Grace and Dana with the contestants at the Palm to Pines Air Race 2022(here in Red Bluff)
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
It’s hard to believe it’s October already. It’s been a very exciting and active year as we have moved from our extended isolation to a year filled with safe, in-person activities. As I write this, it is the day before our highly anticipated WINGS Over SLO Pilot Proficiency Workshops[see the report below], and when you receive this, I will be in Utah at the Ninety-Nines Southwest Section meeting. I still feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants in my role as Chair of the SLO 99s, but hopefully I’m beginning to get into a groove and better understand the role.
The WINGS Over SLO event was borne from a group who showed up to brainstorm scholarship fundraising ideas(read more about the event below). Over the past two years, the SLO 99s have awarded over $9,000 in scholarships to women pilots in all levels of training from Discovery Flights to Commercial Training. Awarding scholarships supports our mission to,“… promote the advancement of aviation through education, scholarships, and mutual support…”. The WINGS Over SLO event hits all three of these mission areas. Thank you to the group who showed up to brainstorm and the committee who has spent countless hours planning and preparing for the event: Anele Brooks, Grace Crittenden, Dana Davis, Rachel Hamann, Janice Odell, Susan Steeb, Theresa Theiler, and Liz Weaver.
I am pleased to announce that the scholarship committee is accepting applications for our next scholarship award. Applications, available on the SLO 99s website, are due October 15, 2022. https://slo99s.org/scholarships/
Join me Wednesday, October 5, at ACI Jet for our monthly meeting, 5:30 for social time and 6:00 meeting. I look forward to seeing you all there to catch up on our flying adventures and share what we learned at the Southwest Section Meeting.
The 2022 Palms to Pines Air Race started with some stylish transportation to the hotel in Santa Monica for Grace(left) and Dana(behind the camera)
Palms to Pines Air Race Report(8/11-14)
By Grace Crittenden with comments from Dana Davis
The Palms to Pines Air Race is back!
The Palms to Pines Air Race was started by the LA chapter of the Ninety-Nines in 1969 and was flown annually for 40 years until the death of the founding organizer, Claire Walters. It was a wonderful event with dozens of planes competing. I flew the race 2007-2009 for the last 3 years it was scheduled. It was so much fun!
Some 12 years later, the Los Angeles Chapter decided to revive the event but everything including the race was shut down by COVID. As things opened up in 2022, the LA Ninety-Nines were excited and ready to go. When I heard the race was happening again, I was eager to sign up and Dana Davis stepped up to be my co-pilot.
Racing in Grace’s 172
The race starts in Santa Monica with a stop in Salinas for a bite and fuel before landing in Red Bluff for the night. The second day we are off for a Klamath Falls fly-by and finish line in Madras, Oregon, 703 NM from the start.
Nine planes registered for the race, from up and down the west coast as far away as Washington state. The registration process and paperwork was extensive. In prior years, the handicap speed for the plane was assigned using published data for each make and model.
The contestants in SMO
This year, a handicap flight was required before impounding your plane. I flew my 172 up to Paso where a third party, representative of the race committee, hopped in the right seat to record the speeds while flying a 4 sided box pattern at 5000 feet. The plane had to be“clean” empty and full throttle. It was a bit of a challenge but I accomplished the task just in time for the race. The speeds from the 4 legs were averaged to determine the maximum speed for calculating each planes relative performance in the race.
My plane was Racer Number 7, and Goofy Graphics in Morro Bay sponsored me for the 18 inch high, identifying, vinyl numbers on the tail. Fresh out of its annual, the plane was ready to go and looking its best, clean and shiny, so it could slip through the air with minimum drag. We were traveling light for maximum performance and Dana had made reservations at our overnight destinations.
Grace & Dana with“lucky” #7
The winds and weather could not have been nicer, and there was no real problem with smoke from wildfires this year. There was not even any significant fog along the coast when we flew down to Santa Monica. We were welcomed by the tower and directed to the impound area by waving LA Ninety-Nines driving an orange VW Karmann Ghia. Three teams canceled for various reasons, mostly mechanical, and six planes arrived at impound. Everyone had to top off their tanks. Log books were inspected to confirm an up to date annual and the plane had not been modified.
Letter from the Chair
SLO 99s Monthly Meeting
Palms to Pines Air Race Report (8/11-14)