Here's a press release from http://FlyingMusicians.org for the First-Ever Fly-In Musicfest
National Event Brings “Stimulus” Home to Spinks Airport, Fort Worth / Burleson
Fort Worth, Texas: The Flying Musicians Association's first major event, the Fort Worth Spinks Fly-In Musicfest on November 7, 2009, is shaping up to be a fun and spirited economic stimulus for the Fort Worth / Burleson area.
Flying Musicians from around the country will showcase live music on two stages. National names as well as local talent (from pros to talented schoolkids) will provide nonstop entertainment. The Fort Worth Songwriters Association will be running two jamming tents where impromptu jams will take place throughout the day, so bring your instrument or your voice! And plan on watching -- or even participating in -- a Native American Flute and Drum Circle.
It’s an aviation theme – how could it be otherwise? – so there will also be excitement in the skies, as well: Aircraft flying, aircraft to look at, photograph, and sometimes climb into, and aircraft rides will be available. The John L. Terry Heritage Foundation will have their WWII-era B-25 Mitchell bomber, Pacific Prowler, and the C47 Dakota (known to civilians as a DC-3) Southern Cross, on the ramp for tours and flights all weekend.
The local Experimental Aviation Association Chapters will be giving free rides to kids (ages 8 through 17) on a first-come basis as part of their Young Eagles program, which has already introduced well over a million kids to flight. There will be vendors, food, aviation seminars, and music for the whole family.
A special guest, Ravi the Aviator (who is also a flying musician) will give his presentation “Making General Aviation Sexy” which he presented at the big Sun ‘n Fun and AirVenture airshows (and which he will be presenting in Florida at the AOPA Summit convention in October). Ravi might even play a few tunes for us as well!
Spellbinding Florida-based author Denis Murphy, who wrote the true thriller, PAN, PAN, PAN: A Survival Story, will be talking with us and signing copies of this book.
If you’re already hooked on aviation, Judy Tarver with FltOps will tell how to land an airline job.
And don't leave early! Fireworks will erupt as the final act performs.
Fort Worth is a destination all in herself: Fly or drive in on Friday and visit the historic Fort Worth Stockyards, the Texas Motor Speedway, the Bass Performance Hall, the Fort Worth Zoo, the Botanical Gardens, the fabulous museums, and resplendent downtown area. Visit www.fortworth.com for more information. Stay at one of the three hotels within walking distance of the airport and dine at the numerous restaurants. Enjoy the event on Saturday, relax with music and fireworks on Saturday night, then have a relaxing trip home on Sunday.
The Flying Musicians Association, Inc. was formed in 2009 by blending two passions, flying and music. Founded by two pilot/musicians, John Zapp and Aileen Hummel who have made it their quest to encourage, promote, educate and support these two passions, and especially to encourage adventure, awe, and experience through flying and music, generating and fostering the yearning for both amongst young people.
To join please visit http://FlyingMusicians.org.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
WASP Maggie Gee awarded Congressional Gold Medal
The Contra Costa Times had an article on Maggie Gee on September 11, 2009.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/columns/ci_13318138?nclick_check=1:
Maggie Gee is "small, soft-spoken," an 86-year-old woman who lives in Berkeley.
"You would have no idea from meeting Maggie that she's the powerhouse that she is," said Berkeley Councilmember Susan Wengraf. "She's had an extraordinary lifetime adventure."
Maggie worked as a shipyard welder and draftsman at the outset of World War II, learned to fly a plane when she was 18, earned degrees in physics and mathematics at UC Berkeley, lived four years in Europe and worked for nearly three decades as an accomplished physicist at Livermore Lab.
She received the Congressional Gold Medal as a member of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, who served in World War II.
Gee was one of only two Chinese-Americans to qualify.
"When I was growing up," she said, "my heroes were Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh. I loved to watch airplanes fly."
Female pilots were [relatively] rare in 1941, when Gee, a Berkeley native, used her earnings as a draftsman at Mare Island Naval Shipyard to pay for flying lessons in Nevada. ("With the war going on, private planes weren't allowed to fly within 150 miles of the West Coast," she explained of the location.)
The WASPs were recruiting there, and Gee recognized opportunity when it beckoned.
"There were only about 1,100 of us chosen out of 25,000 who applied," she said. "It was an exceptional group of women. We all got the same training as the men."
Even if some of the men were less than supportive.
[Hazel Ying Lee was the other Chinese-American accepted to the WASP. She was one of the 38 who made the ultimate sacrifice for her country.
http://www.asianweek.com/2009/08/28/chinese-american-heroine-hazel-ying-lee/]
Gee's story is recounted in a children's book, "Sky High: The True Story of Maggie Gee," by Marissa Moss, recently published by Berkeley-based Tricycle Press.
"Everything has to be drawn out of her," author Moss said. "She's reluctant to talk about any negative experience — when she was growing up in Berkeley, she wasn't allowed to swim in the public pool because she was Chinese-American. I had to pry to get her to admit any of the discrimination she faced from male pilots."
Gee still is hesitant to embellish.
"Some of the men weren't sure we were ready for this," she said. "Women wouldn't put up with that now, but that was a different time."
The WASPs flew domestic, noncombat assignments, often ferrying planes to destinations where they were needed, but that didn't make them immune to danger. Thirty-eight were killed in the line of duty.
Gee primarily flew training planes, instructing male pilots in instrument flying and co-piloting a B-17 bomber in simulated dogfights. And then, almost as quickly as opportunity had arrived, it vanished. The WASPs were disbanded in 1944.
Gee said she didn't fly again. With male pilots returning from the war, there were few job opportunities for women, but she has no regrets.
"Flying was something I did," she said, "and then I moved on."
Her focus today is political activism. Her passion is social progress.
The Berkeley City Council designated Aug. 30 as Maggie Gee Day, an eight-paragraph proclamation touched on her breadth of civic activities.
Between the first "whereas" and the closing "therefore," Gee was applauded as "an icon of public service" for serving on the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee, the 1992 Democratic Party Platform Committee and the California State Democratic Executive Board. She was recognized as a past Berkeley Public Works Commissioner, housing advisory commissioner and board member of the Berkeley Community Fund.
Wengraf presented the proclamation at Gee's 86th birthday party, along with a congratulatory note from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and an American flag that had flown over the Capitol.
http://www.chineseamericanheroes.org/why/bio_pop_home.asp?bid=240000058&t=heroes
http://www.contracostatimes.com/columns/ci_13318138?nclick_check=1:
Maggie Gee is "small, soft-spoken," an 86-year-old woman who lives in Berkeley.
"You would have no idea from meeting Maggie that she's the powerhouse that she is," said Berkeley Councilmember Susan Wengraf. "She's had an extraordinary lifetime adventure."
Maggie worked as a shipyard welder and draftsman at the outset of World War II, learned to fly a plane when she was 18, earned degrees in physics and mathematics at UC Berkeley, lived four years in Europe and worked for nearly three decades as an accomplished physicist at Livermore Lab.
She received the Congressional Gold Medal as a member of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, who served in World War II.
Gee was one of only two Chinese-Americans to qualify.
"When I was growing up," she said, "my heroes were Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh. I loved to watch airplanes fly."
Female pilots were [relatively] rare in 1941, when Gee, a Berkeley native, used her earnings as a draftsman at Mare Island Naval Shipyard to pay for flying lessons in Nevada. ("With the war going on, private planes weren't allowed to fly within 150 miles of the West Coast," she explained of the location.)
The WASPs were recruiting there, and Gee recognized opportunity when it beckoned.
"There were only about 1,100 of us chosen out of 25,000 who applied," she said. "It was an exceptional group of women. We all got the same training as the men."
Even if some of the men were less than supportive.
[Hazel Ying Lee was the other Chinese-American accepted to the WASP. She was one of the 38 who made the ultimate sacrifice for her country.
http://www.asianweek.com/2009/08/28/chinese-american-heroine-hazel-ying-lee/]
Gee's story is recounted in a children's book, "Sky High: The True Story of Maggie Gee," by Marissa Moss, recently published by Berkeley-based Tricycle Press.
"Everything has to be drawn out of her," author Moss said. "She's reluctant to talk about any negative experience — when she was growing up in Berkeley, she wasn't allowed to swim in the public pool because she was Chinese-American. I had to pry to get her to admit any of the discrimination she faced from male pilots."
Gee still is hesitant to embellish.
"Some of the men weren't sure we were ready for this," she said. "Women wouldn't put up with that now, but that was a different time."
The WASPs flew domestic, noncombat assignments, often ferrying planes to destinations where they were needed, but that didn't make them immune to danger. Thirty-eight were killed in the line of duty.
Gee primarily flew training planes, instructing male pilots in instrument flying and co-piloting a B-17 bomber in simulated dogfights. And then, almost as quickly as opportunity had arrived, it vanished. The WASPs were disbanded in 1944.
Gee said she didn't fly again. With male pilots returning from the war, there were few job opportunities for women, but she has no regrets.
"Flying was something I did," she said, "and then I moved on."
Her focus today is political activism. Her passion is social progress.
The Berkeley City Council designated Aug. 30 as Maggie Gee Day, an eight-paragraph proclamation touched on her breadth of civic activities.
Between the first "whereas" and the closing "therefore," Gee was applauded as "an icon of public service" for serving on the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee, the 1992 Democratic Party Platform Committee and the California State Democratic Executive Board. She was recognized as a past Berkeley Public Works Commissioner, housing advisory commissioner and board member of the Berkeley Community Fund.
Wengraf presented the proclamation at Gee's 86th birthday party, along with a congratulatory note from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and an American flag that had flown over the Capitol.
http://www.chineseamericanheroes.org/why/bio_pop_home.asp?bid=240000058&t=heroes
Friday, September 11, 2009
Pam Melroy has retired from NASA
From the Women's International Air & Space Musuem newsletter:
NASA astronaut Pam Melroy has retired from NASA effective August 7th.
She has joined Lockheed Martin.
Melroy last flew as commander of STS-120 in 2007 when there were two women commanders in space simultaneously---Melroy and Peggy Whitson on the space station. She also flew as pilot of STS-112 in 2002 and STS-92 in 2000. Melroy, a retired Air Force Colonel, was the second woman commander of the Space Shuttle after Eileen Collins.
NASA astronaut Pam Melroy has retired from NASA effective August 7th.
She has joined Lockheed Martin.
Melroy last flew as commander of STS-120 in 2007 when there were two women commanders in space simultaneously---Melroy and Peggy Whitson on the space station. She also flew as pilot of STS-112 in 2002 and STS-92 in 2000. Melroy, a retired Air Force Colonel, was the second woman commander of the Space Shuttle after Eileen Collins.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
WASP Eleanor Collins Faust flies again
A video interview from Newsday.com
http://www.newsday.com/news/former-world-war-ii-pilot-back-in-bi-plane-1.1422852
Eleanor Collins Faust, a former WASP during World War II, talks about becoming a pilot and takes a short trip in a bi-plane. Videographer: Ed Betz
Watch it. Enjoy it!
http://www.newsday.com/news/former-world-war-ii-pilot-back-in-bi-plane-1.1422852
Eleanor Collins Faust, a former WASP during World War II, talks about becoming a pilot and takes a short trip in a bi-plane. Videographer: Ed Betz
Watch it. Enjoy it!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Alaska's Women Pilots: Contemporary Portraits
Alaska's Women Pilots: Contemporary Portraits. Jenifer Fratzke. Utah State University Press. 2004.
Author Jenifer Fratzke doesn't give a precise date, but I assume its 2004: According to the FAA, there are 8,711 pilots in Alaska, 639 of wom are women.
I'll be reviewing this book at Winged Victory shortly.
Commercial pilot: Tamar Bailey
Flight Instructor: Noralie Jennings-Voigt
Big Game Guide and Bush Pilot: Ellie Jones-Elg
Private Pilot: SAnna Green
Helicopter Pilot: Caroline Lachmann-Spivak
Aerobatic Pilot: Darlene Dubay
Aviation SAfety Inspector: Val Aron Jokela
Author Jenifer Fratzke doesn't give a precise date, but I assume its 2004: According to the FAA, there are 8,711 pilots in Alaska, 639 of wom are women.
I'll be reviewing this book at Winged Victory shortly.
Commercial pilot: Tamar Bailey
Flight Instructor: Noralie Jennings-Voigt
Big Game Guide and Bush Pilot: Ellie Jones-Elg
Private Pilot: SAnna Green
Helicopter Pilot: Caroline Lachmann-Spivak
Aerobatic Pilot: Darlene Dubay
Aviation SAfety Inspector: Val Aron Jokela
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Planes vs cars at the airport on the Rock of Gibraltar
The only airport, I think, where drivers would't be trying to "beat a train," but rather a plane.
Click on each photo for larger size.
Click on each photo for larger size.
WASP interviewed today in San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune has published a cover story today featuring interviews with two WASP of World War II Joyce: Sherwood Secciani and Vivian Eddy, (as well as Amy Goodpaster Strebe, the author of Flying for Her Country: The American and Soviet Women Military Pilots of World War II.
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/aug/30/winged-victory/?features&zIndex=157507
See link for complete article.
And check out the various books on the WASP (perfect role models for today's girls and women. Give them a flight plan!:
And let's not forget that African American women pilots would have loved to serve their country as well, but integration would not occur until the 1950s...
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/aug/30/winged-victory/?features&zIndex=157507
For Joyce Secciani, who used to dream about flying, it was as if it was in their blood. And being part of the WASP during World War ll was an ideal way for them to do what they loved most. (Laura Embry / Union-Tribune) - For Vivian Eddy, who used to dream about flying, it was as if it was in their blood. And being part of the WASP during World War ll was an ideal way for them to do what they loved most.
Joyce Secciani also expressed her love of flying through her art talent, sculpting and bronzing wooden figurines of a WASP pilot.
At 88, Vivian Eddy still rails loudly about the disbanding of the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots). It was a program through which she and more than 1,000 other women made a lasting if little-mentioned mark on World War II and U.S. combat aviation.
“I thought it was the nastiest thing they (Army Air Forces officials) could have done to us,” Eddy says while receiving visitors at her home in Coronado. “They fired us. They gave our jobs to Air Force men who didn't want to go overseas. I would have gone overseas in a minute — I was a (heck of) a good fighter pilot.”
See link for complete article.
And check out the various books on the WASP (perfect role models for today's girls and women. Give them a flight plan!:
And let's not forget that African American women pilots would have loved to serve their country as well, but integration would not occur until the 1950s...
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