VC99s at the Camarillo Air Show!

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1 Chairman: Linda Ehrlich Vice Chairman: Rhonda Tarli Secretary: Peggy Watson-Meinke Treasurer: Alison Barker Acting Past Chairman: Carolyn Brown Newsletter: Pat McCollum September2014 Newsletter of the Ventura County Chapter of the Ninety-Nines, Inc. VC99s at the Camarillo Air Show! photos by Marybeth Martin NEXT MEETING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 Those of you that attended the July Progressive Hangar event at CMA know how much fun it was. We are looking forward to another Progressive Hangar Party at SZP for our September General Meeting. Be sure to put Tuesday, September16 on your calendar now! We will request a $5 donation to offset the cost of the appetizers and beverages. The meeting starts at the Santa Paula Museum at 5:30 to socialize, have a quick meeting, and then we will head out to the hangars. These SZP ladies have some very special planes and hangars to show off--you won't want to miss this. 49½s are welcome! continued on page 2

2 VC99s at the Camarillo Air Show! Martha demonstrates the end-of-show happy -dance! SKYWRITING SKYWRITING SKYWRITING by Linda Ehrlich, Chapter Chairman Time To Remember August is Air Show month and many of the VC99s and some 49½s were busy all month (and then some) preparing for it. As usual, our membership comes through to help support the pancake breakfast, the silent auction, and the information booth, with some gals working multiple booths and shifts. We were definitely a part of the Air Show this year not only with Judy Phelps flying and Peggy Watson-Meinke with her balloon both days, but also we me working as Marketing Director, Angelee Conroy on the board, and Martha Phillips and Kelly Brun performing the accounting. It always inspires me to see so many of our members that we don't always see at meetings, come out to help support us and the Air Show. I hope during those busy times as we were all working so hard, we took some time out to look up, look around, and remember what the Air Show means to those people who came through the gates. For many kids it is a time to get up close to planes, to be inspired, and to imagine what it is like to be up there in the sky. For parents, it is a time to explore with their kids or other family members, to get a chance to see what the airport offers, shop, eat, and maybe even for a fleeting moment be in awe by all the flying and airplanes. For many aviation enthusiasts, pilots and veterans, it is time to be nostalgic, to step back in time, and to grab one more taste of our youth. For others it may be the inspiration to finally take that first step to becoming a pilot or to use that pilot license to take a new adventure. For 100-year-old pilot Jeri Truesdell it was another chance to see an Air Show, and to be close to her life long passion. To meet her, you would have walked away touched, inspired and only imagining what it would have been like to be a woman pilot during those early years of aviation. The challenges they faced and amazing courage these woman possessed are now only in the stories that we read about. Yes... August is Air Show month, but it is also a time to remember. Blue skies to all of you!

3 Pancakes. Pancakes. Pancakes. by Carolyn Brown It always takes several days before the sounds of "two 3-2's, three 2-1's" fades from my head. The smell of pancakes and sausages washes out of my hair after a couple of weeks. Once more, I cannot express my gratitude for all of the effort put forth by VC Ninety-Nines and 49.5's to make the pancake breakfast a huge success. Bill Barkley, our Better Batter Boy, has a following of batter-makers now. If I had realized adding power tools to my supplies would have generated this much enthusiasm, I would have done it years earlier. These guys could take their show on the road for both entertainment and great batter. Every year brings new and different anxious moments the week before the event. It has been a sink that was not delivered, doesn't work properly, or is not the correct three sink design; sausages that did not get ordered by S & F; tables that showed up so late I worried about getting set up for the Health Dept.; this year our 45 gallons of water disappeared somewhere on the airport and took a couple of hours searching to find them. There is no end to the anxiety every year brings. The positive side is that it seems to always be something different. You get one hole plugged and another appears the next year. For those who have not had the fun of joining us, I am including pictures that depict some of what goes into the pancake production which this year was about 843 breakfasts (not counting the free breakfasts), 170 pounds of pancake flour, 12 gallons of IHOP batter, 73 pounds of sausage, and 20 gallons of orange juice. Thank you all for all of your help!!! See you next year! DINNER Sunday, September 7th Latigo Kid 5617 Kanan Road, Agoura Hills Margaritas start flowing at 5pm

4 U P C O M I N G Scholarship OPPORTUNITIES VC99s Female Student Pilot Scholarship Up to $3,000 Application Due Date: November 15, 2014 VC99s Karen L. Johnson Advanced Rating Scholarship Up to $2,500 Application Due Date: November 15, 2014 For VC99s a pplications or more info: Emergency Maneuver Training Coming Soon! Watch for the Yahoo Groups announcing the Fall 2014 Lottery Since Receiving An Advanced Rating Scholarship by Luci Galgano In December 2012, I received the Ventura County 99s Advanced Scholarship to obtain my Flight Instructor Certificate. I completed my CFI training with Judy Phelps at CP Aviation at KSZP. After getting adjusted to landing the airplane from the right seat (not easy for me) and slaving over the computer creating lesson plans for months I passed my CFI check ride in July I've been instructing for a year and still find it interesting to see how each pilot learns differently and why each person desires to be a pilot. The biggest rewards are the smiles that come from the students when they overcome a challenge and begin to feel confident about their flying skills. Thank you Ventura County Ninety-Nines for your support. Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarship The Fly-Now Scholarship for New Pilots Up to $3,000 Application Due Date: September 15, 2014 For more info: Visit the 99s International website for even more scholarship opportunities: Luci with her first student, grandson Erik Shy VC99s Social Breakfast NEW DATE & LOCATION We are changing up the social breakfast in hopes that more members and friends will be able to attend. We will have our social breakfast on the first Sunday of the month starting in September at Flight 126, the new by Mignon Gery First Sunday of the Month at Santa Paula! 99s, FWPs, 49.5s and Friends Welcome Sunday September 7 at 9:00 am Flight 126, Santa Paula Airport restaurant at Santa Paula airport! The first Sunday of each month lines up with Santa Paula Airport's open house, so we hope that members will attend breakfast and then go enjoy the activities at the airport. see you there!

5 Jeri Truesdell A L I V I N G L E G E N D by Jenny Lynn Burnett Jeri Truesdell was born with a passion to fly! To this day, she still looks up to the sky when she hears a plane and tries to identify the type of aircraft. Jeri took to the Chicago skies in 1935 as a student pilot. She was 21 years old. She joined the Ninety-Nines International Organization of Women Pilots. Jeri remembers meeting Amelia Earhart, who visited her 99's Chicago chapter meeting. Inspired by Amelia's self-effacing presence and accomplishments, Jeri would soon log a few accolades of her own. After four years working diligently to pay for flying lessons at $11/hour, Jeri earned her Private Pilot License in Soon after, she joined the Chicago Girls Flying Club and participated in air shows, which won her trophies for flour bomb target drops and spot landings. Her precision would carry her through to a career of training for Lockheed Martin in years to come. Jeri joined the Civil Air Patrol in 1942, shortly after the organization was formed at the inception of WWII. Flying was her passion, but at a time of need to help her country's defense, she contributed to assisting the war effort without hesitation. Jeri learned formation flying without aircraft radios and flew #3 on the right. Formation flying without radios required skill and paying attention to the lead pilot, who simply tipped his/her wings twice in the direction they wanted to turn. She also performed other CAP duties, which included: Message Pickup and marching in parades down Michigan Avenue in Chicago. In 1944, Jeri joined the Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), after working for the Navy as a civil servant. She learned Celestial Navigation at Quonset, RI and Pensacola, FL then eventually taught Navy Officer instructors Celestial Navigation on the Link Trainer. Soon after, she joined the Navy Reserve and eventually moved to California. She is listed in the Women in Military Service for America registry in The Women's Memorial at Arlington in Washington D.C. Jeri also earned a WWII Victory Medal, which is awarded to members of the Armed Forces who served in active and honorable duty during WWII. Jeri is also a recipient of a Civil Air Patrol Congressional Gold Medal for her contributions during WWII. She will be presented this medal in 2015 in Washington D.C. Jeri flew for nearly 60 years. Most recently, the Van Nuys Airport Condor Squadron, well known for their commitment to preserving WWII Aviation History, took her for a centenarian birthday flight in a WWII era AT-6. She recalled it as, one of the most exciting days of her life. Jeri is grateful for the aviation community and continues to reminisce about the planes she flew, the pilots she taught and the enriched life of aviation she has embraced. As Leonardo DaVinci once said, "Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return. More photos can be seen at: 02/photos-condor-squadron-flies- 100-year-old-woman-pilot/#1

6 Introductory Flight Lesson Onlt $99! Upcoming Calendar of Events Sept 7 First Sunday Breakfast, 9am, Flight 126 Café, Santa Paula Sept 12 Board Meeting 8am, Waypoint Café Sept 16 General Meeting Meet at Aviation Museum of Santa Paula; Progressive Hanger Party Oct 3 Board Meeting 8am, Waypoint Cafe, Camarillo Oct 5 First Sunday Breakfast, 9am, Flight 126 Café, Santa Paula Oct 21 General Meeting - VCCF Nov 2 First Sunday Breakfast 9am, Flight 126 Café, Santa Paula Nov 7 Board Meeting 8am, Waypoint Cafe, Camarillo Nov18 General Meeting 5:30, Santa Paula Aviation Museum SPECIAL EVENTS Sept 5-7 Fall Section Meeting and Reno Balloon Races, Reno Nevada Sept 20 AOPA Fly-in - Chino Dec 7 Holiday Party Simi Valley Country Club Jan 24, 2015 SWS Winter Workshop Camarillo OTHER AVIATION THINGS EVERY First Sunday of the Month 10am-3pm Aviation Museum of Santa Paula Open House and antique aircraft on display and EAA Young Eagles flights at Santa Paula Airport EVERY First Saturday of the Month at 9am EAA Young Eagles Flights at the EAA Hangar, CMA EVERY First Monday at 7pm Aviation Advisory Commission meets at Camarillo City Hall EVERY Second Thursday at 7pm The Aviation Authority meets at Camarillo City Hall EVERY Second Saturday (except December) The Camarillo Chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) meets at the EAA Hangar, CMA Article and Photo Submission Address: vc99sflyer@vc99s.com This address is dedicated to our newsletter. We are getting wonderful articles! Just don't forget to PLEASE put your name on your articles.