Slipstream August 2019

Chairman’s Message

By Susan Steeb

99s International in Dayton followed by Oshkosh – July 2019 is [was] here!
 
While the SLO99s did not attend the International conference in Dayton Ohio, I did send my mother to the WACO field tour to say hello to any 99 she met. WACO field is in Troy, Ohio, 20 minutes from Dayton and my home town. Our chapter did send 6 delegate votes back with our SW Section Chair. There were no major votes this year outside of a few wording changes. Our SW Section chair announced the 2020 International conference to be held on the Queen Mary in Long Beach July 8-12th.
 
This year, we had a record attendance at Oshkosh. Me, Janice, Elizabeth, Anna, Avery, Jolie, and Cheryl all will have stories at our next meeting. As I write this, I am sitting in Rockford, Illinois preparing to queue with 131 other Bonanzas to participate in the mass arrival. Jolie will join the Mooney mass arrival and Cheryl with the Cherokee mass arrival. Janice and Elizabeth will fly into a local airport and drive and while Anna and Avery are flying in commercial with family.
 
We will spend a week watching airshows, attending classes and presentations, meeting other 99s, joining the Women in Aviation photo with 100’s of other female pilots and shopping for all things aviation. It is Disneyland for pilots. This event is over 60 years old and has grown from a small group of home built pilots to over 10,000 airplanes flying in to camp on the airfield.
 
Traveling to Oshkosh is a great excuse to fly around our beautiful country and explore new places.
 
Happy July! [and August!]

NEEDED: Web Master Volunteer

We are in need of a website refresh. We have a list of suggested updates from an experienced webmaster but we need a volunteer who has the background to make these changes. Anyone interested can contact Susan Steeb.

Meet A Member: Anele Brooks

I have no statistics to back this up, but I believe I took the longest time in history to get my pilot's license. There was no desire to fly for a living, I just love to fly and I love airplanes. The first official entry in my logbook is dated 10/27/01, I finally passed my checkride in March 2009. I enjoyed every minute (well, almost) of my training. As a student there was pressure to fly often, and I did. When I slacked off, Chuck was on my case, making sure I was up in the air practicing and building time. My instructor, Kim Kolb, gave me a packet of questions to complete before he would let me solo. I answered all the questions and left them in the trunk of my car. I thought I was safe. On June 22, 2002 he just had me pull off the runway, stop under the tower and he got out, I soloed! What a great experience! It was early in the morning and I went to work still on Cloud 9. I still wasn't in a hurry to finish my training, many of our friends were also pilots and I flew with most of them, they were all happy to share their knowledge and their experiences. Pilots are very generous with advice, tips and amazing stories. Chuck had his Duke engines rebuilt at Western Skyways, they destroyed them. Every flight was a test flight, I learned not to panic, I can tell immediately which engine is dead on a twin, and the value of knowing how to make a very short approach. Chuck was an amazing pilot and mentor, it was always aviate, navigate, communicate, he remained so calm that sometimes I didn't even realize we had engine problems until we were on the ground. Coming back from Catalina we hit some turbulence and he gave me the algebraic expression for maneuvering speed, he could do the calculation in his head, I still look at the placard! Departing from Colorado, he gave me the controls right after take-off, within minutes we were being sucked up into a thundercloud, he had to take the controls, I wasn't strong enough to pull us out of the cloud's updraft. The next day we hit IFR conditions over Palmdale, almost instantly I lost control of the plane, in a split second he woke up and took the controls and he flew us back to KSBP! I learned about flying from all those experiences.
My late husband was also a pilot. He took me for my first ride in a small airplane in the summer of 1978. A Warrior based at Riverside Air. I fell asleep and he was shocked! While we were dating I learned to recognize most of the makes and models of planes. We spent hours at Riverside Municipal Airport watching planes take off and land, driving through Flabob Airport checking out the planes. Later we based our C195 there and got to know Jim Appleby, who built WWI replica aircraft and was also involved in stunt flying in the movies. He was a very interesting man! Sometime in those early years I decided I would also learn to fly. Took a ground school class, passed my written, accumulated some hours. In my infinite wisdom, I decided there was no reason to rent a C150 – I would learn in our Super Decalthon. No flaps, constant speed prop, taildragger. Not a wise choice, at least for me. My instructor, Jim Auger, sat in the back and if I was able to fly straight and level, he would let me follow him through on loops and rolls at the end of our session. He took me to Banning for landing practice, the runway there is almost as wide as it is long. I could never land that plane! Eventually, children and family became my focus. Little League baseball supplanted aviation. My husband became league president in Highland, later I was a league president at Frazier Mountain. No regrets, those were great years. I was positive my son would become a major league baseball player, didn't happen, even better though, he got his pilot's license and now we fly together!

90 years of 99s - Aerial Scavenger Hunt !

[From the 99s:] Add More Fun to Your Flying! Is it even possible to make flying more fun? Maybe, if you like scavenger hunts! Join in on an aerial scavenger hunt and sharpen those eagle eyes. Ninety-Nines and Friends of The 99s are challenged to find "90 Things in 90 Days for the 90th Anniversary". Sign up for the aerial scavenger hunt for $25. Take aerial photos of as many items on the list as you can between August 1 and October 27. Post your photos in the album you create in the 99s Scavenger Hunt Facebook group. The pilot with the most points will receive a paid registration to the 90th Anniversary Dinner on November 2 in Oklahoma City, or a $50 Amazon gift card if unable to attend the dinner.

Minutes of the General Meeting (7/3/2019)

By Marina Luckow

Attending: Janice Odell, Elizabeth Dinan, Susan Conner-Steeb, Jill Drexhage, Marina Luckow, Anna Vojvoda (Instrument check ride on 7/8 out of Santa Maria passed!), Grace Crittenden, Dana Davis (99’s gave her a discovery flight, she went up with Erin and loved it), Willow Bailey, Tish Allen-Jacobs, Erin Ayers, Lynn Teresa Tyler (Working on landings, got stabilized approach down and working on crosswinds).
 
Misc. Notes
  • Livermore AOPA fly-in: Anna and Olivia went, Janice went and she took a formation flying class.
  • Camarillo Airshow fly-out update (August 17-18)
  • We are excused from volunteering for it. 
  • Fly-in for $20 an airplane and park in the display area. 
  • Our ladies will be flying in on Saturday or Sunday depending on weather. 
  • Judy Phelps will be speaking at the event. 
  • SW Section meeting update:
  • 90 people have signed up for the banquet, we need 120 to break even/make money. 
  • 54 signed up for Hearst Castle and that is full 
  • 7 signed up for Estrella [Museum in Paso Robles]