Marin County 99s

What a great Marin 99s meeting we had on Saturday February 18 2023, full of amazing aviatrices at all levels. Thank you to everyone who attended.

Jessica Burch, who flies a Blackhawk helicopter in the Army National Guard
and does the weather on CBS Bay Area was in attendance with Leigh Coates, who
recently owned the helicopter in the photo here. Leigh is a commercial
helicopter pilot, CFI, Ferry Pilot, airplane pilot and gravity jet suit
pilot. The helicopter is a 2021 BELL 505.

Rebecca Oppedisano, CFI with Scanlon Aviation gave us a tutorial on
ForeFlight. 

We had a couple of new pilots, Alona (just starting) and
Mikayla (around 10 hours in), plus several professional pilots.  Everyone
brought a scrumptious brunch dish to share with the group. Marielle was
able to fly in with her Cessna from Angwin. Diane finally returned from her
3 month honeymoon and joined us. 

What makes meetings  like ours yesterday so special is the networking,
support, sharing of experiences and instant camaraderie we have with each
other. We are so lucky.

To join the Marin County Chapter of the Ninety-Nines, go to
https://www.ninety-nines.org/membership-application.htm and choose Marin County Chapter. 

Leigh Coates and Jessica Burch

Sue’s hangar she-shed

Last Saturday, Barbara O’Grady and Sue Royce held a Girl Scout Aviation Badge Class in Sue’s hangar at Gnoss Field. In attendance were 8 Girl Scouts from Petaluma Troop 11311 who learned about aerodynamics, forces of flight, flight sectionals, the basic instrument panel and much more. It was followed up by a preflight of Sue’s Cherokee 180.  Due to the rainy weather, we were not able to take them up to the Observation Deck, but did stay in Sue’s hangar answering tons of very good questions from the scouts.  Rebecca Oppedisano, Pat Scanlon’s new CFII, talked to the girls about her experience of becoming a pilot. All had a great time. Let’s hope we planted a few aviation seeds in those little brains.

Thanks to Cindy Pickett (Treasurer)for this report on the meeting, the fun and the SCHOLARSHIPS!

I had the great fortune of attending the SWS meeting ‘Wings Over the Wasatch’ this last fall in Salt Lake City, UT. It was just a 4 hour drive up and over the Wasatch Range from Moab and it seemed like a good idea to catch up with old friends.
        The Ninety Nines have been a huge part of my life for the last 36 years. Most of our domestic vacations, and some international, have been flying to remote places along with other members. They are a wild, intelligent, and a fun gang to be with. And they will be friends into the next lifetime. A number of them have been pack packing partners while climbing Amelia Earhart Peak,  people I’ve dropped in on out of the ‘blue’ and been warmly welcomed, and friends from other countries. We are a vast network making this life a great challenge and wonderful time.
        Besides the business meeting we had tours up in the tower of Salt Lake Int’l, deep in the bowels of ‘Center’ and a private showing of Maverick Top Gun. You know when you’re flying along and talking to ‘Center’? I always imagined them to be the buttoned up military types. (White shirts, skinny ties, short hair and polished shoes) Nah…. These people keeping us out of trouble are all in the beer maker culture. Black shorts, black t-shirts, bushy beards, man buns and tattoos. And of course lots of young tattooed women too. There were lots of opportunities to get out of the conference halls and explore the area. (I found some really lovely hot springs along the shores of Utah lake.) Another really wonderful part of the conference were the Ukrainian  refugees who have been sponsored by the Chair of the Utah 99s. They fled with little more than the shirts on their backs and Salt Lake City has opened their hearts to them.  Such fun, and inspiring people!
        One thing that the 99s do is give money and support to women pilots. And lots of it! There are many scholarships: you need to go online with the SWS section and 99s International to see if any fit your needs. There is the Amelia Earhart Scholarship that is given away to many, The Award of Achievement to people making a difference, for 99s or non 99s, the Putnam award for support to 99s and the Art Phillips Scholarship Fund for the SWS.These are just a few. And they are actively looking for recipients!!!!  So if you have ever entertained tackling another rating or are just starting out, be sure to check out these financial aids.
        Oh and great news for another adventure. The 2023 International Meeting will be in Jordan, Oct.27-Nov 2.  It will be held in Amman, will visit the Dead Sea, Jordan River, Petra and a stay in a Wadi Run desert camp. You can bet this will be glorious! The Winter workshop for the SWS 99s will be in Los Angeles 1-28-2023 with a theme of ‘Wellness for the individual, aviation community and chapter health.’

Members meet at Sue’s hangar with holiday food and toys for charity

On Saturday December 3, we met at Sue Royce’s (Chair) hangar for a fun holiday gathering. Partners were invited, and both Val Weston’s and Alyssa Abbey’s (Secretary) – Dan & Dan – did join us. There was yummy food as ever, good coffee and Sue’s cozy girl cave (best on Gnoss Field) to enjoy. Being a seasonal party, there was no agenda and everyone got to share what and where they’ve been flying, or what they’ve been up to. The only theme was to support the Novato Firefighter’s Annual Toy Drive to benefit local children, and we put a good number in the toy bin. We had a new member, Sara Ward from Santa Rosa join. She started flying recently and has ambitions to fly for the airlines. We certainly want to keep supporting and encouraging her. Happy Holidays everyone!

The amazing staff at Avian flight Center in Bremerton, Washington held the rapt attention of a two and five year old fledgling pilots for quite some time. First, Breena Smith, who is the hard working AnP, gave us the best tour a fledgling could ever have. She was in the Navy and worked as an aviation mechanic mate with helicopters on supercarriers.

The boys learned how to move the ailerons, elevators, rudder then saw broken cylinders, rods and even weird planes. There were planes that could land on the water, propellers with 3 blades and two blades, planes with wings on the top or the bottom but the plane that had the engine on top was the most fascinating of all. Breena is an amazing teacher who explained difficult concepts the kids were enthralled with. 

Then Michael Gouviea made sure we had headsets and access to a plane to listen to the pilots on the radio doing touch and gos. Everyone reading this knows the best thing a kid could see is the take off and landing. We had the perfect view and the perfect visit.

Thanks Breena, Michael, Bradley and Avian Flight Center!