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[[newspaper clipping]] private airport of Mrs. Florence Barnes, Ninth Corps Area Commander. Here the Corps will participate in aerial maneuvers simulating Air Corps tactics en masse for practice in precision and versatility, which will be admirably suited to ceremonies at airports and on state occasions. Here, too, the various committees or the Corp will meet to formulate plans for the coming year, while questions of policies and changes will be decided at the annual national meeting scheduled for the last Friday of the National Air Races at Cleveland. A distinct feature of the Corps is that at present no members, except the officers pro tem., hold rank above any other member. Under the charter, promotion will be by ability and not by publicity. Even the tenure of office of Commander will be subject to results obtained in the official capacity, and may be terminated for the good of the Corps by vote of the Board of Directors at any time. Memorial Continental Hall, the D.A.R. building in Washington, was the scene of the first meeting of the Betsy Ross Corps last May. There the official Corps flags were presented with appropriate ceremonies which included speeches of welcome by the respective chiefs of the Army and Navy air services. The establishment of the Corps, declared Admiral William A. Moffett, "marks another forward step in aviation and in national defense to an extent that we cannot realize today." And therein lies the sum and substance of the Betsy Ross Corps' existence, for it is designed to grow into a formidable agency for the service of women in aviation in peace as well as in wartime. The official uniform of the Corps consists of belted military tan coat, jodhpur riding breeches and beret, to which are affixed the winged insignia. Expansion of the women's reserve corps is proceeding at a conservative and discriminating rate. Applicants are limited to those who are American citizens and holders of a Department of Commerce license. The initiation fee is ten dollars, and the annual dues are only five, which provides for the administration costs. Of the more than four hundred women pilots in the country, not all will be members of the Corps, for only the highest type of individual is desired. The members are fired with an ideal and they are building solidly. At the spiritual helm is the chaplain, Captain Gill Robb Wilson, aviation commissioner of the State of New Jersey, former national chaplain of the American Legion, who was not so long ago with the Lafayette Escadrille in France as a flier. Every now and then he and Major Robert L. Copsey, commanding officer 44th Division, New Jersey National Guard, preach the Betsy Ross gospel, for both are honorary members of the Corps. Other honorary members include Admiral Moffett; Major General James E. Fechet, Chief of the Army Air Corps; Mrs. Eleanor Washington Howard, the last member of the Washington family to be born in Mt. Vernon; Mrs. Eleanor Patterson of New York, Chicago and Washington, editor of the Washington Herald; Cliff Henderson, manager, National Air Races; Mrs. Lowell Fletcher Hobart, National President-General, D.A.R.; Lieutenant Walter Hinton of NC-4 fame; Captain Robert R. Appell, New York National Guard, and Lieutenant Cornelius J. Kenney, Air Corps. Some of the better-known members of the Corps include Mrs. Opal Kunz, national commander, New York, who flies a J-6 Travel Air (300); Jane Dodge, the Corps quartermaster, whose father and brother are also pilots and members of the Philadelphia Aviation Country Club; Mildred Morgan, a color bearer, winner of second place in the women's derby last year and mother of three children at Beverley Hills, California; Mary Goodrich, Hartford, Connecticut, the other color bearer; and Margorie Stinson of the famous pioneer aviation family, who trained Army pilots for the last war, none of whom were killed. Miss Stinson, commanding officer for the Third Corps Area, was one of the first women in this country to learn to fly, and although her modesty obscures her contributions, she has done more for aviation than many of the more spectacular men pilots. Among the most active women pilots of the West Coast is Mrs. Florence Lowe Barnes, commanding officer of the Ninth Corps Area. She is the granddaughter of Professor T.S.C. Lowe, first aviation officer of the U.S. Army and created General of the Union Aeronautic Corps by President Lincoln, for his service in commanding a balloon detachment in the Civil War. Laguna, California, boasts Mrs. Barne's private airport and fleet of three ships which will be available to the Corps during encampment. Another famous aviatrix is the commanding officer of the Fourth Corps Area, Pheobe F. Omlie, first woman to win a transport license, winner of the light class in both women's air derbys, and recipient of official commendation for distinguished services in flying for relief work during the Louisiana [[image: black & white photograph of Martha Morehouse Johnson]] flood, when she carried Red Cross supplies and rescued refugees. This is indicative of the service for which Betsy Ross fliers are expected to qualify in peacetime. [[/newspaper clipping]] [[newspaper clipping]] [[image: black & white photograph of 10 women aviators]] for the Corps. Martha Morehouse Johnson, with a son five years old, is actively flying and is commanding officer of the Fifth Corps Area. Lola Lo Lutz is a popular flier at Minneapolis, Minnesota, and commands the Sixth Corps Area. Up New England way the commanding officer of the First Corps Area is Maurice Ames (Mrs. Frederick Lothrop Ames), note sportswoman and flier, gifted musician and singer. Mrs. Ames' husband is one of the most ardent sportsmen fliers in the New England section. Mrs. Ames has a number of ships to choose from for her organization duties. Connecticut activity centers around Mary Goodrich of Weathersfield, one of the Corps color bearers. That popular Texas flier, Jean La Rene of Dallas, is commanding officer of the Eighth Area. Joan Shankle, wife f an Air Corps officer stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, flies her own Lockheed Sirius now and then to California or New York, or off with her husband on shooting trips to Tucson. She is a crack pilot, holder of a transport license, and has a two-year-old son. Other well-known and active members are Ruth Elder Camp, Margorie Doig, [[underlined]] Manila Davis [[/underlined]], Flatwoods, West Virginia; Ruth Stewart of St. Louis; Dorothy Lyons, Kansas City, Missouri. Application are still coming in. Flying women in this country and its possessions are anxious to align themselves with an organization of fliers that is larger than personalities. The members of this Corps have a worth cause; they are motivated by one thought: to serve. "For God and Country" is their motto. [[image: black & white photograph of a woman flier, Mary Goodrich]] [[/newspaper clipping]]
