Maureen in her Cub in SLO, on her way to Paso(see“Fly-out”below)
The mission of The Ninety-Nines is to promote the advancement of aviation through education, scholarships, and mutual support while honoring their unique history and shared passion for flight.
Letter from the Chair
By Dana Davis
I hope you and your family had wonderful holidays and are ready to embark on a fabulous 2023! December was full of activity and excitement. The month started with the Cal Poly Mustang Aviation Club Airport Day. Grace Crittenden and Janice Odell flew students on short flights around the area to experience the joy of flight while Dana Davis and Elizabeth Dinan stayed on the ground to visit with students and share about the 99s. We had a wonderful evening reminiscing about flying and sharing time with friends at our Holiday Party. Many thanks to Grace Crittenden for hosting. We were up bright and early the following morning to assemble trays and deliver“Cookies to the Tower”. We enjoyed breakfast at the Spirit of San Luis restaurant, then assembled trays and trekked out to the tower where we met Julia Kerti, the newest voice in the KSBP Tower. It was lovely to meet her and put a face with the voice. We also dropped home baked goods with our friends at ACI, and the CalFire Station. Maureen dropped off a tray to the Airport Administration on Monday. Our final activity of 2022 was a quick fly-out to Paso for lunch with old and new friends and a jolly good time.
As we begin the new year, I have taken time to look back at the awesome accomplishments of our SLO 99s during the past year and appreciate each of you and all you have done to celebrate and fulfill our mission to: promote the advancement of aviation through education, scholarships, and mutual support while honoring our unique history and sharing our passion for flight. In 2023, we will review our survey responses(there’s still time for you to submit your thoughts, click the survey link below), and make a plan for aviation fun and engagement over the next year or two.
I look forward to seeing you all at our January 4th meeting and hearing about your flying goals for the new year.
See you at the airport,
Dana
“The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow it.”
-Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian woman to explore space
Our condolences go out to Susan Steeb and her family at the loss of her step father, Wesley Allen Jones
Winter brings the famous valley tule fog. It was clear with calm winds at KSBP but VLIFR(Very Low IFR) in Paso at 1100 when we had planned to depart. The weather was scheduled to clear at noon, and lucky we had Ellen Banakis planning to join us. She had feet on the ground in Paso and confirmed that the visibility was improving, so we were wheels up at noon.
Dana pointing at Grace, already airborne. Maureen’s Cub in the back
Liz Dinan was in the right seat and by the time we had climbed over the hills, we could see some fog remained to the south. Indeed it was VFR in Paso, but the visibility was a hazy 5 miles. Soon we saw the runway and made a calm winds landing on 19 with very little traffic.
While we were waiting for the One Niner Diner to set up our table, Ellen shared some photos she had from the 1970s of her with other women traffic control classmates who were the first women to be trained for the job. Thank goodness for all those vanguard women who pushed the doors open for the rest of us to follow!
Dana Davis flew in solo, and Maureen Sherwood had Tim Davis in the back seat of her Super Cub. The Cub is not very fast but it can climb like a rocket.
We were all ready to eat when lunch arrived - good service and food as always, and lots of happy hangar talk.
Letter from the Chair
SLO 99s Monthly Meeting
December Fly-Out to Paso Robles (12/17)