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THE FIRST SIXTY YEARS

1927  Charter member Nancy Hopkins Tier(chapter member, 1954-1966) begins to fly, solos in 1928 at Hoover Field, Washington, D.C., and flies her first cross-country from Miami to Washington using Rand McNally road maps.

1928  Charter member Betsy Kelly Weeks (Chapter member 1953-1963) begins to fly in July in a Waco 10 and later in a Gypsy Moth at Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Blanche Noyes, Charter member taught by her husband, Dewey, solos in December after 3 3/4 hours of instruction.

1929  Charter member Fay Gillis Wells (current chapter member) saves her life by bailing out of a crippled plane using a parachute, thus becoming the first woman member of the Caterpillar Club. Upon being hired as the first airplane saleswoman for the Curtiss-Wright company, she quips, "I fell into the job."

The NInety-Nines are organized at Valley Stream, NY.

1933  November 19 is recognized as our official charter date (for a reason not quite clear) although we have no official chapter officers and the actual formation meeting is recorded as ...

1934  June 12. Mrs. Genevieve Moore Savage gives a buffet supper for twelve Washington, D.C. women pilots at her home at Bolling Field. Plans are made to form a local 99 chapter.

1936  Blanche Noyes is appointed Chief, Air Marking Staff, FAA, in charge of all air marking throughout the U.S. and its territories; she serves for 35 years. She also wins, with Louise Thaden, the Bendix Air Race for both men and women.

Before sophisticated radio navigation systems were developed, airmarkings of flat rooftops with arrows and distances to the closest airfield were essential pilot aids. In modern times, airmarking consists of airfield names painted on taxiways and compass roses.

1938  October 16. At a meeting in the home of Dorothea Leh, Allentown, PA, three chapters formed the Middle East Section; Western PA, and Eastern PA, and the Washington-Baltimore-Richmond Chapter. The latter holds its first meeting on November 20 and Ruth Wieland of Baltimore becomes our first official Chairman.

1940-1945  World War II. The Chapter now has three officers and four members who pay 30¢ for a 99 roster. During these war years most of our members are serving as WASPS, instructors for the CPTP program, members of the CAP, ATC, and Red Cross. Some work in defense plants. Our annual national meetings are canceled, chapters become inactive and the Army prohibits

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Irene Wirstshalfter and Alice Hammond, 1963 AWTAR.

civilian flying on the East Coast. Blanche Noyes is responsible for removing all air markings within 150 miles of both coasts. (They are all replaced after the war).

Jean Ross Howard joins the chapter in 1941, becoming custodian for our chapter records, but the Washington D.C. chapter is not heard from until October 1944, when its reactivation is discussed at the home of Lt. Ruth Heller.

1946  We now have 19 members.

1947  The first Skyway I airmaker is installed on top of the Army Map Service Building overlooking the Potomac. Directions to Bailey's Crossroads Airport and Congressional Airport are indicated as the nearest landing areas. To make it smell nice and have that feminine touch, we mark the sign with Cashmere Bouquet Talcum!

Out chapter joins the WASPs and Women Flyers of America for the first All Women's Aviation Banquet. The toastmistress is Blanche Noyes and the speaker is Jacqueline Cochran. Jean Ross Howard reports for Wings over Maryland for WGAY.

1948  We host the first Middle East Section meeting in three years at the Mayflower Hotel. Tiedown fee at the Washington-Virginia (Crossroads) Airport is 50¢. Fran Nolde wins the Jacqueline Cochran All-Woman Trophy Race from Palm Springs to Miami in a Ryan Navion. (By 1950 this race becomes the All Woman Transcontinental Air Race or AWTAR, otherwise known as the Powder Puff Derby).

1949  Blanche Noyes is honored for her services as Chief of The Air Marking Section of CAA, now the FAA. She is installed International President at the 20th Anniversary Celebration, October 3-8. (Her tenure of office is usually given as 1948-50).

1950  As a member of the Washington Association of Flying Clubs, we participate in the first "Courtesy Flight Day" in Washington on May 21 during which 555 people are flown free, many for their first flight.

During the fifties great emphasis is placed on Air Marking, Civil Defense and Air Age Education. Perry Robinson receives the Washington Air Derby Association Trophy in recognition for her unrelenting fight for legislation to teach aviation in the public schools.

1951  Under the direction of International Secretary, Jean Ross Howard, we inventory, pack, and ship years of accumulated records and files of Ninety-Nines from National Aeronautical Association to New York City, N.Y., our new headquarters.

Jean Ross Howard is elected International Vice President.

1952  September 27. We host the Section meeting at the Kenwood Country Club. We now have 34 members.

1953  Six of our members form half of a new 11-member all-girl CAP squadron, the first in our area.

Jean Ross Howard and Maryjane Sasala

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Blanche Noyes presents President Kennedy with a first-day cover of the AE 8¢ stamp as Virginia Thompson, Fay Wells, and Velta Been look on.