Pages

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

See the WASP float in the ROSE PARADE tomorrow

This is a news release from the International Women's Air and Space Museum!

Totally cool


WASP Float in Rose Parade
The WASP (Women's Air Force Service Pilots) will be honored with a float in the New Year's Day Rose Parade tomorrow. Eight WASP plan to be present on the float. (Photo credit- CBS)

"They're all about 90 years old, but they're coming and they're saying, 'Give me a blanket and hot coffee, and we'll be fine,' " said Kate Landdeck, vice president of the nonprofit Wingtip-to-Wingtip Assn., which is sponsoring the float. (LA Times)

The theme for this 125th Rose Parade is "Dreams Come True." The WASP certainly fit this- doing whatever they needed to do to follow their passion of flying and serving their country. For many years these unsung heroes were forgotten, receiving military status and awards decades later. 

We hope that you will be one of the millions of people watching as these amazing women ride in style.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

PR: PilotWorkshops.com Celebrates 10,000th WINGS Course Completion



December 3, 2013 - Nashua, NH - PilotWorkshops.com announced that the FAA has now issued over 10,000 WINGS course completion credits for their online pilot proficiency training courses. The company has been creating WINGS-approved training programs since 2006.  “Many of our customers participate in the FAA WINGS program and appreciate the convenience of being able to continue their proficiency training while earning WINGS credits,” said Pilotworkshops’ founder Mark Robidoux.

National FAASTeam Manager Kevin Clover stated, “Pilotworkshops has been a strong supporter of the WINGS program.  They have helped thousands of pilots maintain and improve their proficiency and safety.”


The primary benefit of the FAA WINGS program (as found on the FAASafety.gov web site)  is, “the added level of safety and professionalism that is obtained through adoption of a reliable recurrent training program.”  Another major benefit is the fact that, “When you participate in the program throughout each year so as to maintain a current phase at the Basic Level, you will always have a current flight review. Your flight review date will move as you continue your safety education by participation in accredited FAASTeam activities…” .

The majority of the course completion credits issued by PilotWorkshops are through its IFR Mastery program. This monthly, scenario-based training uses a combination of video, audio, and forum discussion to place a pilot in a challenging instrument flight scenario, test their decision-making, and provide expert advice and tips for handling the scenario.


PilotWorkshops.com LLC was founded in 2005 and is best-known for their free “Pilot’s Tip of the Week” emails received by over 120,000 pilots each week.  Created by their roster of nationally known flight instructors and experts, these tips cover single pilot IFR operations, weather, airmanship, ATC communications, emergencies and more using a unique, multi-media format.  PilotWorkshops also creates and sells a range of pilot proficiency programs including their IFR Mastery scenario-based training.

Donate to the WASP Museum

I had blogged a few days ago about receiving a WASP calendar (sending a calendar must be the "gift" of choice these days...got one for the Redtails and one for Pacific Theatre Museum as well).

Anyway, the WASP Museum, located in Sweetwater, Texas, on the airfield where most of the WASP trained during World War II, is gathering funds to expand and also to rebuild the air traffic control tower there.

I also received a remembrance card to fill out, which will go into the tower, and there's a place on the back where you can write why you admire the WASP.

For more details, check out the www.waspmuseum.org, or call (325) 235-0099. (The museum is in Texas, their fund raising arm is in Washington DC, apparently.)

You can donate any amount, but they request the minimum be $38. 38 is the number of WASP who gave their lives during WWII to serve their country.

I'll prepare a proper text list of there heroes' names later. For now, if you'd like to read about them, check out this site:
http://wwii-women-pilots.org/WASP_KIA/38KIA2.html

I was there in 2010, and will return in 2014 (after I participate in a Scrabble Tournament in Irvine Texas!)

 

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Meet the young woman who test flies the world's biggest planes for a living

From The Telegraph:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-business/10458084/Female-pilots-Meet-the-young-woman-who-tests-the-worlds-biggest-planes-for-a-living.html

Isabelle de Montet-Guerin, 32, is Airbus’ youngest and first British female test pilot, with almost 15 years of experience. Her childhood passion has led her to fly some of the largest aeroplanes in the world.

Isabelle de Montet-Guerin: 'I grew up with flying, my dad was in the air force'
Isabelle de Montet-Guerin: 'I grew up with flying, my dad was in the air force' 
I grew up with flying, my dad was in the Royal Air Force. He fostered the interest I had and both my parents were fantastic, so anything I wanted to do that was aviation related; museums and learning, they’d try and help. After he died I had my first flying lesson aged 12, which was a tribute to him. Once I’d done it I was absolutely hooked.
My mum said: "Fine, if you want the licence you’re going to have to earn it yourself because I just don’t have the money." So I started washing cars and doing all sorts of odd-jobs to raise the money, and eventually the air force very kindly gave me two scholarships which topped off the private pilot’s licence fund.
It’s the combination of artistry and science that grips me about aviation; the two items would be considered incompatible in most jobs, but you really are required to be both an artist and a scientist. It’s a dream come true.
As a production test pilot based in Hamburg, my working day begins around 7am with a "rejected take-off", which is like driving at 115mph in your car to make sure the brakes work. After that we may fly up to twice a day. If we’re conducting a first flight profile, which is the very first time a new aeroplane will take off, every system needs to be tested very thoroughly; from flight controls through to hydraulics, fuel and electrics. The crew can consist of up to 11 people if we’re testing the Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger airliner, but more commonly when we’re testing the A320, there’ll be four of us; two of whom are pilots. We tend to finish around 7pm each day.
I’m the first British female test pilot. When I went to the Empire Test Pilot School to study, they were convinced I am either the only, or one of the very few. I do have a female colleague in Hamburg, who's French, and we fly together quite a lot, which is fantastic. I really don’t think about being one of the very few women in the crew, it honestly never crosses my mind.
It feels great to be where I am, I feel very privileged to be in this position as I’m only 32, the youngest test pilot they’ve ever hired. I’ve got a lot of friends in Toulouse now and I get to see them two or three times a month, which is great.
I’ve been with Airbus for 18 months now, and when I started I was based in Toulouse, then moved to Hamburg. Previously I spent 10 years with British Airways flying a variety of brilliant aeroplanes, and just under two years with a company called Cobham FRA working in flight refuelling aviation, and electronic warfare; simulated military attacks on the navy, that kind of thing.
I’m really happy where I am, and I have another 30-odd years to give to the company, which is great. This is the biggest aircraft manufacturer in Europe, so this is where it’s at – I’d recommend it to anyone who has a love of aviation. I’m quite healthy, not saying my body is a temple, but I don’t drink or smoke.
The only problem is you can’t have a social life on the side, it’s really very hard work. You need to have a lot of dedication, and to be prepared to study – and I mean study into the night. I come back to the UK about twice a year, so I don’t get the chance to see family that much. You need to not think about the hours you’ll have to put in, or the times you can’t go to certain events because the most important thing is making sure you’re on top of your game.
When I was at test pilot school I worked six days a week, 16 hours a day, sometimes more, and the only thing I can remember from that course was how happy I was. You’ll work extremely hard for years and years, but the rewards at the end of it are beyond worth it. Flying the biggest passenger plane in the world has to be the most rewarding thing about it. I genuinely don’t consider it a job – it’s fun.
Isabelle is a test pilot for plane manufacturer Airbus
Words as told to Rhiannon Williams

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Any freelance writers out there?

A new digital magazine, Freelance Writer Magazine, will be making its debut on December 1 for the Kindle, Nook and other e-readers.

Check out the website at: Freelance Writer Magazine (http://freelancewritermagazine.com)

Also available at the website is a free download of a 76-page, fully illustrated guide on how to create a blog on Blogger.com, format it, make posts, format posts and add photos, and monetize it.

It's a PDF and you can download it for free at that site, or visit their blog, where it is also available.

Freelance Writer Magzine
http://freelancewritermagazine.blogspot.com/2013/11/free-book-download-how-to-create-and.html

Take a look at it if you are at all interested in blogging and earning a few dollars (at the very least, a gift certificate to buy books on Amazon) give it a try.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

PR: PilotWorkshops Releases New “Pilot-Friendly” Manuals for Garmin GTN 650 and 750





Contact:  Jeff Mulligan, PilotWorkshops, 603 315 3456 jeff@pilotworkshop.com


Nashua, NH - November 12, 2012 - PilotWorkshops has announced the availability of their “Pilot-Friendly” GPS Manuals for the Garmin GTN 650 and GTN 750 units. These manuals; written by renowned GPS author and trainer John Dittmer, guide pilots through complex GPS procedures in a simple, step-by-step format. They take a hands-on approach, so you can master new procedures and processes quickly by actually doing it. PilotWorkshops also provides digital, PDF versions of the GTN manuals along with the printed ones so pilots can enjoy the convenience of accessing them on their iPad.  The manuals are available directly from http://www.PilotWorkshops.com

PilotWorkshops publishes a family of “pilot-friendly” manuals for all popular Garmin panel-mount and handheld units.  Over the years, thousands of pilots have benefited from the clear, concise instructions and diagrams included in the manuals. “There has been a lack of training for these new Garmin units, and our customers have been asking for them. We’re happy to provide the proven, pilot-friendly format for the GTN series so owners can get the most from their investment,” stated PilotWorkshops president, Mark Robidoux.

PilotWorkshops acquired the entire family of manuals from ZD Publishing, Inc in February of 2013. PilotWorkshops.com LLC was founded in 2005 and is best-known for their free “Pilot’s Tip of the Week” emails received by over 120,000 pilots each week.  Created by their roster of nationally known flight instructors and experts, these tips cover single pilot IFR operations, weather, airmanship, ATC communications, emergencies and more using a unique, multi-media format.  PilotWorkshops also creates and sells a range of pilot proficiency programs including their “IFR Mastery” scenario-based training.  http://pilotworkshops.com

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Aviation Quotes: The Sky is Home

Since 1910, thousands of women around the world have earned their pilot's licenses. The percentage of male to female pilots has remained the same over the years - about 6%, for a variety of reasons. Today, organizations like Girls With Wings, and of course The 99s, are encouraging girls to learn the freedom and sense of accomplishment - not to mention a potential career path - that aviation brings.

There are so many fascinating and inspiring quotes from women pilots that it was hard to choose only twenty. As soon as the Wright brothers and their European counterparts perfected aircraft that the general public could fly, women clamored to be let in on the fun. At first there was no need for licenses, and plenty of women flew without them. When licensing became the norm, Raymonde de Laroche of France earned the first one, in March, 1910. She was the first woman and the 36th person overall to do so.

This image is from: Curated Quotes



The love of flying
“To most people, the sky is the limit. To those who love aviation, the sky is home.”
Anonymous
Military Fly Moms: Sharing Memories, Building Legacies, Inspiring Hope, edited by Linda Maloney

“The summer of my sixteenth year, life couldn’t have been sweeter. On my birthday in March I passed the test for my pilot’s license...now it’s June and I’m flying to my heart’s content in a faded yellow 1932 Piper Cub. There’s nothing like flying to set your spirit free!”
Jerrie Cobb, one of the Mercury 13
Jerrie Cobb, Solo Pilot

Flight is the essence of the spirit. It nurtures the soul. It is awesome. Often ethereal. Glorious. Emotionally wondrous and all-pervading. Intangible.”
Louise Thaden, first woman to win the Bendix trophy
High, Wide and Frightened. Louise Thaden

“There is beauty and an allure in flying: an experience that is different from any on earth. There is music to flying – a dance, an art all its own. From above we are able to see how history relates to geography; how our community’s environment is connected to communities hundreds of miles away and where our ancestors traveled on their quest for unseen destinations. The earth’s magnificent beauty seen in twists, swirls and colors is the art upon which we live.”
Susan Maule, Captain
Stars of the Sky, Legends All, edited by Ann Lewis Cooper

“I feel so happy when I’m flying! Why? It’s not easy to explain. Perhaps it is the feeling of power, the pleasure of dominating a machine as beautiful and sensitive as a thoroughbred horse.”
Jacqueline Auriol, winner of three Harmon Trophies
I Live to Fly, Jacqueline Auriol

“There is really nothing nicer than flying in a good airplane over pretty country on a beautiful day-you just feel so good, so exuberant, so, oh, I don’t know, but there is a feeling that you would like to beat yourself on the chest and emit several howls a la Tarzan, pure joy of being alive.”
Louise Thaden, first woman to win the Bendix trophy
High, Wide and Frightened. Louise Thaden

Learning to Fly

“One day in Chicago I saw billboard with a bird sitting on the rim of a nest, nurturing her young fledglings into the flying world. It read, “Birds Learn to Fly. Why Can’t You?” That did it.”
Janet Harmon Bragg, first African American woman to earn a commercial pilot’s license
Soaring Above Setbacks, The Autobiography of Janet Harmon Bragg as told to Marjorie M. Kriz

World War II

“Like most loyal Americans during World War II, I wanted to do my part for the war effort. I loved flying and I could scarcely believe my good luck in being able to do something I loved so much for the good of my country. Flying out of Avenger Field, Texas it was hot, we were tired, and we were sticky half the time. But we were having a ball because we had those airplanes. We all loved to fly.”
Caro Bosca, WASP
Stars of the Sky, Legends All, edited by Ann Lewis Cooper

“Someone once suggested that the WASPs were rich girls on a lark. Not true. There was nothing glamorous about it. In my case, I would get orders to go somewhere to pick up an airplane. I would grab my B-04 bag, which was always packed, and my parachute bag, catch a train or get on a commercial flight. When I arrived, I would go to Operations, pick up the airplane and deliver it to its destination. Most of what I flew were trainers and twin-engine troop transports.”
Margaret J. Ringenberg, WASP, air racer
 Girls Can’t Be Pilots, Margaret Ringenberg with Jane L. Roth 

“But fancy being given so many lovely things to fly, and be paid for it, too! The women pilots were paid less than their male counterparts. This was considered to be perfectly natural and was accepted at the time. At least we were eventually allowed to wear trousers with our uniforms.”
Diana Barnato Walker, ATA pilot during World War II
Spreading My Wings, Diana Barnato Walker

During my wartime career with ATA I delivered 260 Spitfires, from the light Mark I with the wooden propeller, right through to the heavier Mark XIV and F21 with the large Griffon engine. The types in between varied little from the flying point of view. They all flew beautifully, with the Spit characteristic of it feeling as if it was part of you. The Mark I was really light on the controls, the Mark V gave a fluttering feeling in flight, while the Mark IX had become more stable...I didn’t like the sound of the Griffon engine-not at all as comforting or glorious as the Merlin.
Diana Barnato Walker, ATA pilot during World War II
Spreading My Wings, Diana Barnato Walker

Women and their Planes

“After a bumpy landing – I promised myself I’d do better-I pulled up to the fuel pumps, got out and walked toward the office. Halfway there I turned, as I often do when leaving my plane, and looked back at it, parked at its first real stop. The Luscombe has an almost human face, sweet, comic and adenoidal. The openings for cylinder coolings are the eyes, striped with (metal) eyelashes. The prop spinner is the button nose. The vent under the prop for cooling engine accessories is the open mouth, with two fused upper teeth showing. The holes for heating the cabin and carburetor are the dimples (probably the plane’s cutest feature), and the carburetor-induction screen is the striated, gray goatee. The prop is the moustache...and the swellings on either side of the nacelle to make room for the cylinders are the plump cheeks. As I look around, pride of ownership washed over me. You’d have to be hardhearted not to be charmed by a face like that.”
Mariana Gosnell, on the start of her solo flight across America
Zero 3 Bravo: Solo Across America in a Small Plane, Mariana Gosnell

“While flying, my plane was always alive. It responded so beautifully. I could feel the rudder pedals through the soles of my feet, through the posterior part of my anatomy, when I was seated properly. I felt comfortable and at ease. I was free in spirit. I could give vent to my feelings through my maneuvers. In all, my plane and I were communicating. I would say, “Let’s try a spin, two to the right, etc.” or “One to the left. Are you ready?” “I’d say, “Let’s go.”
Janet Harmon Bragg, first African American woman to earn a commercial pilot’s license
Soaring Above Setbacks, The Autobiography of Janet Harmon Bragg as told to Marjorie M. Kriz

 Danger

“Most of us spread the perils of a lifetime over a number of years. Others may pack them into a matter of only a few hours. In any case, whatever is to happen will happen-it may well be that I shall tempt fate once too often. Who knows? But it is to the air that I have dedicated myself, and I fly always without the slightest fear.”
Raymonde de Laroche, first woman and 36th person  to earn a pilot’s license, in March 2010
The Powder Puff Derby of 1929, Gene Nora Jessen

 “If it must come, this was a fitting end to a pilot’s career-to disappear at the peak of fame, on a final glorious attempt to conquer new frontiers of the sky; never to know the erosions and disappointments of age, to live on in memory as young, golden and unafraid.”
Ruth Nichols on disappearance/death of Amelia Earhart, 1937, only woman to hold simultaneous world records for speed, altitude, and distance for a female pilot
The Powder Puff Derby of 1929, Gene Nora Jessen

“To the public I suppose I have often seemed to be the original ‘flying fool.’ While flying over one hundred and forty different models of aircraft, I have piloted a plane in a plaster cast and a steel corset, too impatient to wait for bones to knit from the last crash. I have frozen my tongue sucking oxygen at sixty below zero, six miles up. I have escaped twice from burning planes. I have clung to a life raft in cold, mountainous seas. I have had most of the bones in my body broken... Maybe it doesn’t make sense. I have been told that so often that it has become a kind of background drumbeat to my life. Family and friends have urged me to keep my feet on the ground... The only people who haven’t tried to change me are flyers. They comprehend."
Ruth Nichols
Wings for Life, Ruth Nichols

Women Pilots As Viewed By (Many) Men

“I dropped in 75 cents and carried three [ginger]snaps out to the ramp to eat while the FBO was pumping fuel. “A Luscombe,” he had exclaimed when he saw my plane. “Guy on this field has a Luscombe,” he said, pointing across the ramp to a red-and-white model 8A, “and he’s just learning to fly it. When I see him I’ll be sure and tell him that a lady was here in a Luscombe, and if she can fly it he surely can!”
Mariana Gosnell, pilot
Zero 3 Bravo: Solo Across America in a Small Plane, Mariana Gosnell

The Fate of Aviation Today

“I left not knowing if Claxton airport was dead, dying or just resting, waiting for another manager to show up, believing he could make a go of it.I was afraid it was one of the dead ones. Little airports come and go, but nowadays they mostly go. For a period of just over ten years I’d seen 15 small airports within 50 miles of my airport disappear. The runways X’d out, plowed under, paved over, and built upon. One of the nightmares we have as pilots is that someday we’ll get airborne and have no place to land except the place we started out from-and if we don’t hurry back, it will be gone too."
Mariana Gosnell, on the start of her solo flight across America
Zero 3 Bravo: Solo Across America in a Small Plane

Air Racing and Acrobatics

“Air racing is a lot of fun.”
Claire Walters, founder of the Claire Walters Flight Academy and founder of the Palms to Pines Air Race
This Flying Life, Claire L. Walters and Betty McMillen Loufek

“We’ve had many mother and daughter teams, some grandmother and granddaughter, sisters, aunt and niece and other such combinations. Betty and I flew twice as a twin team.”
Claire Walters, founder of the Claire Walters Flight Academy and founder of the Palms to Pines Air Race
This Flying Life, Claire L. Walters and Betty McMillen Loufek

“I was drunk with joy, to the point where I lost all notion of time. The wind blew, earth and sky changed places without warning. I felt the rudder-pedals and the stick going in all directions. But not for a single second was I afraid. It was like some utterly new kind of dance, to a rhythm not yet invented by an orchestra in the world, or that I had heard at any rate. The plane sang, the plane danced, before me I could see the helmet [of the pilot] and from time to time, in the rear-view mirror, the slightly astonished eyes of the maitre of this extraordinary ballet, and after each figure I would repeat, “It’s marvelous, it’s marvelous!”
Jacqueline Auriol, on her introduction to aerobatics
I Live to Fly, Jacqueline Auriol
Turnabout is Fair Play

“No, Zoli, only girls can fly,” said my four –year-old-daughter, Courtney, to her three-year-old brother, making him get off the toy airplane ride.”
Lisa Berente, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and pilot of the KC-135 Stratotanker
Military Fly Moms, Sharing Memories, Building Legacies, Inspiring Hope, Linda Maloney

Today's Women and their Ambitions

“Today one is held back only by the limits of one’s own capabilities and not by man-made blocks and strings.”
Janet Harmon Bragg, first African American woman to earn a commercial pilot’s license
Soaring Above Setbacks, The Autobiography of Janet Harmon Bragg as told to Marjorie M. Kriz

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Will you be in Cleveland on Saturday Nov 9?


Upcoming Events at IWASM
pancakes.jpg
Saturday, November 9: Annual Book Sale and Pancake Breakfast! 8am-3pm. 

Fly, drive or bike to the museum! Come check out the treasures at the sale and have a hearty breakfast at the same time! $5 donation for breakfast. Do you have books or items to donate to the sale? Or would you like to volunteer?  Please call the museum- your help will be greatly appreciated!




The International Women's Air and Space Museum is located at Burke Lakefront Airport.

check out their site at www.iwasm.com 

From their site:

The International Women’s Air & Space Museum is located in the terminal of Burke Lakefront Airport. Since we are located in a public builidng admission to the museum is free. Even if you have visited IWASM in the past, we welcome you to visit us again as exhibits change often and there are always opportunities to see something new. Free public tours are offered every Saturday at 1pm.
Did you know?
  • Napoleon appointed a woman, Madame Blanchard, as his Chief Air Minister of Ballooning in 1804. Women have a long history of active participation in ballooning.  For instance, Connie Wolf, long-time balloonist, loaned her balloon to the motion picture producers of the movie “Around the World in 80 Days.”
  • The Wright Brothers’ sister, Katharine, although not a pilot herself, encouraged and supported her brothers. She was one of the many “silent” women contributing to the advancement of aviation. A special exhibit on Katharine Wright is on    display at the Museum. It is one of many exhibits which   illustrate the historic achievements of women in aviation. World War II demonstrated women’s value to their countries’ defense.
  • England and the U.S. employed women pilots to fill jobs ordinarily restricted to men – to ferry aircraft from the factories to the airfield, to test aircraft, to pilot transports, to tow targets, etc. The WASP (Women Air Force Service Pilots) were a group of brave and patriotic American women.  Thirty-eight WASP gave their lives in service to the United States during WWII.  These women were the forerunners of today’s military women in aviation.
  • Valentina Tereshkova of the Soviet Union was the first woman to orbit the earth in 1963. As early as 1961, the United States had 13 women with the “right stuff.” Those first astronaut trainees pioneered the way for women to fully participate in the U.S. space program today. The legacy of their hard work paid off 22 years later, in 1983, with Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

PR: New Plush Airplane for Kids

Powder Puff Pilot Introduces “My First Airplane”

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS!

 

Waynoka, OK - While many adults love airplanes enough to cuddle with them, a new product from Powder Puff Pilot is designed for kids to do just that. The Oklahoma-based web retailer of aviation gear and accessories is introducing “My First Airplane,” a super soft, highly huggable plush airplane that comes in powder pink or sky blue. 

“My First Airplane” is a natural addition to Powder Puff Pilot’s line of products that target women and children. “We’re all about ideas that popularize aviation among the younger set,” said owner and flight instructor Sue Hughes, “because when a child falls in love with aviation, it’s likely to last a lifetime.”

Hughes learned about “My First Airplane” from Michele McGuire, who designed the nearly 2-foot-long plush airplane. McGuire owns Safe and Sound Pets, which caters to canine air passengers with specially made headsets, logbooks, luggage, and other products for furry flyers. 

“My First Airplane” grew from McGuire’s design for her popular airplane-shaped squeaky toys for dogs. She went to the same U.S. manufacturer with the new, larger design for kids, and it took off from there. Her tag line, “You're never too young to ‘have your own airplane’ and dream of flying.” 

Powder Puff Pilot is one of dozens of retailers that carry products from Safe and Sound Pets.
Hughes’ own contribution to promoting aviation among children is a series of picture books she authored starring Claire Bear, a pink‑clad aerobatics pilot. She has sold thousands of copies of her four-book series published by Powder Puff Pilot, as well as children’s books from other authors. Powder Puff Pilot products are available at www.PowderPuffPilot.com.


Powder Puff Pilot was founded in 2008 by Sue Hughes of Waynoka, Oklahoma. Powder Puff Pilot products are sold online and at over 60 retailers, including aviation museums, pilot shops, and bookstores. 

Visit www.PowderPuffPilot.com or call 888‑801-6628.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Nerf Rebelle Rocks!

I'm on Nickelodian - just turned it on...

Saw something that just shocked me - and pleased me.

There was actually an "action-adventure" type commercial for girls.

Of course it must be based on The Hunger Games, I think, it showed a girl running around carrying a crossbow.

A Nerf Rebelle.

It will be interesting to see if there are any more toys of that sort.

I can well remember many years ago when Pirates of the Caribbean III came out, Elizabeth looked really cool in her CHinese pirate uniform - but when the notebooks for the series came out, there were plenty of Captain Jack and plenty of Will Turner, but none of her with a sword.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Woman Pilots Calendar available from Claire Beringer

BERINGER AERO Calendar 2014:

It will be a "Grand Cru Calendar" this year:  12 pictures of enthusiast and skilled women pilots taken at Oshkosh, also in France by Véronique Béringer, who is a pilot too. 

Through their portraits you will discover their passion for flying and for their airplane. 

The calendar will be available in November; you can order now. 

Best regards
Claire Béringer

Calendar back cover




Thursday, October 10, 2013

Helena woman named "master pilot" by FAA

From SeattlePI:  Helena woman named "master pilot" by FAA
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Many people know Patricia Johnson as an educator. She taught physics and earth science in Helena for 27 years, and now she administers school grants at the Office of Public Instruction.
To fellow pilots, Johnson is a lifelong student and aviation advocate. To air traffic controllers, she is N5812R — the registration number printed in bold letters along the side of her 1966 Cessna 172 plane, which Pat calls "Romeo."
Johnson may not be your typical flying ace. She doesn't perform aerobatics shows, fly fighter jets or take off in treacherous conditions. Flying for her is a hobby and an escape. She's had many adventures over a lifetime of flying, but notes that she's done most things only once.
But Johnson's flying experiences are singular in other ways as well.
She was the only woman in the student flying club at the old Montana State College in Bozeman, where she first took a seat inside a cockpit 51 years ago.
And this year, she joined another, much more selective club, as she became the 42nd person in Montana, and the first woman, to earn the prestigious Wright Brothers "Master Pilot Award" by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Master Pilot designation recognizes at least 50 consecutive years of aviation expertise and safe flying practices. Johnson's flying record is as spotless as "Romeo's" gleaming nose cone.
Education and flying have never really been separate in Johnson's life. Airplanes often figured as examples in her physics classes, and earth science students learned about geology through photographs taken during her journeys above the continent.
Johnson says she didn't deliberately try to bring aeronautics into her classrooms, but as the stuff of her imagination, it certainly made its way inside. She once brought an engine into a school basement, and students at C.R. Anderson helped her replace the fabric covering over the wings of her 1948 Aeronca Champion.
Many years later, Johnson ran into a former student working at a bank. "I'm taking flying lessons," she told Johnson, "Remember when you showed us how you were re-covering your wings?"
Johnson has taught aerospace education workshops at Carroll College for teachers, and has received several national awards for her efforts, including the Scott Crossfield National Aerospace Education Teacher of the Year.
In 1984, she was selected as the Montana candidate for the NASA Teacher in Space program, for which more than 11,000 teachers applied nationwide. (Its inaugural winner, teacher Christa McAuliffe, died in the 1986 Challenger Shuttle disaster).
Brent Vetter, co-owner of Vetter Aviation where Johnson keeps her Cessna, said he appreciates her work as a kind of ambassador for aviation.
"She's promoted it throughout her life," he said. "I find that to be refreshing." Vetter said airports can be intimidating places for novices, which often keeps them from taking to the air.
While she's been a leader in aerospace education and outreach, Johnson herself has always been a careful student of aviation.
"She's very conscientious," Vetter said. He first met Johnson in the 1970s, when she sought help learning to fly a plane with a tail wheel. "Recently she just went through a ground school that I taught." Johnson didn't need to, he said, but she wanted to catch up on the latest changes in navigation.
"She's trying to be as good a pilot as possible, and I admire her for that. She's strived to always stay abreast of the latest developments," Vetter said.
Yet, Johnson points out the instruments in the cockpit of "Romeo" are all original to the 47-year-old machine — as are the chrome ashtrays in the seatbacks.
A true student, Johnson said she always asks for advice from others, especially the local pilots where she's traveling. "Safety is very important. I'm a fair-weather pilot," she said. "You can't be macho, you can't say 'I know it all,' because you don't."
Being cautious hasn't prevented her from having grand adventures. Johnson has flown through the Grand Canyon and taken a lesson in aerobatics (two more things she's done once). She also took a long trip through Canada to the Arctic Circle, camping alongside the plane during many of her stops.
"In these years as a leisure pilot, I have flown to some interesting places and have met some fascinating people," she wrote in her application letter for the Master Pilot Award, after being nominated by several instructors and peers. "It has been a good life."
Despite her 51 years in the air, flying wasn't something Johnson had ever dreamed of.
"My father — I didn't know it — hated airplanes," she recalled during a recent interview. "When we grew up, we had trucks and cars, and we had rubber battleships that floated in the bathtub," she said, "and dolls — we had lots of dolls — I hated dolls."
Not airplanes, though.
When she first entered a plane in college — tepidly, upon the insistence of an acquaintance — Johnson said she was shocked to learn that airplanes had wheels. "I knew nothing," she laughed.
The two went for a flight over Bozeman in a tiny Cessna 120. "We got in and I liked it," she said, her eyes widening.
So Johnson borrowed money from her sister to join the student flying co-op in January 1962. She flew solo in April, and then participated in the National Intercollegiate Flying Association meet in Oklahoma that same year.
"I would get up in the plane when I was a student pilot, and I'd fly the practice area and turn off the radio and be all alone," Johnson said. "I know how crowded you are in college. I was free.
"Flying is for freedom of spirit. It takes you away from your ordinary cares and worries. It's just a nice serenity."
Johnson said she's grateful to have had so many years of "the pleasure of flight," though she says she isn't any more deserving of the award than the next pilot.
"It doesn't make me feel special, because I'm not. I'm just me, living my life," she said.
"I've always been the only woman or the first woman or something like that," Johnson said, "because it's only more recently that the young girls are doing all the things they're doing.
"I hope it encourages young women to fly. That's really what I hope."