1929: 26 women gathered at Curtiss Airport,
Valley Stream, New York. Neva Paris was selected as temporary
chairman. Business was conducted in a hangar. Tea was served from a
toolbox wagon on wheels.
Club eligibility and purpose were quickly
decided upon. Membership would be open to any woman with a pilot's
license, and the purpose was "good fellowship, jobs, and a central
office and files on women in aviation." Choosing a name was a little
harder. Some suggestions were The Climbing Vines, Noisy Birdwomen,
Homing Pigeons and Gadflies.
Amelia Earhart and Jean Davis Hoyt put a stop
to the nonsense, proposing the name be taken from the sum total of
charter members. Thus, the group was momentarily the 86s, then the
97s and finally the 99s. Amelia Earhart became the group's first
elected president in 1931.
Each member was an outstanding person in her
own right. They made contributions to aviation totally out of
proportion to their numbers.
OF THE FOUR who signed the
original letter of invitation to form a women pilots'
organization, Fay Gillis Wells has continued a lifetime involvement
in aviation and service to her beloved 99s. She just happened to be
living in Russia, working as a journalist, when her friend, Wiley
Post, decided to fly solo around the world. Fay supervised his
refueling in Siberia, no mean feat, contributing to his world
record. He later invited Fay to accompany him on another record
attempt, and Fay was forced to decide whether to fly with Wiley Post
or honeymoon with Linton Wells in Africa. When she declined his
invitation, Post took along the world-famous humorist, Will Rogers,
and they were killed in Alaska, August l5, 1935.
On another occasion, Fay Gillis Wells proved
that hers was a charmed life. The day after her first solo, she was
flying an experimental airplane with her instructor. The craft was
overpowered, and they literally tore it apart. Both fell out, and
some 400 feet above the ground Fay figured out how to pull her
parachute ripcord for a safe landing. Thus Fay qualified for
membership in the Caterpillar Club, open only to those who have
bailed out of an airplane to save their lives. She became the first
female member of this exclusive club.
THE RACERS were the early women of the hour -
those marvelous women and their flying machines. Amelia Earhart was
to become the most famous woman pilot of all time, but in 1929 she
was but one of a dozen glamorous, daring female aviators.
Amelia had flown the Atlantic as a passenger,
gaining fame and adulation. In 1932 she realized her dream of
crossing the Atlantic alone, for which she reaped international
honours, and other record flights followed. A strong advocate of
awakening women's potential, Amelia encouraged young girls to dream
big. About women and aviation, she observed, "The more women fly,
the more who become pilots, the quicker will we be recognized as an
important factor in aviation."
Ninety-Nines who knew her remember her as warm
and feminine, a catalyst for achievement. Her parting words to
Louise Thaden were, "If I should bop off, it'll be doing the thing
that I've always wanted to do."
ANOTHER SPARKLING STAR of the day was Louise
Thaden, who had convinced Walter Beech that she should help him gain
recognition for his airplane. She promptly gained an altitude
record, an endurance record, and then a speed record in the Beech
Travel Air. More records fell to this whirlwind, then in 1936 the
all-male Bendix Trophy Race was opened to women. Along with Blanche
Noyes, Louise flew to first place in a Staggerwing Beech. That year
Louise Thaden was awarded the Harmon Trophy as the world's
outstanding flier.
The late '20s was aviation's adolescence, a
time to prove oneself and shout to the world, "Here I am!" Air
races, endurance flights, altitude and speed records were the
challenges. Engine failures and off-airport landings were expected.
Aviators were colourful and adored, and Ruth Elder was a heroine.
FIVE MONTHS after Lindbergh's epic Flight, Ruth
Elder and George Haldeman took off for Paris in a Stinson monoplane
named "The American Girl." Encountering storms over the Atlantic,
they made it to within 360 miles of the Azores, when an oil leak
forced them to land in the water. Rescued by a Dutch oil tanker, the
beautiful aviatrix went on to a successful Hollywood acting career.
Always an international organization, the 99s
included Jessie Keith-Miller, an Australian, and Thea Rasche, a
German, in their charter group. Keith-Miller competed in the 1929
Women's Air Derby, and Rasche, who became a famous stunt flier, was
invited to fly air shows in America. Quotable Thea offered sage
advice, "Flying is more thrilling than love for a man, and far less
dangerous."
Histories - the 1940's and 1950's..
