One
of China's first female fighter pilots and a member of the country's
air force aerobatics team was killed in a training accident over the
weekend, according to Chinese state-run media.
Capt. Yu Xu, 30, died Saturday during a routine training flight with the aerobatics team, according to the reports.
The
Chinese military did not provide details of the accident in Hebei
province, but state-run media, citing military sources and witnesses,
said Yu ejected from her aircraft after it collided with another during
the training.
After the ejection, the wing of another plane hit Yu, killing her, according to a report from China Daily.
Yu's male co-pilot ejected safely and survived, the report said. The other jet also landed safety.
The
flight data recorder, or black box, from Yu's jet was recovered as
authorities investigate the accident, China Daily reported.
Time Magazine is reporting that new footage of Amelia Earhart has been found.
It's weird, a photographer took film of her in 1937 - before either her first or second attempt at her round the world flight (there's controversy on which one it was) and kept the reel of film in his closet until he died. It was only when his son was going through his father's things that he decided to take the reel of film home and watch it.
is the URL to the article where you'll be able to see the footage.
The film, now named Amelia Earhart’s Last Photo Shoot, will be released in July by the Paragon Agency alongside an 80-page book, written by Nicole Swinford.
Swindford believes the footage was shot in May 1937, days before Earhart and Noonan set off on their fateful journey.
But Richard Gillespie, executive director of the International Group
for Historic Aircraft Recovery, said the film was likely shot in March,
before Earhart’s unsuccessful first attempt.
This just goes to show that there are treasures in every attic!
As the only
practising female Spitfire pilot in the world, Carolyn Grace is much in
demand. During the summer months, she spends every weekend taking part
in aerobatic displays across the country.
But
looking after her classic fighter plane is an expensive business, so
Carolyn has put her six-bedroom home, The Cangle in Halstead, Essex, on
the market for £1.25 million to ensure its future is safe.
‘The
Spitfire costs about £5,000 an hour to fly and we fly it 70 hours a
year,’ she explains. ‘The engine overhaul alone costs £120,000 and has
to be carried out every four or so years. You have to keep on top of the
maintenance. We need to free up funds. It’s about preserving it for the
next generation.’
+3
Saving the plane: Carolyn Grace has
put her six-bedroom home, The Cangle in Halstead, Essex, on the market
for £1.25 million to ensure the future for her Spitfire fighter aircraft
is safe
Although
more than 20,000 Spitfires were produced shortly before, during and
after the Second World War, the ‘Grace Spitfire’ is one of only a
handful to survive today.
And
it is all the more special as it was the first Allied plane to shoot
down an enemy aircraft above the Normandy beaches on D-Day.
Carolyn’s
passion for the plane stems from her late husband Nick, who bought the
aircraft, which required a full rebuild, from a Scottish museum in
1979.
A
design engineer and pilot, Nick set about painstakingly restoring it at
St Merryn airfield in Cornwall, a process that took more than five
years.
Once
the rebuild was finished, the couple moved to West Sussex because the
Spitfire needed to be in a more central location to keep down flight
times to and from various shows.
+3
Highflyer: Carolyn Grace, the world's only female spitfire pilot, standing next to her engine in her workshop
They
found a 100-acre field near Horsham that was perfect, built a
workshop/hangar on the site, and also applied for planning permission to
build a house.
But
tragedy struck before their dreams could be realised when Nick was
killed in a car accident in 1988, just three years after getting the
Spitfire airborne again.
Carolyn
moved with the couple’s young children – Olivia, then five, and
Richard, then four – to the family’s current home, and also transported
the Spitfire to Duxford airfield near Cambridge.
Although
she was already a qualified pilot, she took the intrepid decision to
train as a Spitfire pilot, to the shock of many. She is the first woman
to have done so since the women of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA)
service in the Second World War.
Although
The Cangle has nine acres, that is not a large enough area to keep the
Spitfire. However, the property does have an enormous double-height
workshop in the grounds, where the aircraft’s engine is currently
awaiting an overhaul.
Although
she is from Australia, Carolyn knew this patch of Essex well before she
moved there as her aunt and uncle lived locally, while she and Nick
were married in 1975 in the nearby village of Great Bardfield.
‘It’s
an idyllic spot – we’re less than two miles from Halstead but very
secluded because our grounds form a horseshoe around the house, and
there’s woodland beyond that.
‘I
knew as I drove up the lane that I wanted to buy this house. I grew up
on a farm so I was brought up on the land – I like the idea of not
having neighbours,’ she says.
The
Cangle’s sense of history also appealed. Built in the 1550s, it is
packed with original features. An earlier structure on the site was
mentioned in the Domesday Book.
The
house itself was in a poor condition when Carolyn and the children
moved in, so she set about installing a new kitchen and knocking down
old farm buildings.
Carolyn,
62, spends every weekend from May to September flying at events,
including displays at outdoor concerts. ‘You have to fly the Spitfire
wholeheartedly,’ she says. ‘The minute you feel you’re not on top of it,
you should stop.’
Selling
the house will be a wrench, she admits. ‘We have a lot of memories
here. I’ll miss the seclusion and the wildlife – stoats in the garden
and ducks that come back to our pond every year. But we have always
moved with the Spitfire. It has been the priority from the time Nick
first brought it home. It is good to know we are continuing to base our
lives around ensuring its future.’
WINCHESTER — Last August, Mariah Stebbins spent a week flying an
F/A-18 Hornet military fighter jet. She withstood powerful G-forces in a
centrifuge, and was crowned Top Gun — last man standing — in a fierce
aerial dog-fight contest.
It’s all part of her training as a future U.S. Air Force pilot.
But for now, her military career is on hold. At 13, she isn’t even in
high school yet.
“But, after that, I really want to join,” she said.
Stebbins, who lives in
Winchester, did it all at a week-long Aviation Challenge camp at the
U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. An affiliate of the
Smithsonian Institution, it’s the official NASA Visitor Information
Center for the renowned Marshall Space Flight Center.
The hands-on, educational
program is designed specifically for young people interested in
military aviation, and is structured military-style. Mariah was one of
only three girls among the nearly 50 participants in her group. She wore
a military battle dress uniform, slept in a same-sex barracks
resembling a military bay on a space station, and dined in a mess hall
while there.
Every day, she worked
with a 15-member team. Besides flying a state-of-the-art simulated
combat fighter jet, she trained intensively in simulated emergency
helicopter crashes and zip-lined into a lake for simulated parachute
water landings. She practiced land and water survival skills, and
undertook a Navy SEALS special operations search-and-rescue mission.
“I really liked the
survival training, and to be able to be in all the different
simulators,” she said. “Right before graduation, we did a mission at
night. We had to do an army crawl through the woods without being
caught.”
Now in 8th grade, she’s a
straight-A student at the Winchester School, where she plays on the
soccer team. Her father and stepmother, Mike and Angela Stebbins, own a
used car sales and service dealership adjacent to the family home, which
Mike built. They’re also a military family.
For more than a dozen
years, Angela Stebbins has served with the N.H. Air National Guard, and
is assigned to Pease Air National Guard Base in Portsmouth. Until
recently, she worked in public relations, writing for the base newspaper
and quarterly magazine. After completing an accelerated training
program in Texas, she’s now a dental assistant at the base. Like her
peers, she’s on duty one weekend per month, and two weeks per year. She
plans to continue until she meets the 20-year service requirement for
retirement.
Mariah wants to follow in her footsteps, except as a full-time Air Force combat pilot.
“She’s seen everything
the military has done for our family, and the opportunity it presents
for her down the road,” said Angela Stebbins. “She has what it takes.”
A military career
requires attention to detail and determination,” she said. “When Mariah
puts her mind to something she doesn’t give up, she doesn’t quit. She’s
very reliable and trustworthy, and shows excellence in all that she
does. And, she has a passion for flying.”
Mariah may have her
stepmother’s proclivity for the military, but it was her father who
inspired her love of flying, by chance. Several years ago, she rode
along with him wide-eyed when he took an introductory flying lesson at
Dillant-Hopkins Airport. He’s since taken one or two more. Not long
after, her older brother Dylan, who now lives in Massachusetts, applied
to the aviation camp program, but soon backed out.
She wanted to go in his
place, but was only in 4th grade. Too young, she had to wait. A year
later, she attended a basic level session, and returned in August 2014
for the more intensive mid-level program, where she won “Top Gun” above
all participants.
To cover expenses, she
applied for a scholarship from the Military Child Education Coalition, a
global nonprofit group that provides educational opportunities to
children in military families. Not only did the group award her a grant
to the aviation program, including expenses, it gave her a second
scholarship to the center’s robotics camp the following week.
“It was really different
going from aviation to robotics,” she said. “We built and programmed
robots and competed in tasks. Robotics was fun, but I liked aviation
much more. It was just different.”
No one’s prouder than her dad.
“I’m a little jealous,”
he joked. “I think it’s great. She really does a lot of things. I can’t
imagine when I was her age flying on an airplane by myself to Alabama
for a couple of weeks. She loved it.”
Several months ago, she
joined the Monadnock Civil Air Patrol, now faithfully attends weekly
meetings, and recently earned her first promotion from cadet to airman.
She’s also working towards her private pilot’s license at
Dillant-Hopkins Airport. Already, she’s taken a glider flight and has
flown a small plane.
Things just fell into line, says Angela Stebbins.
“First she discovered her
interest in flying,” she said. “Then she got the scholarship to the
aviation program. Then the Civil Air Patrol, which had been inactive for
a long time, suddenly started up again. It all just came together.
“We try to balance things
as much as we can,” she said. “We want her to enjoy childhood, but we
also want to set her up on a good path for the future.”
But, flying’s not Mariah’s only passion. She’s also a competitive race car driver.
Every Saturday from April
through September, she drives the No. 10 car in the Young Gun division,
ages 12 to 15, at Monadnock Speedway. She’s part of the RAD team (Race
Against Drugs), a group of young volunteers who promote a healthy
drug-free lifestyle for youth through racing, and raise awareness of
drug abuse and prevention in the Monadnock Region. RAD is an offshoot of
the National Center for Prevention and Research Solutions program in
Florida.
She hasn’t finished in the top three spots yet, but really enjoys the sport, and advocacy work.
“There are quite a few girls involved,” she said. “I’ll probably do it through high school as much as I can.”
Mariah starts high school
next year. Today, she and her family are touring the Milton Hershey
School, a private residential high school in Pennsylvania, founded by
the chocolate magnate. Her stepmother thinks she’d love what it offers.
Mariah isn’t so sure. She thinks she’d rather stay close to home and
family, and go to Keene High School, she says.
No matter what her choice, Elizabeth Lounder, her homeroom teacher at Winchester School, believes that she’ll excel.
“Mariah is very mature
for her age,” she said. “She’s very quiet and unassuming. If it weren’t
for us bragging about what she did last summer, no one would ever know.
“She never tries to
impress anyone. She’s just quietly pursuing what she wants to do,” she
said. “She brings a lot of grace and maturity to whatever she does. If
this is what she’s doing at this age, I can’t wait to see her future.”
One thing Mariah’s
certain about is returning to the aviation camp in Alabama. She hopes to
get another scholarship within a couple of years for the advanced and
final program. She wants to be an Air Force pilot.
About that, she’s absolutely clear.
“It’s something I already know a lot about,” she said. “It’s what I really want to do.”
HONOLULU —President Barack Obama has selected the first female non-pilot to head the U.S. Air Force in the Pacific.
At a packed ceremony in Hawaii, Lt. Gen. Lori Robinson received the highest rank in the U.S. Air Force -- four-star general.
Robinson, a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, will replace a veteran pilot who is moving to another post.
“I realize that there is no other command more important to our nation’s security and defense,” Robinson said.
Robinson
is the second woman in the Air Force to earn the four-star general rank
and is the first woman to command combat forces in the Air Force.
The general she is replacing, Gen. Hawk Carlisle, said Robinson is more than able to fill the new role.
“She
is absolutely capable at everything she does,” Carlisle said. “And as
importantly, she is always there for every one of her brothers and
sisters in the Air Force.”
Robinson’s father lives in Jackson, New Hampshire. She entered the Air Force in 1982 through the ROTC program at UNH.
Robinson said she hopes her early training in the Granite State will help her protect the world.
“Our
international friendships have never been more important than today as
we endeavor to safeguard and continue an environment that has fostered
prosperity in the region and the world over the past decade,” she said.
In January 2005, the Repp family boarded a Hawaii-bound KC-135
Stratotanker to escape a bitter-cold winter at Fairchild Air Force Base,
Washington.
Aboard that space-available flight, Danielle, the
second of three Repp children, climbed up front, put on a headset and
watched an air refueling mission for the first time. She was 15.
Her father, now-retired Chief Master Sgt. Daniel Repp, had spent his entire 30-year career as a boom operator.
“It kind of clicked — that’s the job for me,” Danielle said of the experience.
She
decided to head to college after high school and major in business. But
the memory of the refueling mission lingered. In 2009, Danielle saw her
older sister, Taryn, join the Air Force, become a medical technician
and get stationed overseas.
“I was watching all that. I watched
her tech school graduation,” Danielle said. “I saw all these
opportunities in the Air Force.”
In 2012, three years after Taryn
headed to basic, Danielle decided she, too, would enlist. Her No. 1
career choice: boom operator.
That she’d joined the Air Force at
all surprised her dad. He’d tried not to push his children toward any
particular career path. The military, Daniel had told them, was one of
many options.
Now his two eldest children were beginning their Air
Force careers just as his ended. Daniel had spent his first two years
out of high school working. He joined the service in 1981 because, he
said, “I was really looking to be part of something bigger, a greater
cause.”
He went in without a job assignment and no clear idea of
what he wanted to do. “While at basic training, they pull you aside and
tell you these are the must-fill jobs and hard-to-fill jobs and see who
might like to volunteer. I knew nothing about air refueling,” the
retired chief said, but he signed up anyway.
“It was an exciting
adventure” that took him to bases in Michigan, Oklahoma, California, New
Jersey and Washington, he said. Daniel served as an instructor,
squadron and group superintendent and a numbered Air Force evaluator
before retiring from Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, in 2011 as Air
Mobility Command’s functional manager.
When Danielle announced she
was joining the Air Force, “we talked about all sorts of different
jobs” in the service, he said. “I really wanted it to be her decision. I
stayed away from trying to bias her. It was her choice. I gave her all
the information I could, introduced her to people in various jobs.”
But Danielle was sure she wanted to refuel planes like her father.
“He was beyond ecstatic,” she said of her dad’s reaction.
Today,
Danielle, a senior airman, serves as a boom operator with the 351st Air
Refueling Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, England. Mindful of how watching
the refueling mission at 15 impacted her life, she calls up tanker
passengers to get a glimpse of the task as often as she can.
Father and daughter talk at least twice a week, their conversations often centered around work.
Being
a boom operator “is very different for her in many ways. The mission is
very different. What tankers do today is very dynamic. Schedules change
rapidly. They’re all over the world doing work,” Daniel said.
He
entered the Air Force during the Cold War when the focus was on nuclear
deterrence. “Deterring the bad guys meant tanker and bomber crews sat
alert for a week, in a facility adjacent to our loaded aircraft,
separated from our families, waiting to launch at a moment’s notice.
Every third week was a week on alert,” he wrote in an email.
“One thing that hasn’t changed is tankers are often in the background. They’re not on the front page,” Daniel said.
The Repp family’s Air Force story isn’t over yet.
Jacob Repp, the youngest, heads to basic training in January. He’s been selected to become an airborne linguist.
“I’m
very proud of my girls and my son. I think they are not only doing what
they enjoy, but the work has meaning and purpose,” Daniel said.
“Sometimes, things work out better than one can hope.”
WARWICK —
Poor weather on Saturday, Sept. 6, may have prevented some of the
ladies of the North New Jersey Chapter of the "Ninety-Nines" from flying
into Warwick Municipal Airport in their own airplanes for the
organization's annual picnic and meeting. But that didn't dampen the
spirits of those who attended.
"Holding our annual picnic at Warwick Airport has become a tradition,"
said recently elected Chapter Chair Shannon Osborne, who usually flies
her own single engine Cessna 182 to the event. "We'll be back every
year, for sure."
The "Ninety-Nines" has been home to women pilots since the early days of aviation.
The world famous pilot, Amelia Earhart, its first president, and 98
other early female aviators established the "Ninety Nines" in 1929.
The organization is an international non-profit association of licensed
professional and private women pilots. Full membership requires that the
applicant be licensed as a fixed wing, helicopter, balloon or glider
pilot. And many of the almost 90 members of the Chapter also have
instrument, commercial and other advanced ratings. Some have served as
airline pilots or were even former members of the Women Airforce Service
Pilots (WASP).
Five years ago, their "Ninety-Nines" display in the Aviation Hall of
Fame at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey was completed and open to
visitors.
- See more at:
http://warwickadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140923/NEWS01/140929990/Ninety-Nines-return-to-Warwick-for-annual-picnic-and-meeting#sthash.A8HHSVfV.dpu
WARWICK — Poor weather on Saturday, Sept. 6, may have
prevented some of the ladies of the North New Jersey Chapter of the
"Ninety-Nines" from flying into Warwick Municipal Airport in their
own airplanes for the organization's annual picnic and meeting. But that didn't
dampen the spirits of those who attended.
"Holding our annual picnic at Warwick Airport has
become a tradition," said recently elected Chapter Chair Shannon Osborne,
who usually flies her own single engine Cessna 182 to the event. "We'll be
back every year, for sure."
The "Ninety-Nines" has been home to women pilots
since the early days of aviation.
The world famous pilot, Amelia Earhart, its first president,
and 98 other early female aviators established the "Ninety Nines" in
1929.
The organization is an international non-profit association
of licensed professional and private women pilots. Full membership requires
that the applicant be licensed as a fixed wing, helicopter, balloon or glider
pilot. And many of the almost 90 members of the Chapter also have instrument,
commercial and other advanced ratings. Some have served as airline pilots or
were even former members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).
Five years ago, their "Ninety-Nines" display in
the Aviation Hall of Fame at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey was completed and
open to visitors.
Founded in 1972, the Aviation Hall
of Fame and Museum of New Jersey is dedicated to the preservation of New
Jersey's aviation and space heritage. The emphasis of the North New Jersey
Chapter's display and video presentations is on the role of women pilots in modern
times rather than the early history of the organization.
This past year, for example, one of
its members, Marilyn Patierno, completed the 38th annual "Air Race
Classic," a four day, 2,200 nautical mile flight from Concord, California
to Cumberland, Pennsylvania.
Osborne, who served on the ground at
each end of the event as a volunteer, reported that this was no easy task since
very bad , including icing conditions and tornadoes en route, had forced many
of the fliers to drop out of the race.
The annual picnic in September is
the Chapter's official kick-off for the year's activities, including one on
Oct. 11 at Lincoln Park Airport in New Jersey when the Chapter will host
"Pennies-a-Pound."
"As part of our mission to
educate and share the aviation experience with the community, we'll be offering
airplane rides for 35 pennies a pound to a maximum of $50 per person,"
said Osborne. "Everyone can enjoy the beauty and exhilaration of a ride in
a general aviation airplane."
The North New Jersey Chapter of the
"Ninety-Nines" continues to offer scholarships for flight training,
which are open to any male or female student pilot with an earnest desire to
further aviation achievements.
WARWICK —
Poor weather on Saturday, Sept. 6, may have prevented some of the
ladies of the North New Jersey Chapter of the "Ninety-Nines" from flying
into Warwick Municipal Airport in their own airplanes for the
organization's annual picnic and meeting. But that didn't dampen the
spirits of those who attended.
"Holding our annual picnic at Warwick Airport has become a tradition,"
said recently elected Chapter Chair Shannon Osborne, who usually flies
her own single engine Cessna 182 to the event. "We'll be back every
year, for sure."
The "Ninety-Nines" has been home to women pilots since the early days of aviation.
The world famous pilot, Amelia Earhart, its first president, and 98
other early female aviators established the "Ninety Nines" in 1929.
The organization is an international non-profit association of licensed
professional and private women pilots. Full membership requires that the
applicant be licensed as a fixed wing, helicopter, balloon or glider
pilot. And many of the almost 90 members of the Chapter also have
instrument, commercial and other advanced ratings. Some have served as
airline pilots or were even former members of the Women Airforce Service
Pilots (WASP).
Five years ago, their "Ninety-Nines" display in the Aviation Hall of
Fame at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey was completed and open to
visitors.
- See more at:
http://warwickadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140923/NEWS01/140929990/Ninety-Nines-return-to-Warwick-for-annual-picnic-and-meeting#sthash.A8HHSVfV.dpuf
WARWICK —
Poor weather on Saturday, Sept. 6, may have prevented some of the
ladies of the North New Jersey Chapter of the "Ninety-Nines" from flying
into Warwick Municipal Airport in their own airplanes for the
organization's annual picnic and meeting. But that didn't dampen the
spirits of those who attended.
"Holding our annual picnic at Warwick Airport has become a tradition,"
said recently elected Chapter Chair Shannon Osborne, who usually flies
her own single engine Cessna 182 to the event. "We'll be back every
year, for sure."
The "Ninety-Nines" has been home to women pilots since the early days of aviation.
The world famous pilot, Amelia Earhart, its first president, and 98
other early female aviators established the "Ninety Nines" in 1929.
The organization is an international non-profit association of licensed
professional and private women pilots. Full membership requires that the
applicant be licensed as a fixed wing, helicopter, balloon or glider
pilot. And many of the almost 90 members of the Chapter also have
instrument, commercial and other advanced ratings. Some have served as
airline pilots or were even former members of the Women Airforce Service
Pilots (WASP).
Five years ago, their "Ninety-Nines" display in the Aviation Hall of
Fame at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey was completed and open to
visitors.
- See more at:
http://warwickadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140923/NEWS01/140929990/Ninety-Nines-return-to-Warwick-for-annual-picnic-and-meeting#sthash.A8HHSVfV.dpuf
WARWICK —
Poor weather on Saturday, Sept. 6, may have prevented some of the
ladies of the North New Jersey Chapter of the "Ninety-Nines" from flying
into Warwick Municipal Airport in their own airplanes for the
organization's annual picnic and meeting. But that didn't dampen the
spirits of those who attended.
"Holding our annual picnic at Warwick Airport has become a tradition,"
said recently elected Chapter Chair Shannon Osborne, who usually flies
her own single engine Cessna 182 to the event. "We'll be back every
year, for sure."
The "Ninety-Nines" has been home to women pilots since the early days of aviation.
The world famous pilot, Amelia Earhart, its first president, and 98
other early female aviators established the "Ninety Nines" in 1929.
The organization is an international non-profit association of licensed
professional and private women pilots. Full membership requires that the
applicant be licensed as a fixed wing, helicopter, balloon or glider
pilot. And many of the almost 90 members of the Chapter also have
instrument, commercial and other advanced ratings. Some have served as
airline pilots or were even former members of the Women Airforce Service
Pilots (WASP).
Five years ago, their "Ninety-Nines" display in the Aviation Hall of
Fame at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey was completed and open to
visitors.
Founded in 1972, the Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum of New Jersey is
dedicated to the preservation of New Jersey's aviation and space
heritage. The emphasis of the North New Jersey Chapter's display and
video presentations is on the role of women pilots in modern times
rather than the early history of the organization.
This past year, for example, one of its members, Marilyn Patierno,
completed the 38th annual "Air Race Classic," a four day, 2,200 nautical
mile flight from Concord, California to Cumberland, Pennsylvania.
Osborne, who served on the ground at each end of the event as a
volunteer, reported that this was no easy task since very bad ,
including icing conditions and tornadoes en route, had forced many of
the fliers to drop out of the race.
The annual picnic in September is the Chapter's official kick-off for
the year's activities, including one on Oct. 11 at Lincoln Park Airport
in New Jersey when the Chapter will host "Pennies-a-Pound."
"As part of our mission to educate and share the aviation experience
with the community, we'll be offering airplane rides for 35 pennies a
pound to a maximum of $50 per person," said Osborne. "Everyone can enjoy
the beauty and exhilaration of a ride in a general aviation airplane."
The North New Jersey Chapter of the "Ninety-Nines" continues to offer
scholarships for flight training, which are open to any male or female
student pilot with an earnest desire to further aviation achievements.
For additional information visit: www.nj99.org.
- See more at:
http://warwickadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140923/NEWS01/140929990/Ninety-Nines-return-to-Warwick-for-annual-picnic-and-meeting#sthash.A8HHSVfV.dpuf
WARWICK —
Poor weather on Saturday, Sept. 6, may have prevented some of the
ladies of the North New Jersey Chapter of the "Ninety-Nines" from flying
into Warwick Municipal Airport in their own airplanes for the
organization's annual picnic and meeting. But that didn't dampen the
spirits of those who attended.
"Holding our annual picnic at Warwick Airport has become a tradition,"
said recently elected Chapter Chair Shannon Osborne, who usually flies
her own single engine Cessna 182 to the event. "We'll be back every
year, for sure."
The "Ninety-Nines" has been home to women pilots since the early days of aviation.
The world famous pilot, Amelia Earhart, its first president, and 98
other early female aviators established the "Ninety Nines" in 1929.
The organization is an international non-profit association of licensed
professional and private women pilots. Full membership requires that the
applicant be licensed as a fixed wing, helicopter, balloon or glider
pilot. And many of the almost 90 members of the Chapter also have
instrument, commercial and other advanced ratings. Some have served as
airline pilots or were even former members of the Women Airforce Service
Pilots (WASP).
Five years ago, their "Ninety-Nines" display in the Aviation Hall of
Fame at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey was completed and open to
visitors.
Founded in 1972, the Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum of New Jersey is
dedicated to the preservation of New Jersey's aviation and space
heritage. The emphasis of the North New Jersey Chapter's display and
video presentations is on the role of women pilots in modern times
rather than the early history of the organization.
This past year, for example, one of its members, Marilyn Patierno,
completed the 38th annual "Air Race Classic," a four day, 2,200 nautical
mile flight from Concord, California to Cumberland, Pennsylvania.
Osborne, who served on the ground at each end of the event as a
volunteer, reported that this was no easy task since very bad ,
including icing conditions and tornadoes en route, had forced many of
the fliers to drop out of the race.
The annual picnic in September is the Chapter's official kick-off for
the year's activities, including one on Oct. 11 at Lincoln Park Airport
in New Jersey when the Chapter will host "Pennies-a-Pound."
"As part of our mission to educate and share the aviation experience
with the community, we'll be offering airplane rides for 35 pennies a
pound to a maximum of $50 per person," said Osborne. "Everyone can enjoy
the beauty and exhilaration of a ride in a general aviation airplane."
The North New Jersey Chapter of the "Ninety-Nines" continues to offer
scholarships for flight training, which are open to any male or female
student pilot with an earnest desire to further aviation achievements.
For additional information visit: www.nj99.org.
- See more at:
http://warwickadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140923/NEWS01/140929990/Ninety-Nines-return-to-Warwick-for-annual-picnic-and-meeting#sthash.A8HHSVfV.dpuf
Oct 3 - Dinner with a Slice of History - The Life and Times of Blanche Noyes; a Pioneering Aviatrix - 6:30 pm
This talk shares the rich,
colorful history of Blanche Noyes, from her beginnings as a local
dramatic stage actress to an award winning air race pilot to one of the
most accomplished aviation authors.
Called the Dean of Women Pilots,
Blanche Noyes was one of aviation's most passionate advocates.
Presenter
Dan Zaleski is a local aviation researcher. He enjoys talking and
sharing about anything that flies. Dinner will be served at 6:30 pm with
the presentation to follow. Tickets are $15 non-members, $13 members.
Please RSVP soon- seats are limited!
From MPLS Star tribune: http://www.startribune.com/local/274421721.html
Lt. Alicia Makoutz deploys as the only female pilot in the Minnesota Air Force Reserves to fly C-130 cargo planes.
Four years ago, 24-year-old Alicia Perry boarded a C-130 cargo plane as a
senior airman for the Air Force Reserve. She was heading to Afghanistan
on her first deployment. For the long flight over she carried a tote
stuffed with playing cards and the latest exercise magazines.
There’ll be plenty to keep her busy Tuesday as she leaves on her second deployment. She’ll be flying the airplane.
Now
an officer and sporting her married name on her flight suit, Lt. Alicia
Makoutz is the only female pilot in the Minnesota-based Air Force
Reserves and one of only a handful flying the large military cargo
planes.
She
and about 100 other members of the 934th Airlift Wing are scheduled to
depart for a 120-day deployment that is likely to include missions in
Afghanistan and Iraq.
The deployment as a pilot fulfills a girlhood dream for Makoutz, whose twin brother is also in the Air Force.
“All
growing up, if you asked me what my dream job is, I’d say to be a
pilot,” she said. “If you asked me now what my dream job would be? To be
a pilot. Not many people can say that.”
Stationed at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan during her first deployment,
Makoutz worked on the ground in aviation resource management — military
speak for tracking crew members’ training, flight hours and aircraft
logs. It was her foot in the door. She learned she was accepted to
flight school while in Afghanistan.
There
were several flight schools, survival school and officer training
school. Her husband, Chris, uprooted his business to be with her during
13 months of pilot schooling in Laredo, Texas.
Much
of her training was in full-motion simulators, the higher-tech
equivalent of Google maps where trainers load data for a real airfield
and the student pilot makes the flight on computer screens, accurate
down to the barns whizzing by in the landscape below.
But nothing compared to the first time Makoutz actually flew.
“Finally
it came true,” she recalled thinking. “I do remember taking off. In the
simulator you don’t have the windows down by your feet. That was the
first time I actually saw the ground rush under me. I thought, ‘This is
the real deal. I’m actually doing it.’ ”
She
has always preferred the idea of piloting the hulking and reliable
C-130s over fighter jets. She likes the teamwork required and she speaks
affectionately of the deafening but reassuring hum the plane’s four
turboprop engines make. At 28, she hopes to make flying the planes a
career. She says she has never felt targeted because of her gender.
“It’s
not a male/female thing; it’s, ‘Hey, you’re a pilot,’ ” she said. “Some
people say, ‘Oh, you’re the only girl pilot over here.’ They just
assume there’s negative aspects to it. I’ve never felt that way.”
But
the club of female pilots remains an exclusive one. In the active duty
Air Force, 720 females make up 5 percent of the 13,811 pilots. In
Minnesota, another female pilot is rotating in to the reserve wing and
there are two female C-130 pilots flying for the Minnesota Air National
Guard.
“There
are very few women in the military and much smaller female-to-male
ratio in the pilot world,” she said. “It’s not an easy thing to be in.
When you see one, you say, ‘Hey, we got one more,’ and just give a
thumbs-up.”
Americans still going over
The
deployment comes when many at home might think things are winding down
after more than a decade of war. But the missions reflect the
still-tenuous nature of the area. The Youngstown, Ohio-based unit the
group is replacing recently delivered humanitarian cargo to thousands of
Iraqi refugees isolated on a mountain after fleeing the Islamic
extremist group ISIS.
For
security reasons, the Air Force is vague about where the group will be
stationed, but they are expected to fly missions delivering people,
cargo and humanitarian aid to parts of southwest Asia, including
Afghanistan and Iraq, the Horn of Africa, and other parts of the Arabian
Peninsula.
This is an OT post about an IndieGoGo campaign called the Speaker Pod. If you love listening to music on your smartphone, you'll love it even more if you listen to it on the speaker pod.
I'm helping out a friend, so please check out his campaign and if you can help - for which you'll receive a Speaker Pod or two, depending on the amount of your pledge, please do so.
If you love to listen to music
wherever you go and are tired of carrying cables around, the Speaker Pod
is for you! Join the Pod People!
Speaker Pod represents big sound in a small package. With its innovative acoustic
mechanism, Speaker Pod delivers sound that is crisp, clear, and full-bodied.
Sound emanates from your phone's speakers and envelops your ears, with no need for wires, cables or Bluetooth!
Our Speaker Pods, which come in snazzy green or basic black, have a starting cost of just $24!
Unlike
our
first iteration of this technology - the Boom Bx - Speaker Pod is
powered by a rechargeable battery. Not having to buy batteries equals a
savings cost to the consumer, and is of course a benefit to the
environment. All the user has to do
is use a mini USB (included) to charge their Speaker Pod.
The
Speaker Pod has a simple on/off switch, which is much better than a push button
when it comes to quality. (We discovered this with our Boom Bx, which
had a push button. We quickly learned that an on/off switch is much more
reliable.)
Simply turn the Speaker Pod on. Then, turn on your
smartphone or MP3 player and start playing music. Place this device on
the Speaker Pod, and immediately the music, crisp, and clear, will soar
out into the room.
In partnership with the organizers of Akwaaba African Travel Market,
Women in Aviation (Nigeria) International-Glowing Wings Chapter said it
would honor Capt. Irene Koki.
Capt. Irene Koki is the first Woman in the World to captain the World’s
newest Plane -the Boeing B787 Dream liner and would yet again receives
recognition for her pioneering role in Africa’s Aviation Industry. She
was recognized at Akwaaba in 2009 as the first African Lady Captain of a
Commercial Airliner.
Women in Aviation, International with headquarters’ in the USA, is a
non-profit organisation that is dedicated to the advancement of women in
all Aviation career field and interests with over 10,000 Professionals
all over the world.
The President of the Glowing Wings Chapter- Mrs Ify Megwa who would be
leading her Chapter to the fair said: "We deemed it fit to honour one of
our own, Capt. Irene has accomplished a feat no female has ever
attained in Africa. In doing this, we are not only recognising her for
been exceptional, we hope this will encourage more females to reach
extraordinary heights in their Aviation careers and also encourage young
women to consider aviation as a career too.
"So, we couldn’t think of a better medium to present this award to her
other than Akwaaba, a credible platform that has consistently honored
pioneers in Africa over the years."
Rwandan First Female Pilot with Rwandair Esther Mwange will also be honored at the event.
Akwaaba: African Travel Market is the only annual international travel
fair in West Africa, drawing attendance from over 15,000 delegates from
over 20 countries worldwide and the largest platform to meet with
Travelling Public, Airlines, Hotels, Restaurants, Tour Operators, Travel
Agents, State Tourism Boards, Foreign Trade and Tourism sectors and
similar industry suppliers across Africa
From http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/18/travel/amelia-earhart-global-flight/
CNN) -- In 1937, Amelia Mary Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean attempting to circumnavigate the globe.
Later this month, Amelia Rose Earhart will try to do what her namesake could not.
Despite recently
discovering she's not related to the more famous Amelia Earhart (for
years she'd believed she was), the 31-year-old pilot will attempt to
become the youngest woman to navigate around the world in a
single-engine aircraft.
CNN spoke with Earhart about her forthcoming record attempt.
CNN: Did your name spark your interest in aviation?
Earhart will make her record attempt in a Pilatus PC12.
Amelia Rose Earhart: Getting asked questions day in and day out about my name has always been a part of my life.
People would say to me, "Are you a pilot? Do you think you can ever fly around the world?"
And for a long time, I said, "No, I'm not a pilot but I always thought about flying around the world."
It was always in the back of my mind just as an ultimate goal.
So I took my very first discovery flight, which is basically the first flight that every pilot goes through.
After that first discovery flight, I was totally hooked.
CNN: What was your reaction when you discovered that you weren't related to Amelia Earhart?
Earhart:It was a blow because, for 30 years, I thought that I was related to Amelia in some distant way.
But it really wasn't why I started flying, I wanted to fly because it's a lot of fun.
So at this point, I'm
almost glad that the distant relationship isn't there because it shows
that you don't have to be named after somebody famous to do something
great.
CNN: Why recreate her flight?
Earhart:As
pilots, whenever we fly, we have a flight plan. We open that flight
plan, and then when we return safely, we close that flight plan.
Unfortunately, when
Amelia disappeared in 1937, she never got a chance to close her flight
plan and that's what we all, as pilots, hope to do.
If successful, Earhart (31) will become the youngest woman to circumnavigate the world in a single-engine aircraft.
I started thinking, "What if I could symbolically close Amelia's flight plan for her?"
CNN: When is the takeoff date and where will you start and end the flight?
Earhart: We start and stop the flight in Oakland, California.
When you look at the departure date, we've got a three-day window from June 23 to 26.
The reason for that is
we're doing installations on the plane: additional fuel tanks and also a
satellite communications system that will allow us to livestream from
the cockpit.
CNN: How long will the entire trip take and how much will it cost?
Earhart: The whole trip will take two and a half weeks.
We've got 17 stops in 14 countries.
Over the past year and a half, I would say close to $2 million is probably the total value of the trip.
CNN: Are you nervous about embarking on such a major endeavor?
Earhart:My biggest fear is that the trip will just fly by and the two and a half weeks will be over before I know it.
I've spent years
planning this and it is my passion project. I don't have a lot fear
around what if something goes wrong with the aircraft.
That's not a concern of mine at all.
I do have realistic expectations if something happens weather-wise.
Flying around the
inter-tropical convergent zone is particularly tough for pilots so I'm
paying close attention to the weather patterns there.
CNN: Does the legend of your namesake worry you at all?
Earhart: Not at all. Amelia's disappearance unfortunately came at a time when the technology just wasn't there to track her.
Two years of planning and $2 million of expenses will bear out this month.
But when you think about how far that's come in the last 77 years, we're looking at whole different world.
I'm flying the Pilatus PC12 which is a single-engine turboprop and it's one of most technologically advanced planes out there.
We've got dual GPS systems on the aircraft.
We've got navigation that shows us exactly where we are and exactly what point in space.
We want to show people that ... even small planes can be very manageable over long trips like this.
CNN: How do you pack for this kind of trip?
Earhart:That is the ultimate question because you have to be very cognizant of the weight aboard the aircraft.
Packing-wise, I have to keep everything very limited.
So we'll pack a certain amount of nutritional products.
Beauty products, I have to keep to a bare minimum, unfortunately.
CNN: What do you do when you're not flying?
Earhart: I'm really close with my girlfriends here in Denver. We will go running together, do stuff outside together.
Trips or getting out of town, that's pretty much to a minimum.
I did just have a chance to go to Geneva, Switzerland, for an aviation conference.
That was a chance to relax even though we were working the whole time.
Things like that, where you're working and playing, I like to blur those lines as much possible.
When I'm always playing and always working, that's when I'm happiest.
Left to right: Deb Wnuk, paramedic, Kelly Holt, nurse, Jen Thiel, pilot, Karen Coulter, pilot, of STARS Air Ambulance.
Supplied photo.It was to be a girls’ flight out.
And the four-woman team couldn’t resist snapping a multi-selfie of
one of the rare occasions an entire STARS air ambulance helicopter crew
was female, said pilot Karen Coulter.
“It doesn’t happen all that often, not that we don’t enjoy working
with our male counterparts,” said Coulter, 43, who’s been flying for 13
years.
“It’s just nice for us to see that we have so many females in the industry.”
The Grande Prairie crew boasts another woman pilot, one who’s on maternity leave, she added.
On Thursday, the four crew members — paramedic Deb Wnuk, nurse Kelly
Holt and pilots Coulter and Jen Thiel — were together again as their
work schedule dictates.
But bad weather prevented them from responding to a motor vehicle
accident at Valleyview and what sounded like a severe bee sting reaction
near McLennan.
That could be a typical day aloft for any STARS crew, regardless of
gender, said Coulter who shares her gender with her boss, STARS
President Andrea Robertson.
“The conversations are different,” she said.
Dealing with difficult calls, particularly those involving children,
impact both male and female crews hard, “though the men are usually more
stoic,” said Coulter.
Of STARS’ aviation and medical staff, 30% are female, with four women
pilots — three quarters of the latter based in Grande Prairie.
STARS officials say there are fewer than 100 female helicopter pilots in Canada.
While the complexion of STARS personnel is continually evolving, some traditions remain the same.
“One of the male pilots brought us bouquets of flowers on Wednesday,” said Coulter.
Female naval aviators have been
flying fighter jets for 20 years but none have ever broken into the
rarefied territory of the choicest job available to them — Blue Angels
demonstration team pilot.
Capt. Greg McWherter, the former commanding officer of the Blue
Angels who went by the eyebrow-raising pilot call sign "Stiffy," was
ousted in April amid charges of sexual misconduct. A Navy review later
found that the Blue Angels team doesn't discriminate based on gender —
but that still begged the question of why no woman had ever been invited
to join.
That's all changed with the Navy's announcement this week of the
appointment of Marine Capt. Katie Higgins, 27, the first-ever female
Blue Angel. She will fly as a C-130 demonstration pilot starting in
October.
Higgins, a 2008 graduate of the Naval Academy in Annapolis,
Maryland, is currently assigned to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport
Squadron 252 (VMGR-252) at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North
Carolina.
From Northwestern.com: http://www.thenorthwestern.com/story/news/local/oshkosh/airventure/2014/07/21/eaa-oshkosh-airventure-travis-king/12976489/
(Photo: Photo by Connie Roper via EAA)
Debbie Travis King is the only woman in the world since 1943
authorized to fly the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, which she pilots aboard
the Commemorative Air Force's FIFI, the only airworthy B-29 left.
She
will be the keynote speaker for the WomenVenture Power Lunch at
AirVenture on Wednesday (July 30) at 11:30 a.m., at Theater in the
Woods.
The daughter of an American Airlines pilot, she said a
career in aviation came naturally. The Dallas native grew up around
airplanes and was always working on them with her father.
"I was always in aircraft and never knew a life without it," she said.
Travis
King began earning her flight certificates in high school and finished
them in college at Texas A&M University. She earned her CFI and CFII
directly after and later earned her jet ratings and Air Transport Pilot
certificate. She flew corporate jets as an on-demand charter pilot, and
now tours with the CAF B-29.
The freedom from everything on the
ground drives her love of flying, as well as how it's black and white –
and unforgiving. The rules and boundaries of the aviation industry fit
with her personality, she said.
She pilots the CAF's B-24
Liberator Diamond Lil as well as its B-29, and flies the Falcon 20, 50,
900, 900B and 900EX jets among many other aircraft. At 45 years-old,
Travis King has at least 3,600 flight hours under her wings.
She said the Superfortress is her favorite to fly because of its historical significance.
"It's
not very often one single aircraft changes the course of history,"
Travis King said. "And, the fact that two women were incorporated and
necessary for that change."
As a woman in what she described as
historically, exclusively "man's territory" – besides the Women Airforce
Service Pilots during World War II – she said a lot of pressure and
attention comes with being the only female today flying the B-29.
"It
takes a strong personality and thick skin to be able to withstand the
credulation that you have to go through and the speak you have to listen
to," she said. "I'm one of those people that you can't keep me down."
However
the field is changing with more and more women finding their passion in
aviation. Though it's a slow change, she said, Travis King is a prime
example of how the field is becoming more inclusive to women.
She said she's excited to speak to those women at WomenVenture and share for the first time why she does what she does.
"I've
never really fully explained why I do what I do and what my
inspirations are," she said, adding she also wants to kindly explain how
it's not exactly easy for women in the field.
"I can't say it is easy," Travis King said. "These are the things you're going to have to buckle up for… and we can do it."
Having gone to AirVenture since the 1990s, she said every time it's just like coming home.
PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Tracking down criminals from the air. You've likely
seen the Phoenix Police Department's helicopter around the valley. The
pilot is a valley born and raised woman, the only one in the State of
Arizona.
"When people wanted to be astronauts, people wanted to
be this or that, what I wanted to do was this, I wanted to chase bad
guys from a helicopter," said Officer Corynn Wittrock.
And that is what she loves to do, years later.
"When
I was a small kid I had the opportunity to know some of the county
deputies, they took me on a ride along, and from then on out that is all
I wanted to do," she said.
You may see her flying above the
skies of Phoenix and all over the valley for the Phoenix Police
Department. She's worked ten years with the department, 6 1/2 years on
the street and 4 1/2 on patrol.
"There's been a lot of rewarding
and scary things. We've all had to work on the streets, we've all had
our own personal stories about working on the streets, where you were at
the time of a foot pursuit or something," said Wittrock.
Snapping
a seatbelt is second nature as Wittrock puts it, in addition to chasing
the bad guys, she also helps in tactical rescue operations. She has
advice for girls wanting to be police pilots.
"Keep persevering, I
didn't get her by myself so surround yourself with positive people that
influence you in the way you want to go, and help you follow your
dreams," she said.
The Airborne Law Enforcement Association
Conference started in Phoenix Thursday. It welcomes law enforcement
pilots from across the country to the valley.
From the Washington Times: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/17/air-force-command-nominee-is-1st-woman-non-pilot/?page=2
The military also is preparing to put women in direct land combat units.
The
Navy promoted its first woman this month to four-star rank: Adm.
Michelle J. Howard, a surface warship commander, to vice chief of naval
operations, the Navy’s second-ranking officer.
The Air Force
promoted its first woman to four-star rank in 2012, when Gen. Janet C.
Wolfenbarger took over Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
The Army’s first female four-star general, Ann Elizabeth Dunwoody, has retired.
To
observers, the twin moves to promote a woman to vice chief of naval
operations and to place a woman in charge of a major combatant command Air Force
means that female officers are destined to be elevated to the
six-member Joint Chiefs of Staff, which comprises the four service
chiefs, a chairman and a vice chairman.
Women make up 14.5 percent of the active force but only a small percentage of combat pilots, 21 years after the Pentagon lifted the ban on women in those jobs.
Of 3,714 Air Force fighter and bomber pilots last year, 85 — or about 2 percent — were women at the rank of lieutenant colonel and below.
I just hope the women they're promoting are competent.
Obviously there is no reason why they wouldn't be competent, except when they *have* to make promotions because of diversity...it's just like Affirmative Action - did they earn their way, or were they chosen because they had to be?
I've been surfing the web a lot, lately (not because I have free time but for my work!)
But while I'm working I also make note of websites that I want to return to on my free time and perhaps make some purchases, and one of these is Chris's Country Essence.
It's a little e-commerce store that sells things like beeswax candles, from candles in the shape of little teddy bears, or bees, or beehives, to beeswax pillar candles. They also offer a lot of other things, of course, pure honey, and products made from honey - or beeswax - like shampoos, body washes, stuff like that.
I rather like the idea of supporting a business that has a symbiotic relationship with our little buzzing friends.
Honeybees are an interesting creature - so interesting that animals make things that taste good and are edible to humans...
Anyway, if you're in to cute stuff, check out the beeswax candles and beeswax pillar candles here.
Not to mention the other products they've got on offer, of course!
Four years ago, 24-year-old Alicia Perry boarded a C-130 cargo plane as a
senior airman for the Air Force Reserve. She was heading to Afghanistan
on her first deployment. For the long flight over she carried a tote
stuffed with playing cards and the latest exercise magazines.
(Photo: Photo by Connie Roper via EAA)