Breakaway: the History of Women in Aviation December 2011

The December 2011 issue of Breakaway: History of Women in Aviation is now available for the Kindle *and* the Nook.

Link to December issue.
http://www.amazon.com/Breakaway-History-Aviation-December-ebook/dp/B006RWUBW2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325389863&sr=1-1
and ToC
News
1. News Articles, December 1-31, 2011: Headlines Only
2. News Headlines and First 2 Paragraphs of each story, December 1-31, 2011

Articles
1. History of the Powder Puff Derby: The Second Race – 1948
2. Picture Books: Ruth Law Thrills a Nation and Soar, Elinor!
3. Book Reviews: No Visible Horizon: Surviving the World’s Most Dangerous Sport
* Index for No Visible Horizon
* Women Aerobatic Pilots Mentioned in No Visible Horizon

Appendices
1. Women Pilots: 1910 to 1918



November issue for the Kindle
http://www.amazon.com/Breakaway-History-Aviation-November-ebook/dp/B006KM9UFS/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1323595315&sr=1-1
Calendar
1. Aviation Calendar – January 2012

Articles
1. Vernice Armour: Accelerated Passion
2. Why I Am Not Afraid to Fly, by Katherine Stinson (1919)
3. History of The Powder Puff Derby: The First Race – 1947

News
1. News Articles, November 1-30, 2011: Headlines Only
2. News Headlines and Brief Synopsis of Articles, November 1-30, 2011

Appendices
1. Selected Museums Devoted to Women in Aviation

The Avenger field magazine, Vol 1 issue 3

Sure wish I'd done my research first...

Found a copy of this on Ebay and spent $200 for it...

Then I did research and found that WingsAcrossAmerica - a WASP site - has scans of all issues of the Avenger field magazine, as well as something called the Fiffinella Gazette.

http://www.wingsacrossamerica.us/records_all/newsletter.htm

Scans available there are for:

First Edition: , February 10, 1943 The Fifinella Gazette
Second Edition, The Fifinella Gazette
Third Edition, April 1, 1943 The Fifinella Gazette
Fourth Edition, April 23, 1943, The Fifinella Gazette
Fifth Edition, May 24, 1943, The Fifinella Gazette
CADET'S LAST NEWSLETTER FROM AVENGER FIELD!

The Avenger. VOL 1, NO.1 May 11, 1943
The Avenger, VOL.1, NO. 2 June 28,1943
The Avenger, VOL 1, NO 3 July 26, 1943
The Avenger, VOL 1, NO 4 September 2, 1943
The Avenger, VOL 1, NO 5 October 22, 1943

The WASP trainee alphabet, by Mary Hart

A is for Airplane a gadget designed

For scaring the student plumb out of her mind.

B is for Brakes on the same which is splendid,

But use them too sharp and you'll end up upended,

C is for Compass installed with much cost

In function best suited for getting you lost.

D is for Details you mustn't forget,

Like safety belt fastened or parking brake set.

E's Elevators affixed to the tail;

If not used in time nothing else will avail

F is for Flaps, which are tricky and fickle,

But without these addenda, you'd be in a pickle.

G's Gosports, which surely need no introduction;

They're for learning new cuss words' and other instruction

H is for Headwind, built in or external:

In violence unequalled, in purpose infernal

I is for Instruments--none of them care to

Tell you a thing--take their word if you dare to.

J is for Jolts which you get in the air

And the height that you had which is no longer there.

K is for Kicks which are aimed at the rudder;

The way these are given make a check pilot shudder.

L is for Looking and all of that drivel!

Rebuild your neck, pal, so's to make it full swivel!

M is for Motor; if it quits, you can bet you

De Lawd's on your side, for Green Pastures will get you,

N is for Nose which is always surprisin'

By never remaining upon the horizon

O is for Off, which is where for the switches

When, parked, or you'll hear from those strict sons of--Texas

P is for Pilot; that's you---on condition

You don't spin too low or not check your ignition.

Q is got questions -that need understanding---

Clean forgot by the time you have come in from landing

R is for Rudder, to use in each antic;

It drives airplanes sideways, the rest of us frantic.

S is for Slipstream to complicate matters

With torque, until everyone's mad as mad hatters.

T is for Throttle, controlling the go-juice;

Without this device trying to aviate's no use.

U is for Up, and the Upper the better;

For the higher you are the more spots you can set her.

V is Velocity; nothing can stop it;

Once you've too much, you must climb up to drop it.

W's Wobble-pump---use debatable

It aids most in making the starting quite hateable.

X marks the spot where the landing gear hit;

Three points was the aim but two points was what lit

Y is for yes which is all you can say

When the board says a check ride is headed your way.

Z is for zealous, our attitude truly

If held to the end we will graduate duly.

Only Eight Pilots Are Qualified to Land on This ‘Terrifying’ Runway

From The Blaze/Yahoo News: Only Eight Pilots Are Qualified to Land on This ‘Terrifying’ Runway
There is a small airport in the Himalayan mountains with a 6,500-foot runway and picturesque surroundings. When flying into Paro Airport in Bhutan passengers may be staring in terrified awe of the 18,000-foot mountainous peaks or have their eyes squeezed tightly shut as the pilot weaves through the range.

But only eight pilots are qualified to fly into Paro. And up until earlier this year, only one airline serviced the airport. The Daily Mail reports that take off and landing can only take place in daylight hours:

The runway is just 6,500 feet long – one of the few in the world shorter than their elevation above sea level.

Planes have to weave through the dozens of houses that are scattered across the mountainside – coming within feet of clipping the roofs.

Strong winds whip through the valleys, often resulting in severe turbulence. Passengers who have been on flights to the airport have described the landing as ‘terrifying’.

Up until July, the Daily Mail reports, Druk Air was the only airline flying into the airport, which Boeing has said is “one of the world’s most difficult for takeoffs and landings.” Buddha Air also serves the facility, which takes in about 30,000 people each year.

In 2009, the airport was named by Travel Leisure the number 1 most dangerous airport in the world. Also making the list were the International Airport of Princess Juliana, St.Martin, Reagan National Airport, Washington DC, and Airport of Gibraltar.

WASP sites on the web

There are a few websites about the WASP.

WASP Museums
There are two bricks and mortar WASP museums. One is at Avenger Field in Sweetwater Texas.
http://waspmuseum.org/
(I've been to this one.)

There were plans for a WASP museum in Quartzite, AZ but that does not appear to be going anywhere. (So it's not actually a bricks and mortar museum...)
http://waspmuseum.com/ (website not updated since 2010)

WASP Virtual Museums
http://wingsacrossamerica.us/wings/

Wings Across America is dedicated to preserving the history of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of WWII and making sure it is included as an exciting motivational educational resource in classrooms across America and into the next century.

HOW? By giving each and every WASP the opportunity to share her own eyewitness account of her service to her country in the privacy and comfort of her own home. Each and every story is important and focuses on her entire life. Interviews are shot by professional videographers on digital video tape, using professional lighting and audio equipment.
Once these stories are captured as broadcast quality video,the footage will be digitized, along with personal photographs and documents. These will all be edited onto individual WASP Web pages for each and every WASP. Once this content is captured and digitized, EVERYTHING is possible, including kiosks at the Air Force Academy, Air Force Museum, National WASP WWII Museum, and Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.

http://wwii-women-pilots.org/
Andy's WASP web pages

Texas Woman's University WASP holdings
http://www.twu.edu/library/wasp.asp

Former female WWII pilot takes to the skies again

From SunSentinel.com: Former female WWII pilot takes to the skies again
Every person is filled with stories, and for Tex Meachem, the roar of a propeller is one that tells hers.

The 93-year-old woman lives in John Knox Village in Pompano Beach and her home shows hints of her past: a teddy bear dressed as a pilot, old photographs of her in a jump suit. While men were shipped overseas to fight in World War II, the women held down the fort back home. Meachem was one of a handful of women who pioneered the skies as a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs.

Just last year, she was still able to fly a plane. However, her story begins in Central Florida. Born Tex Brown in 1918, Meachem grew up in Winter Gardens and was not the typical girl from the start.

"My mother was a remarkable woman. All my life she told me I could do anything I wanted to do if I was willing to work for it," she said.

Meachem studied physics in high school – a class reserved for boys. She attended Florida State College for Women, now Florida State University, and studied economics and accounting. One of her professors was the only female CPA in Florida and Meachem aspired to be the second. After graduation, her first job was at the Winter Gardens Citrus Exchange, where she was the only woman employee.

"Their whole attitude toward me was 'Isn't she cute.' I was miserable. I was so smart," she remembered.

After other jobs and attending summer school, Meachem worked as a secretary at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Living with three other women, they often took the bus down to Daytona Beach, a three-hour ride. One of her roommates suggested something that seemed crazy: why don't we get our civilian piloting license? On top of that, if they joined a club nearby, they could rent the planes for half the price.

"I knew absolutely nothing about planes; I'd never even been up in one. We went up and it was awe inspiring. It was wonderful," she remembered of her first trip in the air.

With their licenses in hand, the women took multiple trips to Daytona Beach by plane. Eventually, Meachem was offered a job at the Civil Air Patrol in Sarasota as a bookkeeper. She only agreed to it if she would be able to fly while she worked there. It was a deal.

For the next nine months, she flew over the Gulf of Mexico searching for German submarines, as it was a fear at the time. While she never found any, it led her to the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs.

"It was very hush hush at that time," she said. "The idea was for us to take the exact same course, except combat maneuvers, that the boys did. We would not be able to leave the country, but [what] we did was relieve the men to go overseas and we would take stateside duties."

Meachem began training in May 1942 in Sweetwater, Texas and graduated the next year in a class of 59 women – she later found out that 64 women passed the course, but they couldn't have a higher graduation rate than the men, so five graduates were cut. She still has a letter from her mother, who never cursed, telling her to, "Be the best damn pilot in the Air Force!"

She was assigned to Hondo Air Base in San Antonio. When the women arrived, the men were shocked to see them on the base and didn't have a place for them to stay the first night. The next morning in the dining room, all eyes were on them. One of them was a navigational officer, who Meachem ended up marrying.

While a pilot, the women were encouraged to fix their hair and lipstick while the planes were taxing on the tarmac. Also, they were told to return salutes but never initiate them. On her first assignment, she flew navigation students on their missions, who then got bombers and set up mock navigation stations on the ship.

"We flew and the instructors sat in the copilot seat and he would get the first student to give him flight directions for going somewhere, and then they gave them to me. I was to follow those as long as possible. I was supposed to wait for the copilot to abort if it looked dangerous, but a couple of times I beat him to it," she laughed.

She flew other missions around the country, mainly moving planes and people where they needed for the war effort. However, the military and Congress disbanded WASP in 1944 after deciding it was too costly to keep up with.

"In essence they told us to go home and stay barefoot and pregnant," Meachem said.

Although she was no longer needed as a pilot, she couldn't stay out of the skies. She had a cousin who repaired antique planes and got a chance to fly when she visited. In the time she was in a plane, she felt at ease and doing what she loved.

In 1977, the United States finally recognized the WASPs as members of the military by giving them an honorable discharge. In 2010, about 200 of the surviving female pilots were given the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington, D.C.

However, with such an expensive passion, 50 years went by without her sitting in the cockpit. Every time she was on a commercial plane, she would ask to speak to the pilots and talk shop. To her surprise, she finally met a female pilot onboard.

Last year, through the nonprofit History of Flight in Marathon, Meachem got a chance to fly a plane again out of Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. She chose to go up in an AT-6 and do some aerobatics with a pilot. The mayor of Broward County, her sisters at the Red Hat Society, family and friends all attended a special ceremony. A male chorus sang the Air Force song, rewording it to incorporate her name, including "there she goes into the wild blue yonder…"

Sitting in the plane with another pilot, they flew over the Everglades and did flips and turns. For a time, she took control of the plane, which she said was like riding a bicycle.

"You're so free up there, especially when you're flying alone; nothing to distract you or anything," she said.

IAF Touts Female Flight Schools Grads

From Israel National News: IAF Touts Female Flight Schools Grads

The commissioning ceremony for graduates of the IDF pilot's course was held on Tuesday at the IAF base in Hatzarim.

The course concludes three years of officer's training, flight training, and results in both an IDF officer's commission and an academic degree from Ben Gurion University of the Negev.

Graduates will go on to specialized flight training for the specific roles they will fill in the IAF. This years class includes five female graduates, the highest number to graduate at one time.

Commanders touted the women graduates as "definitive proof" Israel is a democratic and civilized society.

"Today five warriors who complete the course represent all women serving in the IDF," Brigadier General Ziv, who commands the Hatzarim base, said. "They are definitive and unshakable proof of the status in democratic and civilized society."

"They are independent and powerful with equal duties and rights, an example to all. Men and women warriors, we salute you today with satisfaction and great pride in our fighters," he added.

The five female graduates, however, are not the first women to serve in the IAF as pilots. Israel's first female military pilot was Rachel Markovski, who earned her pilot’s license in 1940.

In 1949 Israel's law was amended to state that equality would be maintained in the IDF except in such cases where physical requirements required restrictions be imposed – leaving some 92% of roles in the IDF open to women.

The IAF flight school has been formally co-ed since 1995 and graduated its first female fighter pilot in 2001.

Despite claims in Israel’s media to the contrary women who wish to serve in combat roles have numerous paths they can follow, including air-medical technicians in the IAF's elite Unit 669, Surface to Air Missile (SAM) operators, Combat Engineers, the Atomic Biological Chemical (ABC) unit, Light infantry (Karakal) on the Egyptian border, Military Police (Sachlav), the IDF's elite MAGAV-SAMAG undercover commando unit, Naval officers, and the border observation element Unit 869.

Woman also fill almost all instructor positions in the IDF.

The pilot graduates will formally receive their wings at a ceremony on Thursday that will be attended by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz, and IAF Commander Maj. Gen. Ido Nechushtan.

Hangar Hash: Prop Wash (Holiday Punch)

Holiday Punch

1 liter Tahitian Treat
1 liter ginger ale
1 quart pineapple juice
1/2 gallon lime or raspberry sherbert (or ice)

Scoop sherbet or ice into punch bowl, then pour the remaining ingredients over it.

Recipe by Shenelle Ham

Beyond the bus

An interesting article on how all fundamentalist religions exclude women - not just Islam...

From Haaretz: Beyond the bus

Israel hasn't seen a consensus like this on women's rights in a long time. It's only been a few weeks since the phrase "exclusion of women" became a staple of the news pages, and already it's become a catchphrase that calls to mind associations like ultra-Orthodox extremism, religious coercion, the slogan "Iran is here," oppression of women and fear of further escalation.

On the streets, on the Internet, in the media, on university campuses, in the Knesset and in the government, Israelis are protesting the exclusion of women by the ultra-Orthodox. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch have condemned the phenomenon, and last week Kadima jumped on the bandwagon - or should we say on the bus? - with a campaign it is calling "Women in Front: Saying No to the Exclusion of Women."
gender segregation, women discrimination

Women’s right activists. 'Secular society also tends to see women as sex objects,' says a rape crisis center volunteer.
Photo by: Daniel Bar-On

It almost seems as if the exclusion of women were a specifically ultra-Orthodox hang-up, that in Israel, full equality exists between the sexes, threatened only by sex-segregated bus lines. But many of the women protesting the discrimination reject Netanyahu's statement that it is a "limited phenomenon that does not reflect the entire population," and say the fight against Haredi discrimination should be just the beginning.

"On my way to an accountants conference in Jerusalem I passed through the city's neighborhoods full of Hanukkah celebrations and looked for excluded women," Stav Shaffir, one of the leaders of this summer's social protests, wrote on her Facebook page. "I saw no sign of segregation on public transit. It was only when I reached the conference itself that I discovered the true exclusion. In the [conference] hall there was one woman for every 10 men. And on the panel? One woman (myself ) and four men. When we speak of free day care, we must not forget that its objective is not only to reduce social inequality or lessen the financial burden on young families. It is also to allow women to work where they please, and as long as they choose, and to receive maximum support for doing so."

Shaffir's comment is a reminder of a reality of which many of the women leading the protests are already well aware. The "true exclusion," as Shaffir calls it, is in the law and the economic and social structure, not least in its most liberal outposts. While the country was in a frenzy over Israel Defense Forces soldiers walking out of military events featuring female singers, two theory and criticism periodicals identified with the radical left published issues that did not include a single article written by a woman. Not many were bothered by this.

Yet the demonstrations against the most visible forms of discrimination against women - like sex-segregated buses geared toward the ultra-Orthodox, the elimination of women from outdoor advertising campaigns in Jerusalem for fear of angering the ultra-Orthodox, and ultra-Orthodox attacks on the students and chaperones of a religious (but non-Haredi ) girls school in Beit Shemesh - pave the way for a struggle against the "true exclusion."

"The struggle against the exclusion of women has gained public legitimacy," said Hadar Shemesh, 31, from Tel Aviv, who organized rotations of women to ride in the front of sex-segregated buses. "Because it is against the ultra-Orthodox, it is very easy for everyone to say, 'They're the ones who are excluding women, not us.'"

And it is easier to protest such tangible exclusion, said Shemesh. "It is a physical struggle that can focus on direct action, whereas fighting against male domination in the theater and the press is much harder," she said. Shemesh hopes that "if there is consistent collaboration among women over a long time, we'll be able to take the struggle one step forward. We need to address ultra-Orthodox exclusion, but just as a basis for something much broader."
Change begins with anger

Kadima's campaign is directed against the Haredi exclusion of women and what is perceived to be the growing extremism in Israeli values in general. Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni said the struggle is not just against the ultra-Orthodox.

"For many years women have been fighting for their place in politics, in the army, and in centers of decision-making," said the opposition leader. "Suddenly, in recent years, after there is no longer a need for the High Court of Justice to settle cases like the [1995] Alice Miller case so that women can apply for pilot training courses and serve with distinction in army units, an opposite development has been taking place. It begins in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and moves to secular ones, all with public funding."

Livni said she did not enter politics with a feminist agenda. "Things that seemed obvious when I was young, for example that women should not serve in certain units, began to seem warped only at a later stage in my life," she said. The election campaign sharpened her vision. "When people said 'It's too much for her' and tried to belittle me, many women became angry, and anger is the beginning of struggle and change. Even if I didn't mean it, it suddenly happened."

College students have also been looking to bring gender discrimination to people's attention, and have received assistance from the Knesset Caucus for Equality between the Sexes and Unico Israel, a group that advocates for gender equality on campus.

"Throughout the year we receive complaints regarding equality, from both women and men, whose long-term results are in fact exclusion of women from the academic sphere," said Unico representative Lirit Gruber. Now that discrimination against women has suddenly become a popular cause, Gruber said there is a "certain feeling of consensus which was perhaps foreign to the feminist sphere over the years."

"I myself believe in collaboration between men and women, based on the belief that equality is a common interest that we should all promote," she said. "The subject that has now come to the foreground encourages collaboration, and I would like to see in it a beginning of collaboration, or a further step in collaboration, and from there go on to address all the disparities."

Last week, Rabbi Menachem Froman, a West Bank religious leader who promotes interfaith dialogue with Palestinians, told Haaretz correspondent Yair Ettinger: "This goes way beyond women's singing ... Secular people ask religious ones, 'Do you see nothing but the sexual aspect of a woman's singing? Why can't you see a woman as a human being?'"

But for Hadas Svirsky, a 29-year-old clinical psychology student who volunteers at a rape crisis center, the ultra-Orthodox conception of women as temptresses is not that different from the pornographic representations that abound in secular society.

"It's the other side of the coin," said Svirsky. "Secular society also tends to see women as sex objects. So it's infuriating to hear the reactions of the prime minister and politicians, who on the one hand are responsible for trampling women's rights and, on the other hand, call exclusion a limited phenomenon that they utterly oppose."

"I think it is important to understand that this is a protest against patriarchal oppression and not against the ultra-Orthodox," she said. "It is no mere coincidence that the ultra-Orthodox exclusion has made its way into the secular public sphere. If we focus the fight on the ultra-Orthodox alone, we're liable to forget that women are excluded from all public arenas."

More Info On Sponsorship for the Air Race Classic

The director of the Air Race Classic left a comment on my post about sponsorship for the race, clarifying the fact that people can be sponsors for as little as $25.

Here's the comment:

We can certainly use all available hands. But I would like to add a comment about sponsoring the race: Sponsorship does not entail thousands of dollars. We have sponsors for $25 on up and we have many who sponsor the race by making a donation item to our annual silent auction. All of the proceeds raised during the silent auction go to support our youth outreach activities and the continuation of the Air Race Classic so ALL can be supporters and sponsors. Please feel free to contact me about sponsorships, silent auction donations or lending a hand at info@airraceclassic.org. Thank you, Terry Carbonell, Secretary/Director, Air Race Classic, Inc.

Hangar Hash: Prop Wash (Golden Punch)

Golden Punch
Combine in a blender:

12 bananas
Thaw and add:
1 12-ounce can lemonade
2 12-ounce cans orange juice

Blend until smooth

Mix in large bowl 2 46-ounce cans of pineapple juice, 6 cups of water, 4 cups of sugar.

Add the banana mixture and mix well.

Pour in plastic cartons and freeze.

TO serve, thaw until slushy (just enough to get them out of the containers).

Add 4 bottles (2 liters) of chilled Sprite.

(Halve recipe if necessary.)

Recipe by Marilyn Stowe

Naval aviator creates a rumble during a trip home to Lexington

From Kentucky.com: Naval aviator creates a rumble during a trip home to Lexington
The rumble that rattled windows across Lexington on Friday and Sunday was not Santa doing a test run of some really souped-up reindeer.

It was Lt. Laura Combs, 25, a naval flight officer who grew up in Lexington and is one of an elite group of women in naval aviation. She was navigating an EA-18G Growler, a new plane that jams enemy radar.

Combs flew home with Lt. Cmdr. Robert Scott, a pilot from Virginia Beach, Va.

Flight crews are allotted a number of flight hours each month. She and Scott had some unused hours and were allowed to make the quick trip to Lexington from her base in Whidbey Island, Wash., Combs said. Combs attended Lexington Traditional Magnet School and Tates Creek High School before going to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., from which she graduated in 2008.

Women like Combs make up a small percentage of naval fliers. Her female colleagues are "really smart, really nice. ... We get the exact same training as the guys. No difference," Combs said, noting that one other woman is in her squadron.

Although women are increasingly a part of the Navy, only about 6.5 percent of the Navy's aviators are females, said Steve Fiebing, deputy public affairs officer.

"When you add all of the Navy's female aviators together, the total female population grows to over 800 that fly across all aviation platforms," Fiebing said.

Fiebing said Combs' squadron was the first to transition from the EA-6B Prowler to the newer EA-18G Growler, and Combs was one of the first women assigned to the Growler after flight school.

As of June, about 235 women are navigators like Combs. Even smaller is the number of women who fly in planes similar to Combs'. The EA-6B Prowler and the EA-18G Growler crews have 45 female aviators.

Currently, two women are pilots in either a Prowler or a Growler.

Combs' fascination with aviation began at home. Her father, Jim Combs, is a pilot. Combs' mother, Susan, said they used to fly together as a family.

Laura Combs said she "knew since early middle school" that she wanted to fly. Her mother recalled an experience at Lexington Traditional Magnet School that fed her daughter's drive to fly. While Laura Combs was an LTMS student, astronaut Story Musgrave, a Kentuckian, spoke at the school and lit "the fire underneath" her daughter.

"I could fly by myself before I could drive by myself," Laura Combs said.

Combs' early training began at the Georgetown airport with former Air Force pilot Joe Polsgrove, then continued with Jim Poe, also in Georgetown.

The plane she's flying now is part of the Navy's "electronic attack" fleet. The job of the plane, according to Combs, is to jam radar. The plane is armed, but the weapons are defensive. "We don't shoot first, but we are trained to do both," she said, referring to jamming radar and shooting.

Combs' primary responsibility is to tell the pilot, "'Fly this way, fly that way.' I'll talk on the radio full-time."

She expects to find out in January where she will be assigned next.

It is "definitely a male-dominated career," Combs said, but she has found her place in the Navy, flying planes that go really fast. The Growler's ground speed to Lexington was about 520 knots, roughly 598 mph.

Flight time was Santa-speed: 41/2 hours to Lexington, six hours back. Tail winds made the trip to Lexington faster than the return trip to Washington. Combs' arrival and departure coincided with loud noises some residents reported hearing.

Said Combs' mother, Susan: "She's very focused on where she is right now. ... We're very proud of her. As always, go Navy."

Help with the Air Race Classic, June 19-22, 2012

I received this email today... the sponsorship packages mentioned in the press release aren't enclosed - but you can see them by visiting their website.

Most of us can't be sponsors, but we can certainly be volunteers...

airraceclassic.org

Dear Potential Air Race Classic Sponsor,

The 36h annual Air Race Classic (ARC), an all-women transcontinental air race, takes place June 19 -22, 2012. Close to one hundred women will start the race in Lake Havasu City, AZ and fly more than 2,000 miles to Batavia, OH.

The first Women's Air Derby, raced in 1929, was referred to by Will Rogers as the “Powder Puff Derby.” It captured the nation’s attention then and today the ARC continues that energy. We invite you to join us. Be an ARC sponsor.

Race teams consist of at least two female pilots. Teams have four days to complete the cross-country course, flying under FAA visual flight rules. Skilled pilots, ranging in age from eighteen to ninety from across the United States and internationally (Canada, England, Germany, Malaysia and New Zealand), attract attention as they fly across the country. A wide variety of careers, backgrounds and universities are represented in their numbers. Their professionalism encourages women and young girls to strive for success in aviation and other non-traditional endeavors. Through outreach programs and the media, these women touch and inspire thousands along the way.

The ARC is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that depends on your support, tax-deductible donations and a network of volunteers. Organizations such as the local Chamber of Commerce, the Ninety-Nines Inc. (international organization of women pilots), Zonta, Women in Aviation, Intl. (WAI), Civil Air Patrol (CAP), Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), local flying clubs, airport employees, local businesses and interested citizens are just some of the groups that lend their support.

Your donations will assist ARC in its mission to encourage and educate women pilots, to increase public awareness of general aviation and women’s roles in aviation, and to preserve and promote the tradition of pioneering women in aviation.

To “Catch the Excitement” and be a part of this event, we urge you to take advantage of one of the many sponsorship opportunities.

Enclosed are an ARC sponsorship list and a brochure outlining specific opportunities and benefits for you or your organization. We look forward to working with you to make this race and future races a success. [Go to the website to see these.]

Thank you for your support of the Air Race Classic.

Hangar Hash: Prop Wash (Deep Freeze Daiquiries)

Deep Freeze Daiquiries
2 6-ounce cans frozen pink lemonade
1 6-ounce can froze limeade
1 750-ml bottle light rum
6 lemonade cans of water

Mix all ingredients. Store in glass jar in deep freeze for 8 to 12 hours before serving. Mixture should be icy. Any unused portion can be refrozen. This will never freeze solid. Pink lemonade can be substituted for one 10 oz package frozen strawberries [I think she means, frozen strawberries can be substituted for the pink lemonade]. For a tart taste, add juice of two lemons.

Makes 2 quarts or serves 20-25 people.

Recipe by Jean Wallace

Hangar Hash: Prop Wash (Champagne Sherbert Punch)

Champagne Sherbert Punch
3 cups chilled pineapple juice
1 quart pineapple sherbert
1/4 cup lemon juice from concentrate
1 750-millilitre bottle chilled champagne

Combine pineapple and lemon juice. Just before serving, add sherbert and champagne. Stir gently. Makes 2 and a half quarts. For rosy punch, use raspberry sherbet and pink champagne.

Recipe by Leesa Oakes

Hangar Hash: Prop Wash (Champagne Punch)

4 bottles champagne
2 bottles ginger ale
1 bottle wine (1/2 gallon)
2 ounce triple sec

There are no directions given. Presumably you pour everything into a gigantic punch bowl and mix it all together?

recipe by Kay Newth

PPDVM: 1968 Derby Cigarette Lighter

Recently offered at Ebay (and I missed out on it because, even to "snipe" a bid for a PPD item, there's no way I get up at 7:30 am!)

Sadly, I don't think the purchaser was really interested in Powder Puff Derby memorabilia, but rather just "Tobacciana".

Armstrong Floor Wax was a race sponsor. One one side of the lighter is an ad for Armstrong one-step floor wax, on the other side, that race's theme: For women with more exciting things to do than scrub floors."

The lighter is a Scripto-Vu lighter.

Hangar Hash: Prop Wash (Cafe Con Leche)

Cafe Con Leche
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons water
6 whole cloves
1 2 inch stick cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamon
Pinch of salt
6 cups strong, hot coffee
2 cups half-and-half

Combine all the ingredients, except the coffee and the half-and-half, in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

Add the mixture to the hot coffee, cover and let steep for 15 minutes. Strain into a serving pot.

Heat the half-and-half (do not boil) and stir into coffee mixture. Serve hot.

Recipe by Shanelle Ham

Hangar Hash: Prop Wash (Amaretto Smoothie)

I picked up a copy of Hangar Hash *Eating Your Way TO an Aft C.G.* cookbook on Ebay. It's a cook book - or more accurately a cook booklet (a GBC-bound collection of index cards), put together by the Arkansas 99s. Indeed, the descriptive title is "Flight Tested Recipes of Arkansas 99s".

There's no copyright or copyright date, but at the back of the book is a list of the chapter's officers for June 1989-May 19990.

Chairman: Marilyn Stowe
Vice-Chairman: Jean Wallace
Secretary: Shanelle Ham
Treasurer: Emmy Hall

The booklet is divided into:

Beverages (Prop Wash)
Appetizers (Jump Starts)
Breads (Aileron Rolls)
Salads (Ground Loops)
Main Dishes (Full Throttle)
Vegetables (Grass Strip)
Desserts (Weight & Balance)

I thought I'd share a recipe a day (some are more complex than others)

Amaretto Smoothie
2 large scoops vanilla ice cream
1 oz brandy
1 oz amaretto

Blend in blender at low speed until smooth and serve in brandy snifter.

Recipe by Shanelle Ham

Index for No Visible Horizon, by Joshua Cooper Ramo

I've reviewed No Visible Horizon: Surviving the World's Most Dangerous Sport, by Joshua Cooper Ramo, on aerobatics, in the December edition of Breakaway: The History of Women in Aviation.

The book has no index, and non-fiction books without indexes always annoy me. So I put together an index for it, and share it below. (The index is from the paperback edition.)

Abruzzo, Ben (balloonist) death of– 197
Aderson, Jerry – 39
Andeson, Maxie (balloonist), death of – 197
Aresti, Jose – 83-85, 181
Armstrong, Robert – 139-151, 189, 190, 191
Beggs, Gene – 166
Boriak, Sergei – 19-20, 23, 23, 35, – 58, 81, 139, 178-179, 208, 209, 210-212, 213, 214-219, 221, 222, 223, 265
Bush, Alan – 58-63, 95, 182, 199, 200, 208, 247, 249, 256, 257
Chambliss, Kelly (wife of Kirby) – 44, 199
Chambliss, Kirby – 27-48, 159, 191, 247, 249, 258
Chemal, Victor -- 35 (Hungarian)
Bessier , Coco – 186
Coile, Brantley – 144-146
Cole, Duane – 39
Csikszentmihakyi, Mihaly – 127, 129, 133
De Kooning – 269
Delacerda, Fred – 134
A Description of Stimulus-Seeking in Sport According to Flow Theory (thesis) – 117
Donner, Paul – 106
Doolittle, Jimmy ( first outside loop, 1931) – 68
Dussau, Eddy – 185-186, 189, 191
Extra, Walt – 160-163, 178, 224
Faberow, Norman, author of The Many Faces of Suicide – 121
Farley, Frank (researcher) – 131
Frasca, Joe (death of) – 97
Freud, Sigmund – 121
Gagne, Randy (death)- 218
Hadden, Ken (death of)- 168
Head, Harry (neurologist) – 235
Herendeen, Bob – 32
Hillard, Charlie – 32, (death of) – 228
Hucks, Bentfield – 159
Jim (?)– 208, 209
Julie (?) - 199
Kapanina, Svetlana – 187-188
Kayris, Jurgis – 30, 81, 266
Keith – 208, 219
Knight, Phil – 58, 227-241, 250, 251, 254
Krier, Hal – 32
L’Apperant, Xavier – 182
Lisa (?)– 222, 223-224
Lomcovak (aerobatic maneuver) – 82, 160
Loudenslager, Leo (Died on motorcycle, 76) – 67-76, 159, 175, 176
Mamistov, Mikhail – 186-187
Martin, David – 58, 105-106, 175-191, 199, 247, 249, 258
Martin, Martha – 176, 178, 199
Masagee, Rick (death of) – 168
McHenry, Clint – 71, 74, 96, 97
Muller, Erich (Swiss champion) – 166, 220
Muller-Beggs maneuver – 166
Nagy, John (death of) – 108, 110, 111
Nesterov (first loop in Kiev, 1913) – 68
Novak, Frantisek – 77
Ogilvie, B. C. (psychiatrist) – 120-121, 134
Paris, Patrick (World Aerobatic Champion 1998 ) – 70, 184, 185
Pitts, Curtiss – 163
Pool, C. C – 134
Price, Celesta -80
Price, Frank – 79-87, 91, 97
Proger, Janice – 117-118, 119, 129, 130
Rihn-Harvey, Debby – 188
Ritchie, Margaret (Aerobatic pilot, died flying prototype) – 72
Romen, Alexander (sports psychologist) – 187
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de – 120, 203
Scoop (?), Julie’s husband – 199
Stahalik, Martin – 31
Stewart, Betty – 75
Stewart, Leo – 75
Tolson, Hubie – 208, 218
Von Hagenburg, Graf – 77
Wagstaff, Patty- 188
Williams, Neil – 12, 13-14 (death of, 14)

Airports
Borki Field – 186
Clarence Page Airport – 207
Double Eagle Airport – 197
Eloy Airport – 46
Hollywood North Perry Airport – 51
McCaw Field – 233
Wiley Post Airport – 208


Planes (all plane types grouped together, regardless of model number)
Acro – 72
Beech Bonanza – 144
Blierot monoplane – 139
Bucher-Jungmeister – 159, 177
CAP (French) – 36, 146, 147, 149, 232 – 183
Cessna Citation – 38
Decathlon– 39
Dewtoitine – 139
Edge– 30, 31, 36, 41, 101, 102, 159
Extra – 60, 63, 95, 178, 218, 221, 227, 251
F-16 – 41, 58, 177
Kazakh – 178
Laser – 67, 73, 176
Mermoz – 203
Morane-Saulnier – 139
Piper Cub – 58
Pitts – 61, 63, 101, 146, 149
Sea Fury – 228
Sukhoi – 20, 36, 101, 156, 168, 186, 208, 216
Velox – 249
Yak(ovlevs) – 30, 216
Zlin – 12, 30, 82, 108, 160, 226

Henry Holden's Women aviator profiles for the Kindle

Henry Holden has uploaded several pilot profiles to the Kindle and Nook. They are not full-sized books, but rather ... pamphlet size. Hoever they prrovide excellent info in the pilot concerned.

Henry M. Holden, from his author page on Barnes & Noble Nook:

In 1994, Mr. Holden was cited in the United States Congressional Record for his work in recording the history of American women in aviation, and was the recipient of the Author's Award from the New Jersey Institute of Technology for his book Her Mentor Was An Albatross - The Autobiography of Pioneer Pilot Harriet Quimby.

In 1996, he launched the Women in Aviation Resource Center, an online repository of educational, historical, and networking resources for women interested in all aspects of aviation. In 2010 Henry was awarded the New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame Distinguished Service Award.

He is the author of over 900 magazine and newspaper articles appearing in national magazines such as Private Pilot, Plane & Pilot, Airport Journals, World Airnews, USAir, In-Flight-USA, American Aviation Historical Society's Journal, Women in Aviation, Woman Pilot, Airport Press and Aviation History, Vintage Airplane, Warbirds, Sport Aviation, and Upscale Living Magazine. He has been a commentator on the History Channel, and has published 39 books.

The original founder of the DC-3/Dakota Historical Society, Henry is a member of the Aviation Hall of Fame (New Jersey), Women in Aviation International, AOPA, and EAA.

Mr. Holden speaks at various events around the country and is available as a guest lecturer. His work has been the subject of a number of radio and cable television shows in New Jersey, Georgia, Oregon, and Washington State.

Henry Holden is formerly the News Editor East for Airport Journals and was a regular monthly contributor to the paper.

http://www.henrymholden.com/
http://www.women-in-aviation.com/

Books
Ladybirds - The Untold Story of Women Pilots in America - only $4.99
Her Mentor was an Albatross (Women in Aviation) - only $4.99
Great Women in Aviation - Seven biographies of women who broke with convention, refused to give up, and defied the odds. - only $2.99
Great Women in Aviation Part 2 (Great Women in Aviation #2 - Florence "Pancho" Barnes, Bessie Coleman, Evelyn "Bobbi" Trout, Capt. Bonnie Tiburzi, Ruth Nichols,) - $2.99
Great Women in Aviation #3 - Seven biographies of women who broke with convention, refused to give up, and defied the odds - $2.99

Profiles (about 5,000 words each)
Great Women in Aviation #1 - Patty Wagstaff World Aerobatic Champion - 99 cents
Great Women in Aviation #1 - Geraldine Mock - Round the World Record Setter - 99 cents
Great Women in Aviation #1 - Mercury 13 - 99 cents
Great Women in Aviation #1 - Women Airforce Service Pilots - WASP - 99 cents
Great Women in Aviation #1 - Amelia Earhart - 99 cents
Great Women in Aviation #1 - Betty Skelton First Lady of Firsts (Women in Aviiation) - 99 cents
Great Women in Aviation #2 - Dr. Peggy Chabrian
Great Women in Aviation #2 - Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes - 99 cents
Great Women in Aviation #2 - Bessie Coleman
Great Women in Aviation #2 - Ruth Rowland Nichols - 99 cents
Great Women in Aviation #2 - Capt. Bonnie Tiburzi - 99 cents
Great Women in Aviation #2 - Evelyn "Bobbi" Trout
Great Women in Aviation #2 - Janet Harmon Waterford Bragg - 99 cents
Great Women in Aviation #3 - Harriet Quimby - 99 cents
Great Women in Aviation #3 Amy Johnson - the First Woman to Fly Solo to England - Australia - 99 cents
Great Women in Aviation #3 - Jean Ross Howard - Founder of the Whirly-Girls - 99 cents
Great Women in Aviation #3 - Beryl Markham First Person to Fly Solo London to North America [cover illustration shows actress Stephanie Powers!)
Great Women in Aviation #3 - Anne Morrow Lindbergh - 99 cents
Great Women in Aviation #3 - Dr. Sally Ride - First American Woman in Space - 99 cents

Amelia EarhartWhat Really Happened to Amelia? (Great Women in Aviation)
Great Women in Aviation #3 - Amelia Earhart - Lost and Found?

PR: Sennheiser Aviation joins the Flying Musicians Association

December 16, 2012: Fort Worth, TX: The Flying Musicians Association is proud to announce that Sennheiser Aviation has decided to become the organization’s newest Corporate Member, for the 2012 season.

The relationship goes back to the founding of the 501(c)3 organization; Sennheiser’s booth at Oshkosh and other venues for the past couple years has featured live music by the FMA membership.

David Dunlap, Director Sennheiser Aviation, said, “Sennheiser Aviation supports the Flying Musicians Association because we too believe in sharing our passion for aviation and music -– two different endeavors that both provide creative outlets to their practitioners, while requiring commitment to excellence and high quality audio performance.”

John Zapp, co-founder of FMA, said, “Sennheiser Aviation has been with us from the beginning. We treasure their support and friendship, and we are absolutely delighted to welcome their support.”

In addition to AirVenture Oshkosh, FMA members provided live music at venues across the country in the past year: Sun ’n Fun, MerleFest, AirVenture, DFW Aviation & Transportation Career Expo, AOPA Aviation Summit, and the pilot career conferences and job fairs put on by FltOps at FTW (Fort Worth), ORD (Chicago), LAX (Los Angeles) and EWR (Newark) and MCO (Orlando).

“Next year, we plan to build on these events, and expand our schedule to more events – both musical and aviation-oriented,” said Zapp. “Sennheiser Aviation’s support goes a long way toward being able to realize that goal.” The FMA’s first public appearance of 2012 will be staged at the Sebring (FL) Sport Aviation Expo, January 19-22.

Cleveland, OH: Talk to an Astronaut on Jan 3rd

Join the International Women's Air and Space Museum (located at Burke Airport in Cleveland, Ohio) in partnership with NASA Glenn Research Center, on Tuesday, January 3, 2012, at 7:00pm, for a special presentation by Astronaut Catherine "Cady" Coleman.

This past May, Coleman returned home after 159 days aboard the International Space Station, as a member of the Expedition 26 crew. In addition, Cady was a mission specialist on STS-73 and was lead mission specialist on STS-93 for the deployment of the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Following the presentation, Cady will be available for a brief autograph session. The event is free and open to the public. A reservation is required to attend the event. Please RSVP at 216-623-1111. Seating is limited.

DATE: 1/3/2012
TIME: 7:00pm-8:30pm
LOCATION: International Women's Air & Space Museum
MORE: Autograph session begins promptly at 8:00pm
RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR THIS FREE EVENT
Call 216-623-1111 to reserve your seat today!

PPD VM: 25th Jubilee Cachet

PPD VM = Powder Puff Derby Virtual Museum

The 25th Anniversary Jubilee Cachets were flown from Calgary to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and time stamped at each location.

Texas woman recalls early days as military pilot

From Lubbock Online: Texas woman recalls early days as military pilot
CONROE — When Mary Helen Foster arrived in the Malden Army Airfield in Missouri in 1944, excited at getting to serve and sure they would be happy to have her, her commanding officer took one look at her and said, “I didn’t ask for a woman pilot.”

“I did not ask to come to Missouri, sir,” Foster had said.

Foster, 90, a resident of the Conservatory at Alden Bridge in The Woodlands, was one of more than 1,700 women chosen for the groundbreaking Women Airforce Service Pilots program during World War II. The program allowed women to test aircraft undergoing maintenance and train pilots to allow men to fly in combat.

For seven months, Foster was stationed in Malden, testing aircraft for maintenance and ensuring they were safe for use in combat, despite the discrimination she faced along the way.

Foster did not always want to be a pilot.

She was born in Cuero, just outside of San Antonio. After graduating from Brackenridge High School, she started working at Fort Sam Houston as a secretary. Foster and a friend took a vacation to Corpus Christi and decided to fly there because it was “a new experience.”

That first flight changed her life.

Upon her arrival home, she decided to take flying lessons.

Foster drove out to Brown’s Flying School at Stinson Field in San Antonio and convinced the flight instructor to take her up in a plane. After a half-hour flight, the instructor told her she “wasn’t the type” for flying lessons.

“I said, ‘I’ll be here and I’ll have the money in my hand and you’re going to teach me how to fly’,” Foster recalled demanding.

While taking flight lessons, Foster read an advertisement in a newspaper that famous pilot Jacqueline Cochran was recruiting female pilots for the military. Foster wrote back and sent in an application, waiting months before receiving her orders to head to Sweetwater in 1943 where all the WASP pilots trained.

“It was very difficult, because they really were not happy to have us. They graduated less than half of every class. The rest of them they washed out. Any little minor thing, you went home the same day,” Foster said.

At the time, she said she did not pay much attention to the discrimination, because she knew she could handle it. During her seven months testing aircrafts in Missouri, she said she was never scared about piloting a damaged aircraft.

Foster recalled one incident flying co-pilot on a C-47 when the tower called to tell her there was a fire in the left engine. She had the option to jump or continue to fly the plane and said “Who would want to want to jump in the air and leave a perfectly good plane?” She cut the engine, put out the fire and landed the aircraft.

“I wasn’t nervous at all, except when I came into my final approach I looked ahead of me and there were two ambulances and two firetrucks,” she said. “They were waiting to pick up the pieces.”

Her male co-pilot was not quite as calm and had exclaimed, “I always knew I was going to die in a fire.”

At dinner that night, other pilots asked him what it was like to have an emergency with her on board.

“He looked them straight in the eye and said, ‘I was hysterical. The woman flew the plane’,” Foster said.

When the war ended, her commanding officer got a letter from Washington stating the men were coming home from war, they want their jobs back and the female pilots should go home.

“I was so sad and so angry. To take all that training and I knew they still needed pilots, and I don’t know why this happened. I never did know. They didn’t tell us anything,” she said.

The commanding officer who initially questioned her abilities as a woman convinced her to visit an FAA inspector to get a commercial license. He even had a brother at an airline who he thought might help her, but his brother told Foster “the American public is not ready for a woman pilot.”

“They all needed pilots. And they’d say that, but not women,” she said. “So I just gave up and went back to secretary work.”

After working briefly for a jeweler, Foster and a friend went back to college at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos. With a semester remaining, she met her husband, Paul Chapman, an engineer from Galveston, and they were married about a year later in 1948.

She graduated with a degree in library science in the 1950s at San Jacinto College in Houston when she and Chapman began having children and worked as a librarian and substitute teacher at schools in Dickinson. Foster has five children, 10 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.

Foster still flies when she visits her oldest son, Paul Chapman Jr., in northeast Texas. A friend of her son’s has World War II era planes, which she said she enjoys flying in and reminiscing.

In 2009, Foster was one of more than 300 of the remaining members of the WASP program received a Congressional Gold Medal in Washington. She said she was “very excited” and “very proud.”

Her granddaughter, Tonya Farmer, of Spring, said Foster was always accepting and supportive growing up and is proud of her grandmother’s accomplishments.

“We always felt like we could do whatever and everything was possible if I put my mind to it,” Farmer said. “That’s a neat legacy.”

Foster spoke at Shindelwolf Intermediate School in Spring recently for Farmer’s 14-year-old son’s social studies class. Sandy Abt, lifestyle director at the Conservatory at Alden Bridge, said Foster also tells the story to a theater of retired residents.

“Today, we don’t go through what she went through and part of that is because she went there. She kind of paved the way for it to be easier for us,” Abt said.

The remaining WASP members attend the occasional meeting of the Women’s Military Aviators, Foster said. The beginning of every meeting, she said someone always stands up to remind them of their contribution to women’s aviation.

“We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you,” Foster recalls them saying.

Nigeria gets first female military pilot

From Spyghana: Nigeria gets first female military pilot

Blessing Liman, a 25-year-old lady from Kaduna State, has become Nigeria’s first female military pilot, news publication ThisDay reported December 12, 2011.

Blessing Liman was commissioned by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) at the weekend, along with 126 others, after completing the Direct Short Service Course 2010/11 Cadets of 325 Ground Training Group at the NAF Base in Kaduna.

An elated Blessing Liman, according to ThisDay, called on her fellow women to see her feat as a challenge for them to explore their capabilities for nation-building.

The publication cited Air Vice Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar , Nigeria’s Chief of Air Staff, as saying that the successful passing out from cadet training of the first female pilot was “a very laudable achievement” to the nation.

President Goodluck Jonathan is said to have directed the Nigerian Armed Forces to produce female combatants in order to give impetus to gender equality in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.

A Pilot's Charm Bracelet

I've just acquired a charm bracelet that was owned by a woman (name unfortunately unknown) who participated in at least the 1965 and 1966 Powder Puff Derbies. I know this because on her charm bracelet are two of thse little United States route charms, with the route of the race etched into the front and the year of the race on the back.

Breakaway: The History of Women in Aviation November 2011

http://www.amazon.com/Breakaway-History-Aviation-November-ebook/dp/B006KM9UFS/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1323595315&sr=1-1

Breakaway: The History of Women in Aviation is a monthly series of pamphlets on the Kindle. (Don't have a Kindle? No problem. Download the free emulator from Amazon and you can read it on your computer.) And it's available on the Nook, too.

Breakaway provides a monthly synopsis of current events involving women pilots, as well as a monthly calendar of general aviation, and articles on a variety of subjects.

The November installment of Breakaway features:

Calendar
1. Aviation Calendar – January 2012

Articles
1. Vernice Armour: Accelerated Passion
2. Why I Am Not Afraid to Fly, by Katherine Stinson (1919)
3. History of The Powder Puff Derby: The First Race – 1947

News
1. News Articles, November 1-30, 2011: Headlines Only
2. News Headlines and Brief Synopsis of Articles, November 1-30, 2011

Appendices
1. Selected Museums Devoted to Women in Aviation

Katherine Stinson documentary

This is a 26 doc on Katherine Stinson (my kindle readers will need to visit Youtube via compuer).

Cornelia Fort's family, friends donate funds to save open land

Before sharing the article, here's a bio of Cornelia Fort from Wikipedia:

Cornelia Clark Fort (Feb 5, 1919–Mar 21 1943) was an aviator in the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) (later merged with the Women Airforce Service Pilots), who became the first female pilot in American history to die on active duty.

Early life and career
Fort was born to a wealthy and prominent Nashville, Tennessee, family; her father, Rufus Elijah Fort, was a founder of National Life and Accident Insurance Company. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1939. After college, Fort would join the Junior League of Nashville. She showed an early interest in flying, ultimately training for and earning her pilot's license in Hawaii.

Pearl Harbor attack
While working as a civilian pilot instructor at Pearl Harbor, Cornelia Fort inadvertently became one of the first witnesses to the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II. On December 7, 1941, Fort was in the air near Pearl Harbor teaching takeoffs and landings to a student pilot in an Interstate Cadet monoplane. Hers and a few other civilian aircraft were the only U.S. planes in the air near the harbor at that time. Fort saw a military airplane flying directly toward her and swiftly grabbed the controls from her student to pull up over the oncoming craft.

It was then she saw the rising sun insignia on the wings. Within moments, she saw billows of black smoke coming from Pearl Harbor and bombers flying in. She quickly landed the plane at John Rodgers civilian airport near the mouth of Pearl Harbor. The pursuing Zero strafed her plane and the runway as she and her student ran for cover. The airport manager was killed and two other civilian planes did not return that morning.

Military service
With all civilian flights grounded in Hawaii, Fort returned to the mainland in early 1942. She made a short movie promoting war bonds that was successful and led to speaking engagements. Later that year, Nancy Love recruited her to serve in the newly established Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), precursor to the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). She was the second woman accepted into the service. The WAFS ferried military planes to bases within the United States.

Death
Stationed at the 6th Ferrying Group base at Long Beach, California, Cornelia Fort became the first WAFS fatality on March 21, 1943 when another plane being ferried by a male pilot struck the left wing of the BT-13 she was ferrying in a mid-air collision ten miles south of Merkel, Texas. At the time of the accident, Cornelia Fort was one of the most accomplished pilots of the WAFS. The footstone of her grave is inscribed, "Killed in the Service of Her Country."

Legacy
Cornelia Fort was portrayed in the film Tora, Tora, Tora by Jeff Donnell [real name Jean, but the actress preferred her nickname, Jeff, after the character from the Mutt and Jeff comic strip].

The Cornelia Fort Airpark in East Nashville is named after her.

From The Tennessean: Cornelia

Fort's family, friends donate funds to save open land
More than $200,000 has been donated to protect open land in Nashville by family and friends of Cornelia Fort, the first woman pilot to die on war duty in American history.

The gift that will help replenish Metro’s Open Space Fund was announced Thursday morning at the 135-acre Cornelia Fort Airpark in East Nashville.

The airpark property, which cost $1.2 million, was the first acquisition for Nashville’s Open Space Plan and has expanded the Shelby Bottoms park system to more than 1,300 acres. It also provides a northern entrance to the park.

A second purchase — the 181-acre Ravenwood Country Club at $2.8 million — goes before the Metro Council on Dec. 6, for the second of three required approvals.

Mayor Karl Dean thanked the members of the Fort family and friends Thursday for “their generosity and dedication to conserving nature and history.”

“Not only is the airport property a prime example of what our Open Space Plan aims to accomplish, the public-private partnership supporting this acquisition is a model for how we want to engage the private sector in raising funds for public land conservation going forward,” he said.

The donation for the Open Space Fund was organized by The Land Trust for Tennessee, which is the leading private fundraiser for the city’s Open Space Plan.

The plan is part of Dean’s push to make the city greener, encouraging such things as green roofs, tree planting and preservation of land to make waterways and air cleaner and to draw people outdoors.
Endowments grow

Such efforts are a trend nationwide.

The gathering beside the now-closed tarmac and empty hangars came the day after The Land Trust Alliance released a national census showing that endowments to protect lands have more than doubled from 2005 to 2010.

Ten million new acres were conserved, despite a slow economy.

“Communities nationwide value clean water, local food and places to play, and they are investing in those places close to home,” said Rand Wentworth, president of the alliance.

Local land trusts are saving more land while federal funding and purchases for such acquisitions are shrinking, he said.

Dean unveiled the Open Space Plan last April, which calls for 3,000 acres of parkland to be added in the next 10 years. It advocates for conservation of 22,000 acres of public and private land over 25 years. The mayor included $5 million in Metro’s 2010 capital spending plan for acquisitions.

The Metro Parks Department will seek public input on the design and programs for the airpark and Ravenwood properties, according to the mayor’s office.
'A path less traveled'

Cornelia Fort, one of Nashville’s most famous residents, had grown up in a well-to-do family and was a member of the Junior League and a debutante.

She preferred, however, moving down a path less traveled. After her father, Rufus Fort, pressed his three sons never to take to the sky in an airplane, she did, said her niece Julia Fort Lowe of Cookeville.

Lowe attended the event Thursday along with her brother Garth Fort of St. Louis, and Nashvillian Stroud Merritt, a great-nephew of Cornelia Fort.

Tish Fort of Nashville, another niece who was in the tree-rimmed airpark, said she couldn’t be happier at the preservation of the land there.

“My regret is, of course, that Cornelia’s not here and that our daddies aren’t here to see not only the Fort name honored but their sister honored.”

Cornelia Fort grew up on a cattle farm estate that once covered part of Shelby Bottoms. She was delivering a plane cross-country in 1943 when another plane touched hers.

The other pilot bailed out, but Cornelia Fort died. She was 24.

More than $200,000 has been donated to protect open land in Nashville by family and friends of Cornelia Fort, the first woman pilot to die on war duty in American history.

The gift that will help replenish Metro’s Open Space Fund was announced Thursday morning at the 135-acre Cornelia Fort Airpark in East Nashville.

The airpark property, which cost $1.2 million, was the first acquisition for Nashville’s Open Space Plan and has expanded the Shelby Bottoms park system to more than 1,300 acres. It also provides a northern entrance to the park.

A second purchase — the 181-acre Ravenwood Country Club at $2.8 million — goes before the Metro Council on Dec. 6, for the second of three required approvals.

Mayor Karl Dean thanked the members of the Fort family and friends Thursday for “their generosity and dedication to conserving nature and history.”

“Not only is the airport property a prime example of what our Open Space Plan aims to accomplish, the public-private partnership supporting this acquisition is a model for how we want to engage the private sector in raising funds for public land conservation going forward,” he said.

The donation for the Open Space Fund was organized by The Land Trust for Tennessee, which is the leading private fundraiser for the city’s Open Space Plan.

The plan is part of Dean’s push to make the city greener, encouraging such things as green roofs, tree planting and preservation of land to make waterways and air cleaner and to draw people outdoors.
Endowments grow

Such efforts are a trend nationwide.

The gathering beside the now-closed tarmac and empty hangars came the day after The Land Trust Alliance released a national census showing that endowments to protect lands have more than doubled from 2005 to 2010.

Ten million new acres were conserved, despite a slow economy.

“Communities nationwide value clean water, local food and places to play, and they are investing in those places close to home,” said Rand Wentworth, president of the alliance.

Local land trusts are saving more land while federal funding and purchases for such acquisitions are shrinking, he said.

Dean unveiled the Open Space Plan last April, which calls for 3,000 acres of parkland to be added in the next 10 years. It advocates for conservation of 22,000 acres of public and private land over 25 years. The mayor included $5 million in Metro’s 2010 capital spending plan for acquisitions.

The Metro Parks Department will seek public input on the design and programs for the airpark and Ravenwood properties, according to the mayor’s office.
'A path less traveled'

Cornelia Fort, one of Nashville’s most famous residents, had grown up in a well-to-do family and was a member of the Junior League and a debutante.

She preferred, however, moving down a path less traveled. After her father, Rufus Fort, pressed his three sons never to take to the sky in an airplane, she did, said her niece Julia Fort Lowe of Cookeville.

Lowe attended the event Thursday along with her brother Garth Fort of St. Louis, and Nashvillian Stroud Merritt, a great-nephew of Cornelia Fort.

Tish Fort of Nashville, another niece who was in the tree-rimmed airpark, said she couldn’t be happier at the preservation of the land there.

“My regret is, of course, that Cornelia’s not here and that our daddies aren’t here to see not only the Fort name honored but their sister honored.”

Cornelia Fort grew up on a cattle farm estate that once covered part of Shelby Bottoms. She was delivering a plane cross-country in 1943 when another plane touched hers.

The other pilot bailed out, but Cornelia Fort died. She was 24.

Betty Haas Pfister, a Woman With Wings, Dies at 90

Betty Pfister died on November 17, and an obit occurred in the Daily Aspen (CO) at that time, but this obit appeared in the NYT yesterday.

From the New York Times: Betty Haas Pfister, a Woman With Wings, Dies at 90
By DENNIS HEVESI

“No, no, you can’t go up!” Betty Haas’s father insisted that day in 1940 when the family went to an air show in Bennington, Vt. But when her parents left, Ms. Haas, then 19, sneaked back to the airfield, paid a dollar and, as she liked to say, “squished into a seat” for a ride on a tiny plane.

It was the first of hundreds of flights that Betty Haas Pfister would make — dozens as a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, during World War II, and many more as one of the nation’s most successful female competitive pilots. (And not counting those as a Pan Am stewardess in the days when women had a much harder time getting hired as pilots.)

Ms. Haas Pfister, a two-time winner of the All Women’s International Air Race, died on Nov. 17 at her home in Aspen, Colo., her daughter Suzanne said. She was 90.

After that first flight, Suzanne Pfister said, “Mom made a deal with her father that she would stay in school if he paid for flight lessons.”

By the time she graduated from Bennington College in 1942, Ms. Haas Pfister (she went on to marry Arthur Pfister in 1954) had logged enough flight time to be accepted as a member of the WASPs — an Army Air Forces attachment created to fill the void when male pilots were deployed overseas.

As one of 1,074 WASPs, Ms. Haas Pfister ferried planes from factories to domestic airfields or to ports for shipment overseas. WASPs also towed targets for aerial gunnery practice. Thirty-eight died in accidents. But by December 1944, with the war winding down, the women were deemed no longer needed and the unit was disbanded.

Ms. Haas Pfister found work as an aircraft mechanic and, very occasionally, flying cargo planes. In 1948, for Pan American, she became the first stewardess ever hired with more than 1,000 hours of flight time. “She got to travel all over the world,” her daughter said. “But she’d rather have been in the cockpit any day of the week.”

Several years earlier, Ms. Haas Pfister had paid $750 for an Army surplus P-39 fighter that she named Galloping Gertie. She flew in dozens of air shows and races around the country, and in 1950 she won the All Women’s International Air Race from Montreal to West Palm Beach, Fla. Two years later, she recaptured that title in a flight from St. Augustine, Fla., to Welland, Ontario.

Ms. Haas Pfister received the Elder Statesman of Aviation Award from the National Aeronautic Association in 1994. Ten years earlier, she had been inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame.

Recognition of Ms. Haas Pfister’s wartime contributions, and those of the more than 1,000 other WASPs, came in 2010 when they received the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the country’s two highest civilian honors.

Born on July 23, 1921, in Great Neck, N.Y., and raised in Scarsdale, N.Y., Elizabeth Haas was one of three children of Robert and Merle Haas. Besides her daughter Suzanne, she is survived by two other daughters, Christina and Nancy Pfister; a sister, Priscilla Blum; and five grandchildren. Her husband died in 2008.

One impetus for Ms. Haas Pfister’s passion for flight was her brother, Robert, a Navy pilot during World War II. She had already started taking flight lessons when he was killed in action off the coast of Africa.

After working for Pan Am for four years and moving to Aspen, Ms. Haas Pfister flew gliders and balloons. In 1976 she helped found the Snowmass Balloon Festival in Colorado. In the 1960s she helped organize the Pitkin County Air Rescue Group; she flew helicopters on many rescue missions.

“I’d hate a 9-to-5 job with weekends off,” she told The New York World-Telegram and Sun in 1950. “I had one once, but couldn’t stand it.”

WASP First Day Cover

A First Day of Issue Cover or First Day Cover is a postage stamp on a cover, postal card or stamped envelope franked on the first day the issue is authorized for use within the country or territory of the stamp-issuing authority. Sometimes the issue is made from a temporary or permanent foreign or overseas office. There will usually be a first day of issue postmark, frequently a pictorial cancellation, indicating the city and date where the item was first issued, and "first day of issue" is often used to refer to this postmark. Depending on the policy of the nation issuing the stamp, official first day postmarks may sometimes be applied to covers weeks or months after the date indicated.

Postal authorities may hold a first day ceremony to generate publicity for the new issue, with postal officials revealing the stamp, and with connected persons in attendance, such as descendants of the person being honored by the stamp. The ceremony may also be held in a location that has a special connection with the stamp's subject, such as the birthplace of a social movement, or at a stamp show.

Various companies and individuals create these First Day Covers - from large companies that do hundreds a year, to small companies that do just a handful a year. (An individual can be just one person with a printer and a gift for design!)

Although the illustration on this FDC is of a WASP, the "first day ceremony" was actually for the Purple Heart stamp - something that a WASP was never awarded, since they were civilians and the Purple Heart is only for military personnel).

Enflight adds executive leadership to advance next generation intelligent flight PLANNING iPad applications

A Press release from http://www.enflight.com.:
Stow, MA (November 29, 2011) - Enflight, a leading innovator of intelligent
flight planning applications, today announced the appointment of Chairman,
Dr. Robert Glorioso and Vice President of Marketing, John Gitelman to its
executive team. Their addition to the executive team coincides with efforts
to advance the next generation of intelligent flight applications for the
iPad(r) to make flying even easier for pilots.

Dr. Glorioso brings his considerable experience as an executive, consultant,
investor, board member, entrepreneur, inventor, author and pilot to
Enflight. He is the founder and principal of QC Avionix, a creator of
cockpit accessories for pilots. Earlier in his career he was Vice President
and Director of the Pacific Rim Board for Digital Equipment Corporation. He
founded and served as CEO, President, and Chairman of Marathon Technologies,
a software company delivering high availability, fault and disaster tolerant
computer systems. He was chairman of Turbine, a massive multiplayer games
company and served on the boards of Proteon, Netrix, and Ultranet
Communications in the public network and ISP fields.

Mr. Gitelman is a strategy, branding, marketing and product management
specialist with extensive experience running global businesses at Bose,
Polaroid and other brand leaders as well as an entrepreneur with innovative
customer-focused products and applications in the Apple ecosystem.

Phillip Apley, CEO of Enflight and one of its founders, says, "Enflight has
always been on the forefront of intelligent aviation information solutions
with Personal Minimums Analysis and at-a-glance weather infographics. By
bringing Bob and John aboard we are committing to significantly raise the
bar to provide pilots with even more innovative, comprehensive and
easy-to-use solutions."

About Enflight
Enflight offers pilots an exclusive suite of flight plan workflow products
and tools that enable pilots to plan flights faster, more easily, and more
safely. The software offers industry-leading web-based and iPad(r)
applications that provide flight planning and FAA legal briefings featuring
sophisticated Personal Minimums Analysis and patented at-a-glance
TAFSpiral(tm) weather infographics. As the original authors of the DUATS
(CSC) briefing service, Enflight has the most established and tested code
base in the business and wrote the original AOPA flight planning system. For
more information, please visit http://www.enflight.com.

Powder Puff Derby Virtual Museum: Paper Awards

For the 1967 Powder Puff Derby, which ran from July 2-10, 1967, Mary Rose Myers received a "citation of appreciation" from the City of Atlantic City and Garden State Chapter of the 99's "with our sincere thanks for your valued contribution to the success of the Pre-Start program of the 21st Annual All Woman Transcontinental Air Race.

Signed by Judy Meltsner, Chairman of the 1967 AWTAR Start Committee, and Commander William T. Somers, Chairman of the Atlantic City Host Committee.




In 1973, she received an Award of Merit from the Board of Directors of the Powder Puff Derby, "in recognition of successful participation in the 27th Annual All-Woman Transcontinental Air Race, a 2543 mile course originating in Carlsbad, C alifornia and terminating at Elmira, New York during the period of July 13-16, 1973.

Signed by Joan L. Hruhec (sp?) and Kay Brick (Chairman of the Board of the AWTAR.)

Blogs of Women pilots

I'll share a few of these every now and again:

http://toriaflies.blogspot.com/: Toria Flies: Thoughts of a red-headed Aviatrix

I'm slowly but surely learning my way about the world and becoming the woman I'm destined to be. I'm eclectic, I'm passionate, I'm a giver. I'm an always dreamin', airplane flyin', avid crocheter. I'm a girl who loves to be on a "mission" whether it's organizing a fundraiser or seeing how many turtles I can catch in the lake in a day. I don't like raisins, but love raisinets and yogurt covered raisins. I don't like purple grapes, but love the green ones. I hate blueberries except if they are in muffins. That about sums up the way my brain works.

I'm an instrument rated commercial pilot and work as a sales assistant for Aviation Insurance Resources. I am a co-host of the aviation podcast, the StuckMic AvCast. I am an active member of the Sugarloaf chapter of the Ninety-Nines, a VIP member of Women of Aviation Week and a member of Women in Aviation International and the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association. I also organize the Women Fly it Forward event in Frederick, MD.

http://www.myskymom.com/: Aviation wit and wisdom

(Danielle Gibeault is a CFI, CFII, and MEI for those in the know. To the rest of us, that translates to Certificated Flight Instructor, Instrument Instructor, and Multi Engine Instructor. I also hold a Ground Instructor Certificate, Advanced and Instrument. That’s right, the FAA trusts me to spend my days getting into airplanes with people who don’t know how to fly them! I’ve been a pilot for 13 years and a flight instructor for more than 5. I started my aviation career on my 18th birthday driving fuel trucks, parking airplanes, and doing all the rest of that glamorous grunt work that keeps the airplanes flying. Haven’t looked back since.)

The blog below hasn't been updated in a year, as she completed her goal, but the archives are there and make for interesting and fun reading.
http://flyingwisconsin.wordpress.com/: Flying Wisconsin

Who is this person who loves “flying Wisconsin?” I’m a general aviation and airport advocate who appreciates the beauty of my home state. My first flight lesson was at Alexander Field-South Wood County Airport (ISW) in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, on my 30th birthday, a few years ago. I haven’t lost the passion yet - it helps that my husband, John, a 9000-hour pilot, loves it as much as I do! Me, I was out of currency for a while, concentrating on life’s other responsibilities since getting my private pilot certificate in 1992 and instrument rating 10-years later. But at this time in my life I’m closing in on 500 hours and flying more than ever. I’m lovin’ it!

This blog begins with the adventurous goal my husband and I are accomplishing in the summer of 2010: Flying to all 60 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties that have a public-use airport – in four flights. Several people have suggested that we share this story online, so here it is! Once we reach that goal, I’ll add new pages, sprinkling in some aviation memories, goals, and current projects I’m working on.

I’m a mom to two adult children and they, along with my husband, are the wind beneath my wings. My daughter, Sister Maria Caeli, is a Dominican Sister and middle school teacher, and my son, Luke, is a student at UW-Stout and one of the best motorcycle hillclimbers and off-road action sports videographers in the Midwest. Check out his work at LPmultimedia.com and LPmotocross.com. (Yeah, I’m proud of their accomplishments.)

As the owner of SkyWord Communications, LLC, I offer writing, marketing, and consulting services to aviation businesses, airports, and organizations. As president of the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame and editor of its quarterly magazine, Forward in Flight, I lead an effort to collect, preserve, and share Wisconsin aviation history, and honor those who made it. I’ve worked as an editor at EAA and have written dozens of aviation articles for various online and print publications, and even won a few awards for it.