Why We Fly

Despite a grocery list of more than 65 years of accomplishments in aviation, Joan E. Mace made her very first trip to Oshkosh in July 2008, returning in October 2008 as one of only 22 inducted that year into the National Association of Flight Instructors Hall of Fame.

Mace worked at the Columbus, Ohio, Curtis Wright aviation manufacturing plant during World War II checking landing gear, rivets, and flaring panels. She applied to become a Women’s Airforce Service Pilot, but the war ended before she could participate.

Because of the high cost of $2 per hour for an instructor and $8 per hour to rent an airplane, she decided to become a flight instructor so she could afford to keep flying. At that time automotive gas was about 36 cents a gallon. The total cost for the private pilot certificate was around $2,500 plus separate tests for navigation, weather, et cetera. Mace did this all by studying on her own without ground school.

Many returning veterans were offered 35 hours of free flight instruction by the government. At one point Ohio University’s airport in Athens was putting up 22 airplanes per hour and had more than 350 students, thanks to the government-funded instruction. Mace got her instructor certificate in 1946 and started teaching the next day at as the only woman among more than 20 instructors.

Mace married, had three sons, and returned to work when the youngest entered kindergarten. No degree was initially needed for faculty, but when Ohio University changed its policy, Mace took 10 years to get her bachelor’s degree, graduating with her son. He quips that what took her 10 years only took him two!

The 1960’s attitude was that women didn’t have the ability to fly, but being the only female aviation faculty member was not a problem for Mace. She was well respected, becoming the first female chair of a university aviation department. In her Hall of Fame acceptance speech, Mace said, “I have flown with lousy women pilots, and lousy men pilots. I have flown with great men pilots and great women pilots. The word pilot does not have a gender attached to it.”

Mace taught more than 1,000 students and logged more than 12,000 hours. She taught Dean Hess, about whom the movie Battle Hymn was made; instructed restaurant founder Bob Evans’ son, Steve, and numerous others. She still e-mails some of her students, and several former students attended the induction ceremony. Their recommendations included glowing phrases such as, “She not only taught me flying, but she taught me about life.”

Mace flew in the now defunct Powder Puff Derby in her Cessna 310. The secret to winning “was having a good person for weather, and to shine and wax the airplane to reduce drag.” Mace continued flying into 2007 as an examiner with the Coast Guard Auxiliary in Florida, but eventually returned to Ohio because she loves the colorful change of seasons.

Always the instructor, Mace uses a quick trick to confirm the numbers on the opposite end of a runway. Drawing a compass, Mace noted each end adds to the same number: 33 (3 plus 3) and 15 (1 plus 5) each add up to 6; 36/18 and 9 /27 all add up to 9; 22 and 4 add up to 4, and so on. While a basic understanding of the quadrants is needed, the trick is helpful.

Peg Ballou is an instrument-rated private pilot who lives in Bucyrus, Ohio. She and her husband own a Piper Archer.