Fly-out crew to Hollister September 2021[see trip report below]
Chairman’s Message
By Jill Drexhage
What a great time at the SWS & NWS joint section meeting in Las Vegas. I was able to volunteer at the Henderson Airport on Thursday and help all the ladies who flew in. I greeted them, gave them water and helped coordinate a ride for them to the hotel. Volunteering is always a great way to meet and get to know some of the ladies from other chapters. There was a good turnout of people, and all events had plenty of space to spread out and Vegas has a mask mandate inside, so we all stayed safe. I had a booth at the Fly Mart and this was a first for me where I brought my equipment to do custom orders. One item I make is custom tumblers with the sectional of the customer’s home airport or airport of choice. Man, was that a hit! The hotel where the event was had 11 restaurants, a movie theatre, a bowling ally and an equestrian center. I’m sure there was more, but there was no need to leave the hotel….for anything. I’m glad I was there to represent our SLO chapter.
It was a dreamy September day for a fly-out - clear skies, a gentle tail wind. The hills were golden, the valleys green, the coastal range a subtle blue. There was just the lightest brown smoke haze in the far distance to the north.
Our three planes were about the same speed. Maureen Sherwood was first to take off and it was fun to see her 100+ horsepower Super Cub climb like a rocket to 5500 feet. Cherice Henderson was flying with Maureen in the back seat enjoying the tandem view. As we took off, we could see that Dana Davis’ Cheetah was still at the hangar.
Elizabeth Dinan was in my right seat and Kay was settled in the back seat as we made a bee line across Nacimiento and San Antonio Lakes. They were both quite low but glassy smooth. We monitored the King City CTAF as we flew over, but all was quiet. I glanced at my oil temperature and pressure remembering my hot oil issues on our last try to fly to Hollister when the local temperature was over 100 degrees. Everything was fine in the relatively cool temperatures of this perfect day for flying. Heading a little to the east, I descended down to 2500 feet to fly by The Pinnacles. I had been instructed to contact NorCal, but we lost contact with flight-following. We were too low behind the hills for radio contact and did not talk to NorCal again until we called to cancel flight following when we were almost at the Hollister airport.
Winds were still calm and we landed on 31. Lots was happening around us as we arrived. Gliders were taking off and landing on 24. We had just tied down the plane when Maureen was coming in to land and we did not have to wait long for Dana to arrive.
It was a short walk to the Seabrisa’s restaurant and there was a table for 6 waiting for us on the patio. Most of us ordered the fish tacos as recommended by the chef who came to our table. The tacos turned out to be a good choice. The food and service was great.
By the time we finished lunch and were ready to fly again, a cool wind had picked up and was coming from the ocean, right down 24. There was a break in the glider traffic, and one after another we made left crosswind departures from 24. The air was smooth all the way home. It felt like we were floating along over the scenery below. The fog was still hanging on at the beaches as we came over the hills and entered right traffic for 29.
What a fun day and the Central Coast is such a wonderful place to fly!
History: Local 99s’ Elizabeth Dinan awarded the Amelia Earhart Scholarship 1977
By Grace Crittenden
Elizabeth in her workplace today
Elizabeth was working as a flight instructor for Claire Walters Flight Academy at the Santa Monica Airport when she won the scholarship to get her multiengine and multiengine instructor certifications. She went on to earn an ATP rating as well so she could teach ATP but never flew for the airlines. When she was teaching for Audrey Schutte, she gave free lessons to Girl scouts and the planes were provided for the price of the fuel. At least 10 girls soloed, 4 earned their private pilot license and at least one went on to be an ATP with the airlines. She has stayed in touch with the airline pilot who wrote to Elizabeth recently to tell her that she has just retired.
Elizabeth loved teaching flying. She has kept up her CFI training and certification.
She has been a member of The Ninety-Nines for 63 years and is an active member of the San Luis Obispo Chapter. She was introduced to the Ninety-Nines by Anne Rambo, her ground instructor at Glendale City College where she was a registered student. Elizabeth was not particularly interested in going to college, but her mother who really wanted her to go to college bargained with her. If she would go to college, her mother would help pay for flying lessons. Elizabeth chose Glendale because she could study aviation there. She has been flying and teaching ever since.
She loved air racing and flew in many different races including twice in the Powder Puff Derby.
In 2009 the FAA honored her with the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award for 50 years of flying and aviation safety.
Minutes of the General Meeting(9/1/2021)
By Anele Brooks
Location: ACI Jet Center
Attending: Jill Drexhage, Susan Steeb, Grace Crittenden, Elizabeth Dinan, Maureen Sherwood, Janice Odell, Dana Davis(via Zoom), Alessandra Rizzo, Sneha Lakshmi, Anêle Brooks
Jill called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m. She started by asking us to introduce ourselves to the group, let the group know what we flew and how long we had been flying.
Screenshot of the new website
Once introductions were complete Susan Steeb reported on the current status of the website. The website is up and active. All the work that was put into the“new” website is lost and unrecoverable. Fortunately, Aurora Lipper, who created the initial website was able to find a copy and create a clean site from it. The pictures on the site are not final yet. Sneha has agreed to help us“pretty” it up! Susan will create a Google Photo Album so members can upload photos and create albums. She would like all of our members to send her a photo of themselves with their airplane. She will make the Google Drive available. Susan would also like to have a group photo of all of us to put on the website. The site currently has four radio buttons: New to Flying, Current Events, Scholarships, Join SLO99s. Anna's video has been added to the front page, the newletter is posted and the archives have been re-established. Susan will add a link to the SLO99s Facebook page. Susan asked if we want to add a“Donate Now” button, after a brief discussion the idea was put on hold.
Chairman’s Message
Fly-out to Hollister KCVH (9/11/2021)
History: Local 99s’ Elizabeth Dinan awarded the Amelia Earhart Scholarship 1977
Minutes of the General Meeting (9/1/2021)