Are you considering flying to Canada from the U.S. for our International Conference in Vancouver? 

Watch the webinar, which provides planning tips for your adventure and lays out a checklist for getting your trip organized.

Boundary Bay (CZBB) is the general aviation airport, just under 20 miles from the Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront. The webinar will include information about U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, CANPASS (Canadian Customs), NAV CANADA, Transport Canada, flight planning, and more. 

Watch the webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0tKY5Trgjg

By Minetta Gardinier, Vice President

We are looking for volunteers to help at our booths during EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, July 22-28. It is a great opportunity for members to get involved and promote The 99s to a wider audience. Our presence at events like AirVenture raises awareness about our mission, encourages more women to pursue careers in aviation, and increases our visibility to the aviation community. Meet other aviation enthusiasts and share your passion for flying.

Hangar B Booth: If you're interested in volunteering, providing outreach, and helping recruit new members, you can select the dates and times from the schedules posted HERE. Limited daily show passes are available (four hours per day required). For further details, OR to arrange for a daily show pass, OR to purchase your 99s BLUE polo staff shirt: contact Minnetta Gardinier (m.gardinier@gmail.com or 319-331-6235). HANGAR booth – signup here (https://signup.com/go/jrBcPvQ)

WomenVenture Pavilion Booth: This is an auxiliary booth to our main booth in Hangar B. It will be hosted by 99s President Robin Hadfield. The link to sign-up for volunteering at this booth is HERE. Limited daily show passes are available (four hours per day required). For further details, OR to arrange for a daily show pass, OR to purchase your 99s BLUE polo staff shirt: contact Robin Hadfield (president@ninety-nines.org WOMENVENTURE booth – signup here (https://signup.com/go/mbJKODC)

Women join The Ninety-Nines for the pure love of flying! Whether we soar for pleasure, integrate aviation into our businesses, or make flying our career, it's all about the thrill of being in the sky.

Most of our Ninety-Nines activities revolve around hopping into our planes and having an adventure. We organize day or weekend fly-outs to airports with local attractions, aviation museums, FAA facilities, and, of course, awesome restaurants. Sometimes, we escape to resorts or get-away spots to unwind with our fellow pilots and friends. And if there's an air show happening, that's just the perfect excuse to take to the skies.

Flying Fun Days, hosted by a Ninety-Nines chapter for other 99s, are all about friendly competition and fun. We engage in exciting events like poker runs, spot landing challenges, and flour bombing showdowns.

Poker runs

In a poker run, we deal out cards at five airports, including our home base. Pilots and passengers visit each airport, collecting envelopes with playing cards. At the end of the day, we reveal our hands, and prizes go to the highest, lowest, and some other unique combinations.

Flour bombing & spot landing contests

Spot landing and flour bombing contests often go hand in hand. For flour bombing, a pilot and their "bombardier" get to unleash flour-filled "bombs" from the sky. We aim for a target beside the runway, marked with a tarp, ribbons, or more flour. After a thrilling bombing run, it's all about nailing a precise landing on "the spot," often marked by a line of flour. Awards are handed out for the best efforts and, of course, those who "need a bit more practice."

Many of us Ninety-Nine members fly to the organization's Section meetings and the annual International Conference. These journeys allow us to explore new airports and reconnect with women beyond our local circles. Some meetings even include fun flying competitions like spot landing, flour bombing, and poker runs, followed by camping out under the wing of our planes.

For those looking to enhance their aviation skills, many chapters organize skill-building days. These events feature speakers from local aviation schools and the FAA, followed by hands-on lessons from experienced flight instructors. Themes often include emergency procedures, instrument flying, or IFR training.

So, whether it's a serious aviation endeavor or a lighthearted adventure, we'll seize any opportunity to rev up those engines and relish the joy of flying!

Gene Nora Jessen, known affectionately as Janora, was a pioneering aviator whose legacy spanned teaching, research, and writing, leaving an indelible mark on the history of aviation. 

While working her way through The University of Oklahoma, she served on the faculty teaching flying, an early testament to her passion and dedication to aviation. 

In the summer of 1961, Gene Nora took part in a groundbreaking female astronaut research program in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Among the elite group of thirteen women pilots, later dubbed the "Mercury 13," she successfully passed the rigorous astronaut physical exams. 

Although further testing was canceled, this remarkable achievement did not go unnoticed, inspiring five books that chronicled this significant, though often overlooked, chapter in space exploration history. 

Gene Nora's commitment to aviation extended beyond the skies to leadership and historical preservation. 

She served as President of The Ninety-Nines, Inc., an international organization of licensed women pilots. Her involvement with the group's museum sparked an exhaustive research journey into the history of early women pilots. 

This led to her acclaimed book, "The Powder Puff Derby of 1929," published in 2001, which detailed the first women's transcontinental air race and ignited her own passion for air racing.  

In 1962, Gene Nora joined Beech Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas, as a sales demonstration pilot. She gained prominence as one of the Three Musketeers, flying formation across forty-eight states in ninety days to promote the new Beech Musketeer. Her role evolved, leading to additional ratings and the opportunity to fly the entire Beech line. Her adventures culminated in the publication of "The Fabulous Flight of the Three Musketeers" in 2009, a true testament to her adventurous spirit. 

Gene Nora and her husband Bob eventually settled in Boise, Idaho, where they owned and operated a fixed base operation at Boise Airport for many years. Their family grew to include two children and three grandchildren, with whom they shared their love of flying. 

Her contributions to the field, her leadership, and her storytelling have left a lasting legacy that will inspire generations of aviators to come.

Gene Nora was comfortable and peaceful when she passed away in the morning, May 21, 2024. Plans are still being made for her Memorial and will be forwarded as soon as they are finalized.