Mary Regalbuto Jones

Mary Regalbuto Jones

No entry in Wikipedia

Obituary from the WASP website, Wings Across America
http://www.wingsacrossamerica.us/web/jones_mary.htm

Mary was born on November 16, 1922, in Cleveland, Ohio, Her parents were Carmela and Philip Regalbuto. She graduated from high school in 1941 and shortly afterwards started studying for her pilot's license.

In 1943, she enlisted in the WASP - the Women Airforce Service Pilots training program. She earned her wings the next year and was sent to the Waco Army Air Field in Waco, Texas, where she was an engineering test pilot.

Mary wed Erwin Jones in 1946 and began working in administrative, personnel and program management positions for the Federal Government.

She was elected in 1974 to serve on the American Airlines Board of Directors, the first woman to do so.

During her 33 years in Federal service, Jones received many awards and honors, including a letter of commendation from President Reagan.

She retired in 1981 and moved to Tulsa to enroll at Spartan School of Aeronautics, where she revalidated her pilot's license and became a sport and antique aviation enthusiast.

She owned and flew a 1941 Navy N3N-3 biplane trainer for 14 years.

Mary founded the First National Biplane Fly-In in Bartlesville in 1987, and she was awarded a Bachelor's Degree in Aviation Science from Oklahoma State University in 1997, when she was 75. (http://www.biplaneexpo.com/)

Obit at Wee Beastie Biplane works: http://www.weebeastie.com/hatzcb1/flown_west/mary_jones_wilkinson/mary_jones_wilkinson.html

Here's a photo of her in her biplane:
http://www.eaa10.org/Wilkinson/

Several photos from Wings Across America site, WASP of Oklahoma
http://community.webshots.com/album/30065095KVZuikKTDw

Support this site, not to mention literacy!

Documentary: Wings of their Own

I recieved a review copy today of Wings of Their Own, a documentary produced in 2006 which interviewed dozens of women pilots and told the story of some of the early pioneers.

Directed by Mary Scott,
Produced by Abby Dress and Mary Scott
http://www.makebelievetv.com/WingsOfTheirOwn.html

Here's some descriptive info from their website:

The production crew has interviewed over 150 women pilots, most of whom are Ninety-Nines, the renowned organization of women pilots founded by Faye Gillis Wells & Amelia Earhart in 1929, at Curtiss Field, Long Island. We have also worked with the Air Race Classic, Women in Aviation International, and Women Military Aviators.

These are women of distinction with fascinating stories to tell. Some are actual pioneers, who pursued aviation firsts, others are record holders, and many do it for fun or a career.

I'll be reviewing this DVD in a couple of days.

And I urge everyone reading this entry to support women in aviation, to encourage their daughters in aviation, and education their sons as to the role of women in aviation! So pick up this documentary - or at least request that your local library do so!

DVD First Screen


Menu Screens

Amy Laboda

(One of the women who's photos appear on the new International Women's Air and Space Museum commemorative deck of playing cards.)

For more info on women in aviation see my website: Winged Victory.

Amy Laboda
1) does not have an entry at Wikipedia.
2. Is profiled at Women in Aviation International: http://www.wai.org/board/laboda_amy.cfm
Amy began pilot lessons at age 15. She soloed at 16 and earned her private pilot certificate two days after her seventeenth birthday. She continued flying while earning a Liberal Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York; by the time she graduated she was an instrument-rated commercial pilot and before the year was out she had earned her instructor's rating.

She's had a variety of careers in the aviation fields, and is currently head of Marketing Arts, and does freelance editing for magazines such as: Flight Training, Dive Training and AOPA Pilot. She is also editor of Aviation For Women magazine.

She's married, has two kids, and along with her hubby is an avid scuba diver.

She wrote a series of articles on her attempt, with her husband, to build a kit plane:
http://www.sbwire.com/news/view/22601
and gave a talk about it at LoPresti (Vero Beach, Florida) on November 1, 2008.

http://www.buildaplane.org/ (Unfortunately and as usual, looks like all the participants are male. C'mon, girls!)

Check out some articles she's written:
http://www.avweb.com/blogs/insider/AVwebInsiderBlog_RealCostOfFlying_198508-1.html: The Real Cost of Flying

Christmas gifts for aviation enthusiasts

I'll be putting together an article for Winged Victory: Women in Aviation on web stores and museums that feature women-centric items for the female aviator - although for many things, such as posters of WASP, guys should be perfectly happy getting those items, too.

But I think it's important to support organizations supporting women in aviation, and encourage the younger generations to get wings themselves.

So, first I'll deal with businesses that cater to women pilots, then I'll list museums and such that do so.

1. Powderpuffpilot.com
A desk calendar, each day with a note on women's aviation history
A pilot's journal, pink cover with the powder puff logo
Various clothing such as vests and t-shirts. No baseball caps, though
Children's book featuring a female teddy bear illustrating the pilot's alphabet
Scarf with logo
Headsets, white or pink, from Softcom

2. Abingdon watches
They offer two watches, specifically designed for women: the Jackie (for Jackie Cochran) and the Amelia (for Amelia Peabody).

3. Women Fly
They sell ballcaps, with the Women Fly logo, and lots of T-shirts, with photos of famous women pilots on them:
Amelia Earhart, Jackie Cochran, Patty Wagstaff, Bessie Coleman, Nancy Harkness Love, Fay Gillis Wells, Harriet Quimby, the WASP, Jerrie Cobb, Beryl Markham, Libby Gardner, Willa Brown Chappell, Gladys Roy and Wally Funk.

4. Flight Training Camp for Girls
Now this is what I'm talking about! Get your girl some flying lessons!

Judith Resnik

This blog sponsored by Winged Victory: Women in Aviation website.

There are several tributes at YouTube to the several heroes who died during the space shuttle tragedies.




Astronaut Judith Resnik (April 5, 1949 – January 28, 1986) was an American engineer and astronaut who was killed in the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger during the launch of mission STS-51-L.

Wikipedia:
Resnik was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. She had one brother, Charles, who was four years younger. Her parents were Marvin, an optometrist, and Sara Resnik.

She attended Fairlawn Elementary School (renamed in her honor after her death), and graduated from Firestone High School, where she excelled in math and played classical piano. She achieved a perfect SAT score and was the lone female to do so that year.

Resnik earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in 1970. She married fellow student Michael Oldak in that year. They divorced in 1974 because Michael wanted children; Judith wanted to focus on her career.

After graduating from Carnegie Mellon, she was employed at RCA as a design engineer, and later worked with various NASA projects contracted to the company.

She earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1977 at the University of Maryland.

While working toward her doctorate, Resnik was affiliated with the National Institutes of Health as a biomedical engineer. Later, she was a systems engineer with Xerox Corporation.

She was selected for the astronaut program in January 1978, serving as a mission specialist on the maiden voyage of Discovery, from August to September 1984. She was also a mission specialist aboard Challenger for STS-51-L.

Legacy
Resnik crater, located within the Apollo impact basin on the far side of the Moon, was named in her honor, as is a dormitory at Carnegie Mellon. There is a statue commemorating her on the grounds. The school library at Firestone High School, Resnik's high school alma mater, was also named after her.

Fairlawn Elementary School was renamed Judith A. Resnik Community Learning Center when it reopened in December 2006. There is also an elementary school in Gaithersburg, Maryland named in her honor, which opened in 1992. Judy Resnik Drive, a street in Randolph, NJ was also named after Resnik.

She was portrayed by Julie Fulton in the 1990 TV movie Challenger.

Biographical data from the NASA website:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/resnik.html

http://www.challenger.org/: Learning center for students, honoring the fallen heros of the Challenger space shuttle.

In memorium: The Crew of the Challenger during flight STS-51-L:
Gregory Jarvis
Ronald McNair
Christa McAuliffe
Ellison Onizuka
Michael J. Smith
Dick Scobee
Judith Resnik

Mary Rawlinson Creason

Information about her on the web:

Her sister, Mabel Rawlinson, was a WASP.

1) Profile at the MDot Department of Transportation website
http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9620_11154_41535-143071--,00.html

Mary Rawlinson Creason joined the Aeronautics Bureau, then part of the Michigan Department of State Highways, in 1977, and became the first woman pilot in state government. She earned her private pilot's license in 1943 while a student at Western Michigan University.

See link for complete article

Profiled at the WMU Alumni Association (Western Michigan University) website:
http://www.wmich.edu/alumni/awards/distinguished-alumni/recipients/1990-1999/creason.html

Michagan 99 Flyers
http://www.mich99s.org/newsletter.dec06.pdf

Make*Believe TV: Wings of their Own Documentary (a 99-minute video. The 99's, get it? ; )
http://www.makebelievetv.com/images/Wingshtml008.htm

Commercial websites for women pilots

Came across this website which has a desk calendar featuring dates in women's aviation. That's a calendar I've been searching for for a long time, indeed, if I had had the financial wherewithal myself I would have made one meself and put it on the market.

Anyway, they beat me to it, and I ordered it today. I'll report on it when I get it, but if you know of anyone interested in aviation, (female or otherwise!) send 'em this as a Christmas gift!

http://powderpuffpilot.com/

They also have clothing - t-shirts, fleecy vests, a logbook (pink, with the powderpuff logo on the front), and Softcomm headsets.