Female Pilot Kicks Passenger Off Plane For Sexist Remarks

From Huffington Post: Female Pilot Kicks Passenger Off Plane For Sexist Remarks
SAO PAULO -- A Brazilian airline says one of its female pilots tossed a passenger off a flight because he was making sexist comments about women flying planes.

Trip Airlines says in a Tuesday statement the pilot ejected the man before takeoff as he made loud, sexist comments upon learning the pilot was a woman. The jet continued on to the state of Goias after a one-hour delay.

The passenger involved in Friday's incident has not been identified. He was met by police at the plane and escorted out of the Belo Horizonte airport. Police at the airport have not responded to calls and it isn't known if the man has been charged with anything.

Trip says it won't tolerate disparaging remarks made about any of the 1,400 women working for the airline.

RIch Archbold: Senior plans next birthday feat

From Contra Costa Times: Rich Archbold: Senior plans next birthday feat
Don't tell Mary Thoits she can't do something.

The next thing you know she will just turn around and do it.

Like when her older brother told her that girls shouldn't drive cars. So Thoits, just 16, said the heck with cars; she instead rode her bike to the airport in Grand Rapids, Mich., took flying lessons and started flying planes.

Or, just a few years later, when she was 85 and had a crazy idea to jump out of a plane over Lake Elsinore to celebrate her birthday. Friends questioned her sanity. But she did it anyway and loved it.

But that's just Thoits, now 88, living life with gusto and inspiring others to do just the same - although maybe not jumping out of planes as an octogenarian.

Her philosophy is that you shouldn't stop learning as you grow older.

"Your mind doesn't age," she said. "You should say, `How old would I be if my mind didn't know how old I was?"'

As director of the popular Senior Studies Program at Long Beach City College for more than 30 years, Thoits has enriched the lives of thousands of older citizens.

She teaches a world affairs class with aplomb and humor. Last week she had seniors pass a ball among themselves like a hot potato while Lucy Daggett, the LBCC tour director and professional singer, sang. When Daggett stopped singing, whoever had the ball had to imagine that she was an Iranian and discuss global issues from an Iranian point of view.

Thoits also likes to dress up in costumes to bring history to life. Some of her favorite characters include Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross; Edith Wilson, wife of President Woodrow Wilson; and the Pope.

"I'm just a ham," she says with an impish grin. "But the students get more out of the class."

Thoits is now embarking on perhaps her most ambitious project in many years at LBCC. She wants to create a program in which seniors and baby boomers can improve the health of their brains to fight memory loss and improve reaction time, such as when driving a car.

"Our society has been concentrating too much on our bodies, on outward appearances," Thoits said. "It's important to be physically fit, but it's just as important, maybe more so, to work on our minds. That's what we are as people. Studies show that we don't fully use the power in our brain. My vision is to develop programs that develop that brain power."

Thoits has been working with consultant Lorraine Wicks, former director of the Senior Education Center in North Orange County, to see what would work best for LBCC. Thoits said one program conducted by Wicks elsewhere produced some remarkable changes in the lives of seniors, including improved reaction time while driving, better information retention, more confidence in using electronic gadgets and a more positive outlook on life.

Like everything else, these programs cost money. Thoits is working with a task force to focus on specific classes with costs to determine the feasibility of moving forward. She hopes to start the program by early fall.

"People are worried about losing their memory. Comedians make fun of older people and their driving. But this is not a joke," Thoits said. "In this age of information overload, I think there are ways to stimulate the brain other than sitting in front of a TV. We need a balance in our lives."

Thoits is a believer in the science of meditation and has given a class in "Four Ways to Stay Out of a Straitjacket: Exercise, Humor, Visualization and Meditation."

"Meditation is a way to quiet the mind and search for answers as to why we're on Earth," she said.

Thoits started her search during World War II when she joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS), flying military aircraft to the East Coast for transport overseas.

In the early 1940s she went to DePauw University in Indiana and majored in art.

"The professor said I couldn't draw, but I could write, so I switched my major to English literature," she said. "I spent some time then in Durham University in northern England where I had an epiphany. I had been sort of a rebel and wasn't focused on education. At Durham a professor wrote on one of my papers that I should stop just parroting back what I thought he wanted to hear and that I should start thinking for myself. That was a great discovery."

Thoits also spent some time at the Sorbonne before working 13 years in Germany and two in Korea organizing social events for military personnel. Lured by the ocean and education, she earned a master's degree in public administration from Cal State Long Beach.

She was looking for a job and accidentally ran into Beverly O'Neill, then dean of student affairs at LBCC, who asked Thoits to take over the moribund Senior Center that held passive events such as card-playing and bingo.

"There's nothing wrong with cards and bingo," Thoits said. "But I discovered that many of the seniors wanted to do more with their time."

She said the Senior Center aims all of its programs at developing learning by stimulating curiosity through classes, seminars, tours, music and art.

"Curiosity keeps you young," she said.

When she was approaching her 85th birthday, Thoits had another epiphany: "A lot of people start worrying too much as they get older. I wanted to start making memories for myself, but I also wanted to let people know that if I could do these things, they could too and make a difference in their lives."

So was born the parachute jumping three years ago. At 86, Thoits went parasailing over San Diego ("A little too passive," she said, laughing); at 87, she flew a Cessna over Catalina Island and landed it at Long Beach Airport ("I hadn't landed a plane in 50 years. Lord, help us," she said. "The landing was a little hard, but I did it); at 88, she did some crewing on a dragon boat.

She turns 89 on June 3 and hasn't decided what to do yet. "I just want to make it memorable," she said.

Thoits perhaps is looking beyond 89 a little to next year when she turns 90. That should be a doozy of a birthday. If you have any ideas for Thoits on her birthday celebrations or her brain development plans, you can reach her at the LBCC Pacific Coast Campus, 1305 E. Pacific Coast Highway, 562-938-3407, or email mthoits@lbcc.edu.

PR: Synergy Aircraft Project Launches Funding Drive on Kickstarter.com

Press Release

Synergy home page: www.synergyaircraft.com

Synergy Aircraft on Facebook (all regular updates): www.facebook.com/pages/Synergy-Aircraft/112353422181543

Grassroots support prompts new guidelines at trendy crowd-funding site.

Kalispell, MT, May 16, 2012: Since its unveiling last year, John McGinnis' award-winning1 Synergy aircraft project has garnered a lot of critical attention for its advanced aerodynamics, but its sexy looks and prototype flyby videos certainly don't hurt the pitch: major fuel savings and a modern passenger experience.

Looking something like a futuristic cross between a sailplane and a fighter jet, the boldly different five-seat aircraft promises a quieter, more comfortable ride, along with greater performance and efficiency. Curb appeal aside, there's an old quip among aviators; their response to the technical question of what really makes an airplane fly: “money.”

A Kickstarter.com fan himself, McGinnis prepared a project submission and was met with a terse “not the best fit for Kickstarter, as it does not fit our creative arts focus.” In response, several followers formed Friends of Synergy, a direct-to-project funding drive modeled on the Kickstarter rewards, which quickly raised over $5000. Others began typing emails and blog entries.

“We're not sure what happened,” McGinnis said, “but just after we gave up hope, we got an email from Kickstarter’s Callan Lamb: “I wanted to reach out and let you know that we've reconsidered your project submission.”

McGinnis said, “We're ecstatic that Kickstarter will now help. Though this Synergy Kickstarter project's initial goal of $65,000 is just ‘life support’ for the engine and landing gear installation phase of a much larger completion effort, we’re happy to receive this opportunity at this crucial time.” Many timely projects receive an outpouring of enthusiasm from backers, which is part of the appeal of the crowdfunding model, McGinnis said.

The Synergy Project bears a resemblance to other breakthrough efforts of modern memory, like the Gossamer Condor and Gossamer Albatross projects of Dr. Paul MacCready in the 70s, and the Rutan Voyager project in the 80's, which were accomplished almost entirely through volunteer efforts.

A credentialed lineup of test pilots, engineers and scientists, including thousands who follow the kit aircraft movement, are likewise following the project closely, many lending their time and expertise to the project at no charge. Several have traveled to Montana to help out personally, as the regular updates that appear on the project Facebook page have shown.

McGinnis and his growing team are much more confident in the aeronautical work than in the mood swings of the economy. Fickle or not, the project is counting on a major response from their resurrected Kickstarter campaign. “I think this could be huge,” McGinnis says. “Ordinary people get it.”

International Women's Air & Space Museum Remembers Life Trustee Evelyn Bryan Johnson!

I am subscribed to the International Women's Air & Space Museum newsletter, and received this today. Thought I'd share it here:

IWASM would like to express our deepest condolences to the family of Evelyn Bryan Johnson. An IWASM member since 1991, Evelyn was truly an amazing person and an inspiration to all she met. Never giving up and never giving in, she logged over 57,000 flight hours (making her the highest-time female pilot), administered thousands of checkrides and managed an airport for decades. She has received numerous awards and accolades for her flying contributions. Evelyn passed away May 10th at age 102. Known as "Mama Bird," she touched a lot of lives and all were better because of her. We valued her committment, her enthusiasm and her knowledge and she will be missed. Evelyn Bryan Johnson will be buried at Jefferson Memorial Gardens in Jefferson City, Tennessee.

This is her biography from Wikipedia:
Evelyn Bryan Johnson (November 4, 1909 – May 10, 2012), nicknamed “Mama Bird”, was the female pilot with the most number of flying hours in the world. She was a Colonel in the Civil Air Patrol and a founding member of the Morristown, TN Civil Air Patrol squadron.

Johnson was born Evelyn Stone in Corbin, Kentucky. She was a graduate of Tennessee Wesleyan College. As a young woman she taught school in Etowah, Tennessee. Later she attended the University of Tennessee.

She married Wyatt Jennings "W.J." Bryan and learned to fly in 1944, while he was serving in the Army Air Corps and the couple was living in Jefferson City, Tennessee.[3] She logged 57,635.4 flying hours, and was the oldest flight instructor in the world. She trained more pilots and gave more FAA exams than any other pilot. She was named in the Guinness Book of World Records as having the most flying hours of any woman and the most of any living person.[4] Johnson was an inductee of the Women in Aviation Pioneers Hall of Fame, the Tennessee and Kentucky aviation halls of fame and others. She was awarded a bronze Carnegie Medal for rescuing a helicopter pilot after he crashed.

She became manager of the Moore-Murrell Airport in Morristown, Tennessee, in 1953. Although she stopped flying at the age of 96, as of 2010, at age 101, she continued to serve as airport manager.

Evelyn’s first husband, W. J. Bryan, died on November 11, 1963. In 1965 she married Morgan Johnson, who died in 1977.

On July 21, 2007, Johnson was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio. alongside astronaut Sally Ride and adventurer Steve Fossett, among others. The induction was her sixth such honor.

Johnson was in a car accident on September 10, 2006, after which one of her legs had to be amputated.

Johnson's scrapbooks, memorabilia, and other papers from the period 1930 to 2002 are housed in the Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University.

Death
On May 10, 2012, Johnson died at the age of 102.

References
1. ^ a b "Aviation legend Evelyn Bryan Johnson dies at 102". Knoxville News Sentinel. May 11, 2012. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/may/11/aviation-legend-evelyn-bryan-johnson-dies-102/. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
2. ^ Ericka Mellon (July 29, 2004), "Aeronautics program makes spirits soar", Knoxville News Sentinel, http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/may/11/aeronautics-program-makes-spirits-soar/
3. ^ Joe Godfrey (September 29, 1999). "Evelyn Bryan Johnson". AVweb.
4. ^ a b c Ham, Abby (November 24, 2010), Your Stories: Mama Bird Evelyn Johnson, Knoxville, Tennessee: WBIR-TV, http://www.wbir.com/dontmiss/144319/207/Your-Stories-Mama-Bird-Evelyn-Johnson
5. ^ a b Johnson, Brianne, Finding Aid for Evelyn Bryan Johnson Papers, 1930-2002, http://archives.etsu.edu/?p=collections/findingaid&id=406&q=&rootcontentid=34899
6. ^ National Aviation Hall of Fame biography for Evelyn Johnson

Pilot won top-flight status for WASP

From JSOnline: Pilot won top-flight status for WASP
Aviation pioneer Bernice "Bee" Falk Haydu, 91, of New Jersey was part of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. She helped spearhead the effort for women to achieve veteran status in 1977. We caught up with her before she gave a speech to the women's organization Professional Dimensions at the Wisconsin Club.

Q. Did anyone ever tell you that a woman couldn't fly and what was your response?

A. No one ever told me that . . . I was one of the fortunate ones, although some of the women had been told that.

Q. Why did you join the WASP and how great a leap was that in your life?

A. I was a secretary because I was a Depression kid and I had a brother who was 11 months older. When it came college time, there just wasn't enough money for me. So I was very sad about that and decided to stop feeling sorry for (myself) after being in the working world for five years, and decided to take night courses (in aviation).

Q. What did you like about flying?

A. I liked being up there and looking down and the freedom and all your cares go away. It's a free feeling.

Q. What was your greatest accomplishment in the WASP?

A. I can't say that I had a great accomplishment in the WASP other than doing my duties. I like to think that what I did in 1977 was an accomplishment. I was the president of the organization (Order of Fifinella) and it was at that time that we were fighting for the recognition that had been promised us when we signed to become a WASP. We were told we would be taken into the Army Air Corps and we were unceremoniously disbanded Dec. 20, 1944. And as the president, I helped to organize, with the help of Bruce Arnold (General Hap Arnold's son), the battle of Washington, D.C. And we were finally recognized as veterans of World War II, which, as I said, we had been promised.

Q. When the WASP disbanded in 1944, you had to pay your way home. How did you get back into aviation?

A. We knew ahead of time that we were going to be disbanded. I wrote to many different organizations, flight schools, to try to get some kind of a job even with the airlines and heard no said in so many different ways. (I) decided that if I was going to stay in aviation, I would have to do something on my own. So I went back home in New Jersey, got my instructor's rating, I did freelance ferrying of aircraft around the country, then I started a ferrying business . . . bringing aircraft into the New York metropolitan area. That led to my getting a Cessna dealership and that led to my becoming part owner of a flight school. And in between there somewhere I met my husband (Joe) and we got married. He had been a pilot. We flew for our own pleasure after that . . . My husband and I stopped flying in our late '70s.

Q. When you speak to children, young boys, young girls, what is it that you try to tell them?

A. I try to tell them to persevere in anything that they really want to do, provided it's not robbing a bank. They have to expect that there are going to be pitfalls and there are going to be times when they're discouraged, but just hang in there and you'll succeed.

Sweetwater's WASP Museum opposes its proposed neighbor: a county jail

From Reporter News: Sweetwater's WASP Museum opposes its proposed neighbor: a county jail
The National Women Airforce Service Pilots Museum sits on a pristine piece of land on the western edge of Sweetwater.

The museum is a simple metal hangar surrounded by plenty of flat, open spaces, with billowing grass and minor brush. Except for a nearby VFW post, the WASP occupies its own little world, celebrating the wartime efforts of an all-female organization of pilots that operated from 1942 to 1944.

But would a new county jail and sheriff's office across the street upset this pleasant image? That's the conversation currently unfolding between WASP Museum leaders and members of the Nolan County government.

Everyone involved agrees a new jail is needed. The current model, a 54-bed unit that occupies the second floor of the Nolan County Courthouse, is antiquated. It's been there since the courthouse's construction in 1977. It lacks adequate facilities for female inmates, as well as properly equipped isolation cells.

As a result, the jail has had to ship out inmates to other county jails and still foot the bill for their stays. Moreover, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards has been hounding Nolan County to upgrade its facilities for years now, saying the current model couldn't pass its inspections.

Sharron Davis, director of the WASP Museum, respects the urgency and importance of the matter. But her complaint is that of all the land surrounding Sweetwater, why did county commissioners have to choose the real estate right next to one of the city's top historic and cultural sites for a new jail?

"A jail would detract from the story of American greatness that we're telling," Davis said. "This is a beautiful venue, with wide open West Texas skies. ... That all would be diminished somewhat by a new law enforcement facility, no matter how nice."

WASP directors weren't consulted about the proposed site, but Nolan County Judge Tim Fambrough and County Commissioner Terry Willman say that's because they never imagined the location would be contentious.

"We never saw any possibility of harm to the museum," Fambrough said. "We've lived with (the jail) here at the courthouse for 35 years."

Willman says he has discussed the matter at length with Davis since then.

"I showed her some of the plans, what the facade would look like," Willman said. "It's not going to be like the prisons you see on TV, with razor wire and guys outside lifting weights. It's a county jail — the inmates are going to be inside all the time."

While Nolan County considered alternative sites, none of them quite matched the convenience of the plot of land located on Avenger Field Road. The same qualities that have made the WASP's location such a nice place apply here, too: easy access to Interstate 20 and downtown Sweetwater, a flat and clear topography, and nearby electricity and sewage lines. Other sites would require costly utility upgrades and other less than convenient sacrifices.

Fambrough expects the topic to come up for discussion at upcoming County Commissioners meetings, perhaps as early as this morning's 9 a.m. session. Like Willman, he's amenable to talking the matter through with the WASP — he's served on the museum's board, in fact.

The new jail, which will feature an expanded 96 beds, currently is in the design phase, meaning there's theoretically still a chance to change its location. Price estimates on the facility's cost range up to $11 million.

All of this back-and-forth comes just before groundbreaking for the WASP Museum's expansion project. An official ceremony May 26 will unveil plans to add an entire building to the museum's existing hangar, including a theater, additional displays and a museum store.

The new building will be climate controlled, allowing for more sensitive historical items to go up on display.

Davis said the museum is seeking to raise $4 million to fund the project, with a goal to complete construction by the end of 2013.

Funded through private donations (including several by former WASP members), the museum features a glimpse into a little-known unit of civilian women who flew military aircraft during World War II amid a near crippling shortage of male pilots. Sweetwater's Avenger Field was a training site for WASP pilots.

To learn about the museum and the women it celebrates, visit waspmuseum.org

World War II Kittyhawk fighter found in Sahara, shedding light on pilot's fate

From MSNBC World News: World War II Kittyhawk fighter found in Sahara, shedding light on pilot's fate
A remarkably well-preserved fighter plane that crashed in the Sahara Desert during World War II has been found 70 years later, shedding new light on the pilot's struggle to survive.

The American-made Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk was discovered by a Polish oil worker, Jakub Perka, who was exploring the desert in Egypt, The Telegraph newspaper reported. It was about 200 miles from the nearest town.

It is believed that the pilot, Dennis Copping, 24, ran into trouble while flying in 1942, but still managed to land the plane on the sands, the paper said.

Military historian Andy Saunders said that the British flight sergeant "must have survived the crash" because a photograph of the plane showed a parachute had been put up on the side of the plane, apparently as a form of shelter, The Telegraph reported.

"The radio and batteries were out of the plane and it looks like he tried to get it working. If he died at the side of the plane his remains would have been found," Saunders added. "Once he had crashed there, nobody was going to come and get him. It is more likely he tried to walk out of the desert, but ended up walking to his death. It is too hideous to contemplate."

He said the discovery was "the aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb."

Air enthusiasts excited
The Vintage Wings of Canada website speculated that the plane had a mechanical problem, ran out of fuel or that the pilot simply got lost.

The website said there seemed to be a growing consensus that the plane's serial number was ET 574, based on what could be made out from photographs. If this is confirmed, the website said it was possible that Canadian flying ace James "Stocky" Edwards had previously flown the fighter.

The plane's cockpit is in remarkable though dusty condition.

"To say we, at Vintage Wings, are excited by this find in an understatement," the website said.

It expressed concern the plane had been "seriously vandalized -- a travesty the whole aviation world seems unable to stop."

Michael Creane, of the Royal Air Force Museum in London, U.K., told NBC News that it was "incredible" the plane had not been submerged by the shifting sands of the desert.

He said they were "hell bent" on bringing the aircraft to the museum, although he said there were "lots of hoops to jump through."