite a few ‘you go girl’ when they see me in charge. I’ve also had people get quite upset that I am up front... There are still quite a few out there who like to let the girls know that this is their business. It’s gotten a little easier in the last 19 to 20 years, but they’re still around.”
Theile said her greatest challenge was getting past some of the ‘good old boys.’
“It took me 10 years to get hired by an airline. It’s been a difficult road. It’s hard, but worth the fight to make it.”
Michelle McCarthy was in her 30s when a pilot she was dating encouraged her to take flying lessons.
“He gave me a gift certificate for the first lesson and the instructor let me try to land. I was hooked and haven’t looked back... I’ve been flying steadily for the last 17 years.”
“There’s a feeling you get when flying, not just leaving the ground but some kind of being in charge of your own destiny and not living an ordinary life,” she said.
Age not an issue
Mary Walker was 44 when she could afford to take flying lessons. She and her husband started lessons the same day.
Like other Ninety-Nines who told their families and friends they were taking flying lessons, no one tried to dissuade her.
“They knew better by then,” she said.
Walker has had her share and stares of surprised looks and comments.
“Many who are not pilots ask if I have a license... some ask if I fly alone. I answer politely.”
Among her rewards is seeing the country from the air.
“There’s the freedom to explore, climb, dive and soar... Sharing many wonderful trips with my husband and co-authoring a book with a professional photographer — ‘Chasing Lewis and Clark Across America: An Aviation Adventure,’ that stands out as special.”
Green Valley pilot Nancy Lammers was also in her 40s when she started taking flying lessons. While she wanted to do something challenging she had some doubt about her aptitude and said lessons required discipline and concentration.
“Most women are surprised to learn I have a pilot’s license... men usually assume when I talk about aviation that I have a husband who flies. One man wanted to know if my husband had an airplane; I told him no, but that he had a wife who did.”
As a child Shelby Hawkins would watch airplanes fly over her home near Minneapolis and wondered “how those things stay up in the air.”
She was finally able to afford flight lessons when she was in her late 50s.
Then working for Raytheon, she was sent to the Johnston Atoll in the Pacific.
“The island has this big runway. I got to see C-130s and C-5s fly in every week and that spurred my interests again,” she said.
On a humorous note, Hawkins said, “My children weren’t excited for me to fly because frankly I used to be able to break a vacuum cleaner by trying to fix it because I didn’t have much in the area of knowledge of engines. But I do now.”
Above and beyond
Instrument rated with 23 years of flying experience, Brigitte Howells said the last thing people often expect of her is that she owns a plane and can fly it.
“The main benefit of being able to take to the air, master the challenges of flight and abide by aviation rules has been the self-confidence gained,” she said. “It’s also been easy to make new friends — either pilots themselves or aviation enthusiasts — when I moved to a new area.”
Besides money, she said it takes a lot of dedication and determination not to let other things get in the way of lessons and studying.
Mearl Frame’s inspiration was a bit different. Her husband is a career pilot and the couple had many pilot friends. One was a dinner guest at their home one evening asked why she didn’t fly since she knew so much about aviation.
“I went the next day, got my permit and physical, began training and in six months had my license. That was 44 years ago.”
Frame has been all over the world in corporate airplanes with her husband and was part of the crew when her husband flew the Berlin Triangle in 1979 and crossed Checkpoint Charlie into East Berlin.
Her special rewards have been helping women get their ratings and being vice-chair of the International Amelia Earhart Scholarship Committee for six years.
Green Valley winter resident Ellen Herring takes part in Tucson chapter events every year. After her husband got his pilot’s license in 1972, and she went up with him the first time, she told him she wanted to fly because if she was going to be up there with him she didn’t want him to have all the fun.
Asked about her greatest reward as a pilot, Herring said, “The airplane really doesn’t care whether a man or woman is flying it. I think being in the air gives me the same pleasures it gives most pilots of either gender — freedom from the bonds of earth, joy in scenery seen no other way, soaring through, over and under clouds, traveling to faraway places.
Tucson chapter chairman Juliana Teal said the chapter awards annual scholarships funded by various events.
Applications are judged on background, aviation goals and financial need.
“I was a recipient of one of our local scholarships several years ago. Last year I won the Amelia Earhart Scholarship at the international level. It completely paid for my instrument rating, which I received in March.
Teal ends her e-mails with a slogan she created—“Pilots know why birds sing.”
Local lore
Green Valley resident Joe Whitelaw’s aunt Mary Margaret “Peggy” Gauslin was born in 1905, and joined the Ninety-Nines soon after she soloed in February 1930. She was a member until 1936, and was active in air shows.
“According to a Curtiss Wright newsletter dated April 6, 1930, Peggy and two others that week became part of the 200 (female) licensed pilots on record at that date.
“Of the 200, 17 were transport pilots, 22 were limited commercial pilots and 161 were private pilots.”
Contact Green Valley freelance reporter Ellen Sussman at ellen2414@cox.net.
________________________________________________
YEAR ChairWoman
1951-1953 Maggie Schock
1953-1955 Bea Edgerley
1955-1957 J. W. Johnston / Pearson
1957-1959 Lorraine Chandler / Newhouse
1959-1961 Patsy Brooks
1961-1963 Shirley Marshall
1963-1965 Shirley Marshall
1965-1967 Frances Francis
1967-1969 Dorothy Jenkins
1969-1971 Barbara Welsh
1971-1973 Norma Wilcox
1973-1975 Jane Hunter
1975-1976 Jean Servaas
1976-1977 Babara Welsh
1977-1978 Carolyn Milkey
1978-1978 Joan Lee MacDonald (6 months)
1979-1980 Lee Unger
1980-1982 Barbara Harper
1982-1993 Terry Robertson
1983-1984 Athene Paulos
1984-1985 Linda Duckworth
1985-1987 Lorraine Newhouse
1987-1988 Jean Servaas
1988-1990 Gloria Tornbom
1990-1991 Linda Duckworth
1991-1993 Laurie Peterson
1993-1995 Christine Richard
1995-1997 Aina G. Wright
1997-1998 Nancy Teel
1998-2000 Nohema Fernandez
2000-2001 Kaye Craig
2001-2002 Kim Schiff
2002-2003 Michelle McCarthy
2003-2005 Sharline Reedy
2005-2007 Anne Van Nimwegen
2007-2008 Anne Silverman
2008-2010 Juliana Rose Teal