Captain Vernice Armour (ret.): First black woman Marine combat pilot

Vernice Armour was a police officer by the time she was 24. She then enteredd the Marines, where she became the first black woman combat pilot, and served two tours in Iraq. Since then, she has parlayed her physical skills into a few sports-related careers, as well as becoming a motivational speaker.



http://www.vernicearmour.com/

Tuskegee Airmen to Honor Bessie Coleman: April 10, 2010

Mark your calendars for April 10, 2010

That's the day the HUBERT L. “HOOKS” JONES CHAPTER of the Colorado Tuskegee Airmen will hold their:

1ST ANNUAL EXCELLENCE IN AVIATION Luncheon/Celebration/Raffle

TO COMMEMORATE

BESSIE ‘QUEEN’ BESS COLEMAN

FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN PILOT

Here are the details from their website: http://www.colorado-redtails.com/

Saturday, April 10, 2010 11:00am

RITZ-CARLTON HOTEL

1881 CURTIS STREET

DOWNTOWN DENVER



KEYNOTE SPEAKER

THELMA RUDD, PRESIDENT

BESSIE COLEMAN FOUNDATION



CELEBRATION OF OUTSTANDING COLORADO WOMEN IN AVIATION



RAFFLE

BESSIE COLEMAN COMMEMORATIVE QUILT

Created by Rocky Mountain Washonaji Quilt Guild

Autographed by Original Tuskegee Airmen

Historical Souvenir Journal

Luncheon-$75.00 per person

Raffle Tickets $3.00 each

Buy 4 get one free

For additional information:

www.Colorado-Redtails.com

Excellenceinaviation@comcast.net

(303)795-6836

PR: Aviation Themed Greeting Cards for Pilots

January 27, 2009, Aurora, Colorado - Ever search for just the right way to thank a pilot? Or to tell one you're thinking about them? A Denver-based web retailer has just the thing, as Powder Puff Pilot announced a new line of notecard sets for pilots: Not for Navigation Greetings. Their initial offering, boxed sets of eight notecards, come in two flavors: Thank You and All Occasion.

Since 80% of greeting cards are purchased by women, the introduction of a greeting card line by Powder Puff Pilot, which designs gear and accessories for women pilots, was a natural fit. Each Not for Navigation Greetings card pairs a graphic that is very familiar to pilots-such as an IFR or VFR chart, instrument approach plate, or airport diagram-with plays on aviation terms. A notecard in the Thank You set, for example, has "Thanks" at the bottom of a chart on the front and, on the inside, "Thanks from the bottom of my chart." Among the designs in the All Occasion set is one with a band-aid on a sectional chart on the front, and the inside says "Sectional healing." Another says "INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK" on the inside, a phrase recognized by every pilot.

"Yes, the puns will elicit some groans," admitted Sue Hughes, owner of Powder Puff Pilot and designer of Not for Navigation Greetings, "but each one is an inside joke for pilots." Even the name of the line, "Not for Navigation," is understood in aviation circles as a phrase found on any chart that is intended for purposes other than navigation, such as training or decorative use.

Thank You and All Occasion notecard sets are available for purchase from the company website (Powder Puff Pilot) or from over 50 FBOs across the U.S. that carry Powder Puff Pilot products. A wide range of single cards by Not for Navigation Greetings is expected soon.


Powder Puff Pilot was founded in November 2008 by Sue Hughes of Aurora, Colorado. Additional products include the Claire Bear children's book series about aviation, pink aviation headsets, pink pilot logbooks, E6B watches for women, and rose-colored aviator sunglasses. For further information or to order Powder Puff Pilot products, visit Powder Puff Pilot or call toll-free at 888-801-6628

Plane News Publishes News of The Lady and the Tiger

I submitted my press release to them, and Gil, the site owner/administrator, published it today. If you've never heard of Plane News, check it out.

http://planenews.com/

It provides an aviation news service similar to the Indy Transponder...and there can never be enough aviation news.

Pilots Solve Ground Transport Problem With Folding Ebike

As an entrepreneur, I work on a variety of projects. One of these is compiling information for an electric bike overview website EletricBikeE.com. One of the articles I came across in my search was one from the AOPA, added to their website in December, touting the Wildfire, an electric bike that folds up to fit in the tiny cargo compartment of a small plane. Pilots receive a discount on the bike.

I checked out the website for the Wildfire ebike mentioned in the article, and it looks like pilots are really taking advantage of this offer.

Nevertheless, thought I'd share the news here as well.

Check out this website:
http://stores.intuitwebsites.com/WCaudell/StoreFront.bok

That's Braddock Mountain Outfitters. 301-371-6371.

General Aviation Pilots Flying Assistance to Haiti

Just got my Aviation eBrief today, and thought I'd share this particular article.

Pilots step up to help Haiti

While many pilots are helping with the disaster relief efforts in Haiti by donating funds, some have connected with organizations and started using their aircraft to help deliver supplies.

General aviation pilots are still asked to not fly into Port-au-Prince to avoid interfering with relief efforts there, but some outlying airports in Haiti are open and pilots are delivering supplies to them from the Bahamas and Dominican Republic.

“As always, the GA community is demonstrating its tremendous compassion for those in need and taking immediate action to help,” said AOPA President Craig Fuller. “General aviation has the unique flexibility to use reliever airports to enhance the relief efforts taking place in Port-au-Prince. Working through a variety of humanitarian groups here in the United States and in Haiti, pilots are making a real difference.”

Read the complete article at the link above.

Embry-Riddle Offers a PhD in Aviation

Just checked out Embry-Riddle's website and found this interesting press release:

Eleven students have begun coursework in a pioneering Ph.D. in Aviation program offered by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The three-year program, the only one in the nation, meets the need for people with upper-level research credentials to tackle the major issues facing today's aviation and aerospace industry.

The Ph.D. program is designed for working professionals; students take courses online and complete three six-day residencies at an ERAU campus.

In early January, the first 11 students completed a week-long residency at the university's Daytona Beach, Florida, campus. The residency covered critical and scholarly thinking, statistics and research methods, writing in APA format, success in graduate school, philosophy of research, online community-building, and a dissertation panel discussion.

"We were able to be highly selective in assembling this first cohort of students in our aviation doctoral program," said Alan Stolzer, professor of applied aviation studies and residency director for the Ph.D. program. "There's a dynamic diversity in their backgrounds, educations, and careers that will create a vital interchange among them."

Students enrolled in the academically rigorous program will explore aviation topics in management, training, economics, regulation, communications, and next-generation air transportation. They will also conduct research on important issues that impact the aviation and aerospace industry. A special focus of the new program is aviation operations. Additional specializations in safety and security are planned for the future.

The Ph.D. students are currently employed by diverse employers, such as an aerospace company, the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. military, and a university. Half of the students are female.

After they receive their doctorates, the program's first students have expressed a desire to conduct research in a variety of areas including aero-medical issues, airline operations, airspace redesign, human factors, information technology, safety management, space tourism, and unmanned aerial systems.

Applications are being accepted for the second cohort, which begins in July 2010. The application deadline is Apr. 1. Go to [http://aviationphd.erau.edu] for more information.

Thai girl wins essay contest, prize: learn how to fly

Young winners of an essay contest learn to soar at Hua Hin’s Civil Aviation Training Centre

Aviation in Thailand has a luxurious image that puts its accessibility out of most youngsters reach, unless they come from a very rich family. It costs more than Bt2.3 million for commercial pilot training and between Bt250,000 and Bt350,000 for training that guarantees a private pilot’s license.The high training costs are partly due to rising oil prices, with Jet-A1 costing more than Bt60 a litre.

But this didn’t stop a group of 10 lucky high-school students from dreaming to fly. Coming from the remote provinces of Udon Thani, Korat, Yala and Pattani, they are the 10 lucky winners in an essay contest that saw 770 submissions from students around the country.

Competing for a place in the San Fun Karn Bin (Weaving the Dream of Flying) Camp, they now have the opportunity to realise their dream of flying by training in actual Bt8-million flight simulators and experiencing a one-hour flight in training aircraft, all for free.

and

Of the 10 winners, four were female students all with serious aspirations to a career in aviation.

Kanokporn Kulsri, a Matthayom 5 student from Udonpittayanukoon School in Udon Thani in the Northeast, couldn’t believe she’d won the essay contest. She’s glad she’ll be able to fly for the first time in her life in this camp.
She says that, when sending her essay to the contest, she was teased by her classmates, who insisted there was no way she would win because students around the country were participating. Her friends ended up sorry they hadn’t also submitted essays, but glad that Kanokporn made it to the camp.

She’ll need to accept the fact that in Thailand right now, only Bangkok Airways and Thai AirAsia admit female candidates for their pilot positions. Thai Airways International has only male pilots.

Read the complete article at the link above.

Press Release: AOPA France a Presence at the 2010 Show

Eur-Avia Cannes 2010:
AOPA France a Presence at the 2010 Show

CANNES, France, 18 January 2010: Eur-Avia Cannes and AOPA (the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) are pleased to announce their renewed collaboration for the Eur-Avia Cannes 2010 General Aviation air show, which will take place at the Cannes-Mandelieu International Airport from 4th to 6th June, 2010.

AOPA has nearly 23,000 members in Europe, and any general aviation pilot or owner-members will be welcome on their stand. AOPA also welcomes interested pilots or aircraft owners to bring their questions, or just to share in the camaraderie of the group.

Under the aegis of the Association's dynamic President, Patrick Charrier, and as part of this partnership, all AOPA members are cordially invited to come to what will be the 4th edition of the air show. Beginning in April, AOPA members will be able to order free tickets (35€ value each) directly from their website, www.aopa.fr


AOPA was a partner of the 2009 edition of Eur-Avia; in fact they held their annual meeting there, during the show. This year, in addition to their active booth presence, they will participate in a number of the conferences Eur-Avia Cannes is organising. And as always, they will be defending the rights and interests of their member pilots.

The 2010 Eur-Avia Cannes show runs June 4, 5, and 6 on the International Airport of Cannes Mandelieu (LFMD).

Aviation history fans in SFO: Mark your calendar for Feb 4

A press release:

WHAT: The San Francisco Premiere of “The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club”

WHEN: Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 6:00pm

WHERE: SFO’s Aviation Museum in the International Terminal Level 3, adjacent to the Boarding Area “A” entrance

ADMISSION: Free admission. Free parking with Airport garage ticket

WHO: Film producer and writer Nick Spark will be on hand

INFO: Call (650) 821-9911

BACKGROUND: “The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club” is a documentary by writer-producer Nick Spark and director Amanda Pope. Florence “Pancho” Barnes, immortalized in Tom Wolfe’s “The Right Stuff,” was one of the most important women in 20th century aviation. She was a record-setting pilot, and performed as a barnstormer throughout California, eventually becoming Hollywood’s first female stunt pilot in the 1920’s and 1930’s.

In the 1940’s, Pancho opened the “Happy Bottom Riding Club,” a ranch next to Edwards Air Force Base that became a famous hangout for test pilots and movie stars, and was the epicenter of the aviation world during the beginning of the jet age. Chuck Yeager celebrated breaking the sound barrier there in 1947, and Howard Hughes and Jimmy Doolittle were frequent bar guests. Little has been known about the charismatic and colorful Barnes, until now.

Movie Night at SFO is sponsored by SFO and the San Francisco Airport Museums.

About SFO SFO (www.flysfo.com) provides nonstop service to more than 65 US cities on 21 domestic airlines and to 32 international points on 27 international carriers. SFO offers twice as many non-stop flights to the New York area than all other Bay Area airports combined – making SFO the Bay Area’s Airport of Choice. SFO was voted “North America’s Best Airport” in 2008 by passengers for its outstanding customer service and amenities.

The library and museum is dedicated to commercial aviation and San Francisco International Airport's role as the 'Gateway to the Pacific' is in place in the new International Terminal. These collections are permanently housed in an 11,500 square foot facility modeled on the Passenger Waiting Room of the 1937 San Francisco Airport Administration Building. Its mission is to increase public awareness of the important achievements in air transport by preserving, interpreting, and sharing the history of commercial aviation. The San Francisco Airport Commission has expressed its belief that, 'in order to prepare for the future, we must preserve the past.'

Subscribe to You Fly Girl on Kindle!

If you own a Kindle, you can now get the You Fly, Girl; aka Winged Victory: Women in Avation blog delivered right to your Kindle, so you won't miss a single day.

It's only $2 a month, for daily entries to this great blog.

Jessica Cox continues to be an ambassador for the disabled

Jessica Cox, the woman pilot who must fly with her feet because she doesn't have any hands, continues to be an ambassador for the disabled.

Here's a few blog entries from others:

Disabled Filipino-American pilot back in RP

MANILA, Philippines - Some 10,000 feet up in the air, she navigates the skies using only her feet.

Meet 26-year-old Filipino-American Jessica Macabare Cox, who was born without arms in Tucson, Arizona and holds the distinction of being the first woman pilot in aviation history to fly with her feet.

Armless Filaphina Woman Pilot

Jessica Cox, a young Filipino-American whose story of strength, courage, and determination inspires millions, made a courtesy call on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today.

“Congratulations. We are proud of you,” said the President as she greeted Cox at the Music Room in Malacañang this afternoon.

The Search For Gertrude Tomkins Silver

I've been visiting various websites, sharing news of my comic strip, The Lady and the Tiger, and have come across a few interesting things.

Saw a photo essay at the Sacramento Bee on the UK's Red Arrows and their first woman pilot, Kirsty Moore. A poster thought she was the first woman aerobatic pilot ever. Not so, that honor, for a military aerobatic team, goes to Major Nicole Malachowski of the USAF Thunderbirds.

Then there was this article from Planenews.com:

http://planenews.com/zlmn
Search Begins for Last Lost Woman Pilot of WWII
WASP Pilot Gertrude Tomkins Silver Crashed off California Coast in 1944

On Tuesday [Oct 8, 2009], a crew of archeologists, divers, sonar technicians and volunteers began a search 65 years overdue, to find the wreckage of the plane that carried Silver, the only missing and unaccounted for member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, an elite, all-female flight squadron formed at the height of World War II.

"Of the 38 WASPs who lost their lives, she's the only one unaccounted for," said Pat Macha, a retired teacher-turned-aviation archaeologist who is leading the search, from aboard a search vessel in Santa Monica Bay.

"That's a big motivator," he added. "These women played an important role in our history and their next of kin still want resolution."

The search continues today...

And Pat Macha, leading the search, will appear February 6, 2010 at the Planes of Fame musuem in California to talk about his quest to find Silver.

http://www.planesoffame.org/pressreleases.php?ID=117

Jacqueline Cochran profiled at Investor's Business Daily

I was quite surprised and pleased to see this.

It's 4 pages long, and of course only scratches the surface of what Jackie Cochran accomplished.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=517984

In an era when many women didn't have driver's licenses, Jacqueline Cochran set records as a pilot.

At a time when teaching, nursing and secretarial work were the most popular careers for women, Coch-ran owned her own company.

Born into poverty but blessed with beauty and drive, Cochran sought a cosmetics career.

What began as a way to build a beauty business became her claim to fame and her lifelong passion.

To gain a competitive edge, she learned to fly. The woman who was fashionable on the ground turned out to be fast and fearless in the air.

Read the complete article at the link above.

Two Burmese women have earned their commercial pilot wings

A website called Mizzimia reports the news.

http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3386-first-burmese-women-pilots-take-to-the-sky.html

New Delhi (Mizzima) - As the first female pilots in Burma, two women, after completing commercial pilot courses from Malaysia, have begun operating flights as co-pilots with Air Bagan.

The two women, Hnin Oo Way and May Cho Win, completed a two-year training course at the Integrated Aviation Academy (IAA) in Malaysia and received their commercial pilots licenses in August 2009.

“The two female pilots from Myanmar [Burma] completed their studies at the Integrated Aviation Academy in August 2009 and have gone back to Myanmar [Burma] to work with Air Bagan,” Idi Najeem Bin Khairuddin, Marketing & Communication Executive at IAA, told Mizzima.

Khairuddin added that another Burmese woman is still training at the academy and after completing the final phases of her studies will receive her license in March 2010.

An official at Air Bagan, owned privately by Burmese business tycoon Tayza, told Mizzima that the two women have begun working as co-pilots and will be promoted to the rank of captain after completing the necessary flight hours as co-pilots.

See the link for the complete article

Girls Need Flight Plans, Not Advice on Hairdos!

I was at Barnes & Noble today, looking through their magazine rack. And there's all kinds of fun stuff there, from hobby magazines like horses, fish, woodworking, model planes, to dozens on arts and crafts (knitting, scrapbooking), travel, history, ya da ya da.

So my eye falls on two magazines, American Girl and Girls Life. And I decide to look at them. And it's just enough to make you cry in frustration.

American Girl is a magazine aimed at girls aged 8 through 14. Now, girls at these age shouldn't be interested in boys (IMHO), they should be interested in themselves, in finding their interests, in reading about role models, from aviators like Amelia Earhart to scientists like Sylvia Earle to explorers to engineer and so on. The kind of thing you find in boys magazines in the same age level.

But what do girls get?

"Four hairdos you can try."
"How to not feel jealous."
"Are they really your friends"

I don't recall seeing an article on "What to eat so you dont get fat" but I'm sure there was one in there too.

No wonder women are obsessed with their looks and prone to eating disorders, when they are taught from age 8 (actually, earlier than that) that that is what they must be. At age 8 girls shouldn't be looking in magazines wondering if this or that hairdo will make them look pretty so that the little boys in their class will find them pretty! At age 8 through 14 it's moms who should be making that decision. But of course at age 8 a girl is taught that she's just got to look pretty for the boys (and if she doesn't want to spend time making herself up there's something wrong with her) and so by age 10 she's whining to her mother every other month that she needs a new hairdo....

According to Wikipedia, here's what goes into a typical issue:

AG Art Gallery (drawing sent in by readers)
A poem written by a reader
Shining Star (A paragraph about a reader who did something to help others)
A buzzword
Contest section
Heart to Heart (a discussion on a certain topic)
Friendship Matters (tips and advice on friendship)
A fictional story
A quiz
Help! (girls ask for advice and AG answers it)
Behind the Scenes
True Story (a letter sent in by a girl about something that happened to her)
AG Poll
Posters
Puzzle Palooza (Formerly called Brainwaves) (puzzles which includes a word search, photo fun, art sleuth, & a few other puzzles & mind games)
Creative Corner (which includes crafts & cooking recipes)
Laffateria (jokes by AG readers)
Mini Mag (a small version of the magazine with only about 16 pages for readers to cut, fold, and give to their dolls or stuffed animals)
Coming Up (tells you what's coming up in the next issue of AG)
Usually includes a party idea based on a theme such as ice cream, monkeys, or a disco party

Then there's Girls Life.

Wikipedia doesn't tell me what the age range for that is... but considering the sexy teen girl on the cover I'd say 12 - 14, maybe 10 - 14.

Here's the typical contents:

We've Got Mail! (Letters from readers)
Giveaway Calendars (Prizes you can enter for each day)
Short Stuff (little mini articles)
Dear Carol
Cheap and Chic Fashion
Quizzes
Horoscopes
New Fashion Trend
New Beauty Trend
GP BIs (Best friend advice)
Body Q&A
Guys Q&A

Fashion trends, beauty trends... body Q&A, Guys Q&A..

Go to the Girls Life website and you see the cover for the Valentine's Day issue:

http://www.girlslife.com/post/2010/01/11/february-march-2010.aspx

1. The Cutest Fashoin and Beauty Finds Under $20
2. 12 Things You Do That Guys Secretly Love and Six That Freak Them Out
3. 8 Ways To Feel Instantly Happier
4. The Friend Every Girl Needs, Is She In Your Crew?
5. Quiz: Does He Like You Like That?
6. Taylor Swift: The 10 Things She Wants You To Know About Love
7. 3 Moves To Amazing Abs

I'm like.... jesus. Once again, no wonder girls have no self-identity and are so needy around guys, and so obsessed with guys, and rarely go into fields in which they have to compete with guys (musnt't be better than the guy, otherwise he won't like you).

Of course these magazines are just Womens Interest magazines with the vocabulary dumbed down a bit, you get the same crap in Redbook and ....whatever other women's magazines there are... meantime guys get the fun magazines! Of course GQ and so on have articles on sex, too... and how to get those killer abs, but they also have interesting articles on cars, planes, trains, automobiles, etc! But in girls magazines...there's nothing of a mental nature...it's all boys, boys, boys nad how to be attractive and not repulsive to them.

Wonder if that's why girls school grades go down so precipitously (on average) once they hit 12 or 13 .... it's at that point that the indoctrination kicks in that its not about how much they know, but what they look like, that interess the guys, and if they don't have a boyfriend by age 13 there must be somethign terribly wrong with them.

Of course, I appreciate that it's at this age that the hormones kick in and girls do start to be interested in guys in that way, but there shouldn't be such a desperate and anxious tone to it...

Okay, end of rant.

7 Surviving WASP in Oregon to receive Congressional Medal

The members of "The greatest generation" as Tom Brokaw calls them - those men and women who lived and fought during World War II - are passing away ever day. That's no surprise -- it has been 65 years since the end of the war.

By the end of the war, there were 1,074 WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots). TO be accurate, the WASP were disbanded in late 1944, when the war was still going on but the outcome was inevitable. Just a day or so after the last class of WASP graduated, the women were told, in essence, "Thanks, but we don't need you anymore. We've got to make room for returning male pilots."

Of course the treatment of the WASP was not that surprising. Minority soldiers were similarily discarded (until the Korean War broke out, and the Army was integrated at that time...though there was nothing like full equality until the late 1970s).

For some resaon the activities of the WASP were classified -- even though there'd been an article about them in Life Magazine in 1943! -- and so they werent' talked about openly. However, women in aviation were in the news, for those that bothered to look. The Powder Puff Derby was reborn in 1947, and for 30 years hundreds of women flew their aircraft cross-country, and their exploits were reported in the newspapers -- women pilots even showed up in advertisements in Time and Newsweek....

It was not until 1977 that the records of service of the WASP were unsealed and they were granted full military status. Since that time a host of books have been published about the WASP, and the ATA (the British equivalent, featuring both women pilots and male pilots unfit for the military, but who could fly transport), and the Russian Night Witches -- the Russian women were in the military, flew jets and fought in dog fights, but after the war they too were told to go back home....

In any event...back to the purpose of this entry, which is to call out that there are seven surviving WASP in Oregon. The WASP have recently been granted the Congressional Gold Medal -- the highest civilian honor -- and due to the age of hte recipients, many ceremonies are being held now even though the medals themselves won't be ready until March.

There are about 300 surviving WASP pilots. Seven who live in the state of Oregon are among them.

Jeannette Gagnon Goodrum of Lake Oswego (89 years old) (WASP Class 43-8, graduated 12/17/43)
Anna Flynn Monkiewicz of The Dalles (90) (WASP Class 43-6, graduated 10/9/43)
Madelon Burcham Hill of Bend (WASP CLASS 44-1, graduated 2/11/44)
Catherine Murphy of Jacksonville (WASP Class 44-1, graduated 2/11/44)
Elinor Fairchild Stebbins of Portland (WASP Class 44-6, graduated 8/4/44)
Shirley Haugan Wunsch of Manzanita (WASP Class 44-3, graduated 4/15/44)
Kay Chaffey of Medford (Class 43-2, graduated 5/28/43)

(Class 43 means they graduated in 43, Class 44 means they graduated in 1944 -6 means they were in the 6th class that graudated, or the 3rd, or the 8th, and so on.) Training was intense and many women washed out. Those who graduated were the cream of the crop

Dayton Ohio Aviation Trail #1: Aviation Trail and Museum Center

I visited Dayton, Ohio, last year, and visited a few sites on the Aviation Trail. And when I track down my photos - they are somewhere on either my laptop or a loose memory chip, I'll share them here.

The Wright Brothers are claimed by two different state's aviation history. Kitty Hawk in North Carolina makes a big deal out of the Wright Brothers, who experimented with their gliders from 1900 to 1902, and flew the first powered flight in 1903 from Kill Devil Hills. After that, however, the brothers did the rest of their experimenting and perfecting at Huffman Prairie in Dayton, Ohio.

Dayton is also where the Wright Brothers lived, and so there's quite a bit of aviation history around the city. See it now, people, see it now, before it all disappears, as American life changes so much in the next few decades and soon people won't be able to afford to travel much beyond their home towns, even if they're allowed to by the Greenhouse Gases police.

Anyway, in the next few entries I'll be commenting about the Aviation Trail in Dayton. Not a lot of women aviation landmarks here, but that's okay!

When I visited Dayton last year I picked up: A Field Guide to Flight, On the Aviation Trail originally published in 1996. (So, 14 years later, how much of what was talked about in this book is still in existence, and how much has gone by the wayside...and how much will go by the wayside in the near future thanks to this lousy economy...we shall see as this series of blog entries progresses.)

The book divides the Aviation Trail into five parts: the West Anchor, the Central Loop, the South Loop, the East Anchor, and the North Loop.

WA 1 is the Aviation Trail Museum and Visitors Center. I've been in this! At the time of the writing of my reference book, it was under construction.

Here's the home page of Aviation Trail, who maintains all the sites on the trail.

And here's another site with a different URL, but talking about the same thing...:
http://www.aviationtrailinc.org/.

The full name of the center is the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center and the Aviation Trail Visitor Center. Paul Dunbar, the famous black writer who was a friend of Orville Wright's (they were in the same class together - Dunbar was the only black in that class) is linked with Wright here which seems kind of foolish. No insult to Dunbar, but he was a writer -- albeit a famous one -- and knew Orville as a printer who published his work, he had nothing to do with the aviation side... indeed he died young, at age 33, from tuberculosis.)

16 girls and Bike acrobatics

16 Chinese gymnasts put on a show with some bicycles. Most impressive.

I Wish I Could Slap Danica Patrick

I'm watching the US Army All-American Bowl on NBC. Well...not really watching it, I've got it on with the sound down, while I wait for the real football which is to start in an hour... and I see a GoDaddy commercial which features Danica Patrick speeding in a car. She is pulled over by a police officer, who is a woman, who is apparently sexually attracted to Danica and pulls off her uniform shirt as if she's stripping to reveal a GoDaddy sports bra underneath.

I'd like to slap Danica, and that other actress, and whatever male chauvanist pig wrote that commercial.

Unfortunately, GoDaddy actually is the company I use to register my domain names, because it's very easy to do there... so I'm going to be writing them a letter of complaint directly, as well, for this demeaning commercial. And I'm going to be investigating other companies to move my business to.

But Patrick really should be ashamed of herself. Women athletes have enough trouble being taken seriously, without adding a hint of lesbianism and lasaciviousness into the mix. Not that there's anything wrong with being a lesbian, but there's a tasteful display of two women -- or two men -- being attracted to each other, and then there's the lascivious and demeaning - to both women and police officers - display that this commercial propogates --- one shown in a time frame where the vast majority of the audience is probably straight, young male teens who have just had it confirmed for them yet again that the only reason that women are on this earth is to provide eye candy for them, and to have it reinforced for any female watchers that yes... that's the way to attract a man!

News of the Weird: Aviation Style

Just picked up a copy of Airliners Magazine. They have an "unusual and interesting news items" section called Tail Pieces.

From that, I gleaned the follwing info.

There's a site called http://www.laviators.com/ where people actually go to post photos of themselves that they've taken in the lavatories of commercial airplanes. Now this is not the silliest thing I've ever seen, that would have to go to .... I can't even remember now, that Walmart website where people post photos of individuals who need to be seriously coached on their dress sense ... but it's up there. I mean, I can see a website where people post pictures of their travels with Flat Stanley or the female equivalent, Flat Stacy and Flat Jessica. But pictures of oneself sitting on a toilet?

Then there's furniture designers who make furniture out of used airplane parts. Check the out at http://www.motoart.com

The Lady and the Tiger, strip 2

The Lady and the Tiger ocmic strip is uploaded every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Strip 2 is now uploaded and can be viewed at:

http://volcanoseven.com/YouFlyGirl/TheLadyandTheTiger/

New comic strip: The Lady and the Tiger

Here's the link to the full-size version of the strip:
The Lady and the Tiger


Winged Victory: Women in Aviation is proud to present a new thrice-weekly comic strip (new strips uploaded every Monday, Wednesday and Friday), The Lady and the Tiger.

Its audience is the general public, the purpose is to provide a little education on general aviation while at the same time telling good stories. It features a young woman named Shannon Scott, who flies around the country in a Tiger Moth, having adventures. (Real world adventures, rather than Lara Croft, Tomb Raider adventures!)

Again, here's the link to the full-size version of the strip:
The Lady and the Tiger

This strip is also available for syndication, if any webmaster would like to feature it on their own website, or in an email or print newsletter. Fees at this startup juncture are relatively modest, so get in on it now! Contact me for details, including viewing dozens of already completed strips so you can get a complete taste of The Lady and the Tiger.

Wedell-Williams Air Service

The book, Wedell-Williams Air Service, by Robert S. Hirsch and Barbara H. Schultz has just arrived in the mail. Another book with no index. Argh.

It tells the story of Harry P. Williams and James R. Wedell, two aviation pioneers during the 1930s who built racing planes. Mary "Mae" Haizlip and her husband, Johnny Haizlip, flew these planes, among other pilots.

The Louisiana State Museum has an extensive Wedell-Williams Collection.

Wedell-Williams 44

Wedell-Williams 92 (the plane Mae Haizlip flew)

Douglas Mawson's Antarctic plane believed found

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100102/sc_nm/us_antarctica_plane

An Antarctic expedition has found what it believes to be remains of the first aeroplane brought to the frozen continent, on an icy shore near where it was abandoned almost a century ago.

Australia has searched for many years for the old single-propeller Vickers plane at Cape Denison, where the nation's most famous polar explorer, Douglas Mawson, abandoned it after it proved to be a failure during his 1911-14 expedition.

"Luck has been on our side and it's been a great episode in the history of Antarctic aviation," said Dr Tony Stewart, leader of the current expedition, after the chance discovery on New Year's day.

Read complete article at link above.