Countdown to WomenVenture 2012

From Women in Aviation website: Countdown to WomenVenture 2012

What began as a one-time program in 2008 has now become a tradition at EAA AirVenture. WomenVenture is a means to gather like-minded women during AirVenture, exchange information, do some hangar talking, and informally match mentors with mentees.

“WomenVenture has done an incredible job of increasing the visibility of women in Oshkosh,” says WAI President Dr. Peggy Chabrian. “We provide a means for women to inspire each other, to have their questions answered and to network in the relaxed atmosphere of AirVenture.”

WomenVenture 2012 officially begins on Friday, July 29, when Women in Aviation, International will hold its annual Connect Breakfast for members and their friends, again sponsored by DTC Duat, in the Nature Center Pavilion with special guests including a contingent of WASP and Deborah Hersman, NTSB Chair. For more information or tickets, please visit www.wai.org  call WAI headquarters at 937-839-4647 or stop by our booth in Hangar B-2041.

After the Connect Breakfast, at 10:30 a.m., the annual group photo of female pilots, including student pilots, will take place in ConocoPhillips Plaza.

"We think the group photo is the best photo op at AirVenture, but I know we’re biased,” says Dr. Chabrian. "There’s such excitement as we gather hundreds of women all in their WomenVenture t-shirts each year. Their enthusiasm is infectious.”

In addition, Dr. Chabrian will host a daily radio program on EAA Radio. Confirmed guests include Debra Hersman, Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board; Debby-Rihn Harvey, Southwest Airlines pilot, aerobatic champion and chair of the EAA’s Women Soar You Soar program; Bee Haydu, WASP; and Audra Hoy, granddaughter of Paul and Audrey Poberezny.

Women in Aviation, International is a nonprofit 501(C)(3) organization dedicated to providing networking, mentoring and scholarship opportunities for women and men who are striving for challenging and fulfilling careers in the aviation and aerospace industries. For more information, contact WAI at 3647 State Route 503 South, West Alexandria, OH 45381, Phone (937) 839-4647; Fax (937) 839-4645 or through www.wai.org.

Local pilot gets pair of awards

From Delta Optimist:  Local pilot gets pair of awards

 

On June 23, Mireille Goyer, a Tsawwassen pilot and founder of the Women Of Aviation Worldwide Week initiative, received the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association's President Award for her dedication for introducing girls and women to flying. The award is presented to the person or persons who made an outstanding contribution to private aviation.

Lesley Page, Canada's Team Leader for Women Of Aviation Worldwide Week, accepted the award on Goyer's behalf at the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association's Annual General Meeting in Hanover, Ontario.
"It is not the eye-catching wing that makes the airplane fly; it is the invisible air flowing about the wing. I accept this award on behalf of all the people who decided that, after more than 100 years of "the door is not closed" attitude, it was time for a different approach and answered my call," said Goyer in her message to COPA's board and members.

The Ninety-Nines Inc., an international women pilots association, is also saluting Goyer's leadership and has announced that she is the recipient of the 2012 Inspiration award. This award is presented to an individual, group, organization or agency whose participation, achievements or activities has had a significant impact on The 99s, the world aviation community, or the art and science of aviation or aerospace.

Susan Parson, President of The Ninety-Nines Inc., will present this award to Goyer on July 26 during the annual Ninety-Nines's breakfast at AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Goyer's initiative, Women Of Aviation Worldwide Week, began in 2011.

Held annually during the week including March 8, which marks the anniversary of the issuance of the first female pilot license worldwide and International Women's Day, Women Of Aviation Worldwide Week aims to foster diversity in aviation by celebrating women's history, raising awareness of aviation's opportunities among girls and women, and shaping the future by introducing girls and women to aviation through industry-wide collaboration.

For more information about the Women Of Aviation Worldwide Week initiative, visit the official website, www.
WomenOfAviationWeek. org.

 

Why I Did It: Pilot JoAnne Alcorn races across the country

From IndyStar.com:  Why I Did It: Pilot JoAnne Alcorn races across the country

I was thinking about early retirement from Eli Lilly and Co., and I wanted to do something different in my life. I was 52, single and a manager in information systems. I didn't know what it was, but it had to be really different.

An advertising sheet was put in my mailbox for a company offering flying lessons. I said, "That's it. I'll learn to fly." So, I went to Eagle Creek Air Services.

I had always found flying -- airplanes or helicopters -- fascinating. But I never considered myself as the pilot. The sense of freedom and independence I felt from the very first takeoff -- I knew I had made the right decision. It was exhilarating. I took ground school, where you learn about flying techniques and the airplane.
After seven hours of instruction, the company ran out of aircraft for me to rent because so many people were renting them. I had saved some money and thought that I could buy a cabin on a lake or do something crazy like buy an airplane. I bought an almost-new Cessna 172, a four-seat, high-wing airplane, and took possession in January 1999.

Then I really started learning to fly. I could get lessons whenever I wanted.

Flying is such a delight. The world looks fresh, clean and orderly. You really see how limited you are in your view of things when you have this broad panorama in front of you.

I got my private rating in 1999. It requires written, oral and flight tests.

I retired from Lilly in 2001 and continued flying lessons. In 2004, I got my instrument rating and got my commercial license in 2009. One of the reasons I wanted to get my own plane was so I could visit my mother in Fargo, N.D., whenever I choose.

Aviation is a small community. Only 3 percent of pilots are women. Once you learn to fly, you learn about all of these little airports in places like Noblesville, Frankfort and Franklin. You meet people and you share common acquaintances. I met my husband, Steve Alcorn, at an airport in 1999. We soon married.

He is an experienced pilot and a former air-show performer who learned to fly at the age of 16.

A pilot friend, Susan Port, and I went to a Women in Aviation conference and saw an exhibit for the Air Race Classic. It's a 2,500-mile annual transcontinental air race for women. It was created by Amelia Earhart in 1929 because she wasn't allowed in the men's race.

We signed up and did our first race in 2006, and I just finished my fifth race on June 22. This year, it started at Lake Havasu in Arizona and went through New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan and finished near Cincinnati. Two female pilots are in each plane. About 100 women, ages 20 to 85, participated.

It's a scored, proficiency-type race, broken into eight or nine legs, each of which is timed. The race depends on your skills, the capability of your airplane and luck. Weather can be a big challenge.

We have four days to do the route. They release us in about 20-second intervals. In my airplane, I fly about 21/2 hours per leg. The fastest pilot gets $5,000, and other winners get prize money or a medallion. I have a charm bracelet with my medallions. The best I've done is third place in 2010.

I enjoy the camaraderie with the other women. You become friends for life. Most of us have to save money and get sponsors. The entry fee is $400, and the fuel is about $5,000. But it's worth it.

My husband, who is a mechanic and instructor, and I have a small business, Bachman Aviation, that we operate here and in Winter Haven, Fla., during the winter. We provide services and instruction and broker aircraft for people.

We'll just go exploring places by air and have fun together. I have 1,400 flying hours now. I think it keeps me younger and active. I love my life now.

 

Pakistan: Trainer plane crashes near Walton airstrip

From Daily Times: Trainer plane crashes near Walton airstrip

LAHORE: A trainer aircraft crashed in the Falcon Society on Walton Road on Thursday, but the female pilot luckily remained safe.

According to details, a trainer aircraft took off from the Walton airstrip, but crashed while landing. The pilot, Fakhrunnisa, 28, remained safe in the crash landing.

The police said the pilot miraculously remained safe despite the fact that the plane hit the ground hard, partially damaging its nose.

Police said the pilot apparently lost balance of the plane due to the wind pressure.

Wreckage of the plane could not be removed from the scene; however, officials of the Civil Aviation Authority and the Lahore Flying Club reached the scene after a short time of the incident. staff report

A bad case of jetnag? Fighter pilots to get cockpit instructions from female voice 'because it relaxes them more' (but they've already nicknamed her Nagging Nora)

From Daily Mail:  A bad case of jetnag? Fighter pilots to get cockpit instructions from female voice 'because it relaxes them more' (but they've already nicknamed her Nagging Nora)

It's long been said that some situations need a woman. 
 
And it seems even tough fighter pilots need the female touch at times.  


A study has shown they are more likely to listen and take notice to a female voice when under pressure.

So plane manufacturers BAE have decided to use a woman - with a Joanna Lumley-sounding voice - to issue recorded warnings to pilots in their state-of-the-art Typhoon jets

But the voice has already been nicknamed Nagging Nora because the longer she is ignored, the sterner and louder her commands become.


Andrea Kay, from BAE, said: ‘We have conducted studies to find out what pilots who are flying under both stressful physical and mental conditions are more receptive to.’

It turns out that, particularly in combat situations, pilots were able to pick out the female voice amid the flurry of radio chatter in stressful situations.

‘If you don’t listen, she gets harsher and louder in both tone and volume,’ she said.

The male voice has been relegated to giving straightforward information like altitude and location.
‘There is as much psychology in the cockpit as there are clever systems. A voice warning and recognition system is one way of helping the pilots,’ Ms Kay said.

‘The female voice gets the most important messages across in the most effective way.’

Sue Milne is the woman whose voice will give commands in the cockpit.

Ms Milne, who works for the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), did not have to audition but was chosen because she speaks clearly and can be understood by foreigners who speak English as a second language.

The female warning system has taken years to develop and in the test stages a Lancashire voice was used.

Ms Kay added: ‘It’s about making sure it’s intuitive and we are delivering the best information to them in the most effective way. It’s about making the aircraft the best that it can be’.
 

 

Aaron Sorkin's 'The Newsroom' Broadcasts His Backward Views On Women

Whatever happened to "You've Come a long Way, Baby?"

Not about women pilots, but a review of an HBO tv show that is utter garbage. Sadly, though, it is not an unusual state. Although I like the Big Bang Theory (at least until they added Amy Farrah Fowler and Leslie Winkle) there's no denying that there's stereotypes there as well. Penny is so stupid that she not only doesn't know what a check engine light means, but even after Sheldon explains it to her she still doesn't know or care. Amy Farrah Fowler is the "female Sheldon," except she yearns for sex, calls Penny "bestie" even though they're not, and is just a demeaning character - for all that the actress who plays her, Mayim Balik, is a scientist in real life!

There's nothing wrong with a new woman employee being supervised by a man, what's wrong is that the woman is so incompetent. In real life an incompetent employee MUST be fired - but in sit coms they are invariably allowed to hang around to be made the butt of jokes. Stupid  - and dangerous.

From International Business News: Aaron Sorkin's 'The Newsroom' Broadcasts His Backward Views On Women

The first minutes of "The Newsroom's" pilot episode are a harbinger of the appalling gender representations to come. While giving a talk at a university, the show's protagonist, newscaster Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) explodes after a perky blonde college sophomore asks a (stupid) question about why America is the greatest country in the world, referring to the dumbfounded student as a "sorority girl" who may or may not "accidently wander into a voting booth one day."

When the actual newsroom is first introduced, a young assistant, Maggie (Alison Pill), weakly pleads with her producer boyfriend Don to come to dinner with her parents. He refuses in a most patronizing manner, while simultaneously belittling a recent career decision she made, calling her choices "dumb." After humiliating and berating her, he nonetheless makes arrangements to meet her later that night, presumably for sex. Of course, she obliges. These insulting portrayals of women continue throughout the rest of the episode, and, according to numerous television critics, it doesn't get any better in future episodes. On Monday, the Daily Beast released a lengthy discussion between TV columnists Lace Jacob and Maureen Ryan that examined the subordinate role of women in the series.

"One of the bigger problems with 'The Newsroom' is that so many scenes involve men setting women straight, men supervising women, a man teaching a woman how to use email (and the woman getting it spectacularly wrong regardless), a hapless woman seesawing between two different men, etc.," says Ryan.
Jacob concurs, referring to a scene in episode two, in which one of the female leads, and the only woman with any kind of power, Mackenzie (Emily Mortimer) struggles to send an email, making an embarrassing and outdated gaffe when a private message intended for McAvoy instead goes out to the whole staff.

"It's hard to know what's more infuriating: that MacKenzie is written as though she hasn't even heard of a war zone or that she's presented as alternately hysterical and incompetent. Her email gaffe in the second episode is unbelievable and galling, says Jacob. "If you're thinking, well, who hasn't sent an errant email? Why does it have to be some symbol of misogyny? Then picture a male character in Sorkin's world who doesn't know the difference between the '*' and 's' keys on his BlackBerry. Impossible."

Poorly sketched female characters are only part of Sorkin's problem. "The Newsroom" began generating criticism well before its premiere on HBO, with countless outlets accusing Sorkin of having a superiority complex.
After Sorkin told Entertainment Weekly that "reporters used to be the good guys in popular culture, and I wanted to write them that way," Gawker's Drew Magary lampooned him in an article titled "Aaron Sorkin Is Ready to Masturbate All Over Your HBO ..."

"I can't think of a more Sisyphean mission than to try and restore America's faith in the media with a f--king TV show," Magary wrote. "Yes, reporters used to be depicted as good guys in pop culture, and that's because pop culture back then was naive and stupid. That was before everyone realized that the media is filled with incompetent, self-admiring dips--ts who choose stories essentially at random. And that was before the Internet exposed the media as being almost comically unreliable."

The New Yorker's Emily Nussbaum wrote a widely read critique of the show, which helped set the tone for numerous critical assaults, from the New York Times to Newsweek to the Washington Post, while a few outliers came to Sorkin's defense -- including the New Yorker's own David Denby, who responded to Nussbaum and other critics' dismissal of the show.

Jeff Daniels told the Los Angeles Times that he welcomes the chatter -- whether it's positive or negative.
"The fact that everyone is talking about it, for whatever reason -- challenged by it, disturbed by it, annoyed by it, loving it, can't wait to see the next one, all of the above -- we absolutely love it."

We certainly are in no hurry to watch Sorkin continue to get away with presenting a modern-day workplace that's about as evolved as the offices of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. If there's any silver lining to be found, it's in the very strong likelihood that "The Newsroom" will get shut down before too long.

Racing Aces capture Air Race Classic ending in Clermont

From the Clermont Sun: Racing Aces capture Air Race Classic ending in Clermont
The 36th annual Air Race Classic wrapped up on Friday, June 22 as more than 50 airplanes manned by over 100 female pilots landed at the Clermont County Airport after flying over 2,330 nautical miles in an event that kicked off in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. on Tuesday, June 19.

The event, held every year a over different route, is sponsored by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and benefits a scholarship fund geared towards getting more girls into aviation.

While pilots finished their nine-leg race on Friday, the winner was not announced until the Awards Banquet on Sunday, June 24 as a result of the format under which the race is competed.

Each team of two pilots has their plane handicapped according to the plane’s ground speed in order to level the playing field for the different types of aircrafts competing.

Prior to the race commencing, the ARC handicaps and test flies each plane to make sure everything is in order and falls under the guidelines for the race.

Once the race begins, the pilots have four days to traverse the 2,330.2 nautical miles, allowing for strategy and planning to become a key aspect of the race. Pilots can study weather systems and wind direction to fly in the most advantageous conditions, all in hopes of taking home the title at the end of the week.

The 2012 race included nine checkpoints in New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Nevada, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Michigan (two) with the final destination being Batavia, Ohio.

Pilots can determine how many legs they wished to cover each day dependent upon wind conditions and fuel levels. For example, the eventual winners, the Racing Aces covered five checkpoints in one day. Each checkpoint is monitored and marked when the plane does a flyby of the airport.

The Aces, the duo of Dianna Stanger and Victoria Holt, used a strategy gained from their experience last year to improve upon their middle-of-pack-finish to win the event this year.

Stanger runs two flight schools in Texas and Holt has been a pilot for 20 years and has her ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) certificate.

The Racing Aces, flying a Cirrus SR-22 Special Edition, put their plan into perfect action over the four-day race, studying the wind direction and weather to be the only team to fly with a tailwind over every leg of the competition.

“Our strategy was to plan, plan, plan and watch the weather and the wind,” Holt said. “We closely monitored the forecast for precipitation and temperature. We were looking most importantly for visual flight conditions and tail wind.”

The Aces took some risks along the way, sitting out an entire day because they didn’t feel they had the conditions they wanted. But it paid off on Sunday night when they were awarded the first-place medal and trophy.

The Air Race Classic is in its 36th year, but the race dates back to 1929 when it was known as the Women’s Air Derby, in which Amelia Earhart took part. The event continued into the 1930s and picked back up following the conclusion of World War II, taking on a new name , All Women’s Transcontinental Air Race, also known as the Powder Puff Derby.

The Powder Puff Derby ran for 30 years up until 1977 until the Air Race Classic picked up the competition.
The Air Race Classic encourages education of current and future women pilots, increases public awareness of general aviation, demonstrates women’s roles in aviation and promotes the tradition of pioneering women in aviation.

“Racing to benefit girls getting into flying is awesome,” Stanger said. “If we can get one girl to try out flying then it was worth it. And we do it well, we came in first.”