Milestones: 90 in November

A closer look reveals some of the women wearing long pants, or pants tucked into boots, and a flight suit and helmet. The photo was taken November 2, 1929, to record the very first meeting of The Ninety-Nines—a group created by and for women pilots. All 117 women pilots on record at the time were invited “to assemble for mutual support, the advancement of aviation, and to create a central office to keep files on women in aviation,” according to the organization’s history.

Air racer and record setter Louise Thaden was the group’s first secretary, and in 1931 Amelia Earhart was elected its first president. The group called itself The Ninety-Nines after its 99 charter members, which included other notables such as Ruth Elder, who was known as the “Miss America of Aviation”; Fay Gillis, a globe-trotting journalist and broadcaster; and Marjorie Stinson, who was the first female airmail pilot in the United States.

The Ninety-Nines celebrates its ninetieth anniversary in November with more than 6,000 members, and chapters in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, New Zealand, and North and South America. Every member is a pilot or student pilot. Each year the association awards thousands of dollars in scholarships to student pilots as well as those who are pursuing advanced ratings.

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Web: ninety-nines.org

A decade of Flying Musicians

John Zapp and Aileen Hummel brainstormed a way to combine their passions for aviation, music, and community service. A decade later, their Flying Musicians Association counts more than 700 members.

The group’s first performance was in Texas during the Fly-In Musicfest at Fort Worth Spinks Airport in 2009. Zapp and Hummel hosted a fun and spirited event that encompassed live music on two stages—one on the ramp and another in a corporate hangar—impromptu jam tents, songwriting seminars, EAA Young Eagles flights, and aircraft rides on a Douglas C–47 Dakota passenger aircraft and a North American B–25 Mitchell bomber. More than 100 musicians joined several thousand music aficionados and aviation enthusiasts during the premier event.

In 2014 the association began the FMA Solo Program to help grow the pilot community and to reward good musicianship. To date, 11 learn-to-fly scholarships have been awarded to student musicians in the United States and Canada. Nine recipients have soloed, and with mentorship from other Flying Musicians members, several student musicians have gone on to earn their private pilot certificate. —David Tulis

Web: flyingmusicians.org