Women Flying With A Passion
What gives Sue Royce the most joy in life is taking young girls up flying in her Cherokee, especially Maddie Schwarz of Tam High and Petra O’Brien of Drake High. They are both “flying” through the Sporty’s Private Pilot Ground School offered by the Young Eagles program and will be starting their flying lessons very soon. I do believe we have two future airline pilots in the making.
At our meeting on 1/26/18, we decided to rename our scholarship to “Check for the
Check Ride” scholarship, formerly the “Wing Up” scholarship. We also
discussed the power of women and how supporting one another parlays across
society, especially as we support one another in aviation.
Mark your calendars:
March 14 – CA Aerospace & Aviation Day at the Capitol, Sacramento
March 17 – Next Marin 99s meeting at Sue’s hangar
April 26-29 SWS 99s Spring 2018 meeting in Bakersfield
July 3-7 99s International Conference, Philadelphia, PA
This May 2018, Emily will graduate from UC Berkeley with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. She has accepted a full-time offer from Boeing, where she will work as a Flight Test Engineer. This role takes her to Boeing Field (KBFI) near Seattle where she will be developing test procedures and participating in test flights onboard experimental aircraft such as 737s. As a private pilot, she is beyond excited for this opportunity to spend every day at the airport, immersed in all things aviation. She is looking forward to coming back and sharing her experiences with our Marin 99s.
Best wishes Emily!!
Maddie Schwartz, age 16, contacted Sue Royce recently to find out how she could become a pilot. Well, Sue took Maddie flying in her Cherokee and the rest is history. In one week‘s time, she has signed up for Barbara O’Grady’s ground school, is studying flight material, has a San Francisco VFR sectional, a plotter and has hit the ground running. She is very excited to become a licensed pilot and eventually get her ATP. Maddie is a sophomore at Tam High in Mill Valley. 
Date: Saturday, January 20, 2018
Time: 10:00 a.m. until 12
Venue: Sue’s hangar / Gnoss Field – B101, across from Scanlon Aviation maintenance hangar.
Potluck brunch. Please RSVP. Let’s get a good turnout of aviatrices for a photo group shot for our website!!
For several years I was interested in getting my Private Pilot’s License, but it took me until 2017 to earnestly begin working towards it. For years I considered getting my license, but always felt that I was too busy to pursue it. At the end of Summer 2017 I got a pamphlet in the mail from SRJC that listed the community education classes for Fall 2017. One of the classes included Ground School, which I’d been considering. I checked my schedule for the upcoming months and said “Why not?”. I signed up and began immersing myself in the world of aviation.
Soon after classes began, my ground school instructor, Barbara O’Grady, emailed the women of the class inviting us to attend a local 99s meeting. She mentioned this organization a few times and I was interested in going. On a sunny Saturday morning we met at a hangar at Gnoss Field (NOT) in Novato, CA. It was a warm and friendly environment with lots of good food and great conversation. We each shared about how we became involved with flying and what comprised our flight histories up to that day. I loved hearing about their different journeys and how it had led them to where they were presently at. On my drive home I ruminated on the community these women were a part of – I had no idea that this existed so close to home! I was so happy I went and hope to join them again soon. Thank you Marin 99s for having me!
– Jennifer Sawhney
