 | |
| Founded | 1955 |
|---|---|
| Type | Trade Association |
| Focus | Dedicated to advancing women in helicopter aviation |
| Location |
|
Members | 1,700 |
| Website | http://www.whirlygirls.org/ |
The Whirly-Girls, officially known as Whirly-Girls International, are a non-profit, charitable and educational organization that aims to advance women in helicopter aviation. They are an affiliate member of the Helicopter Association International. [1] The Whirly-Girls and the Ninety-Nines have many members in common. [2]
The Whirly-Girls were founded by Jean Ross Howard Phelan, an American helicopter pilot, in 1955. At the time there were so few women with helicopter ratings that the group started with only 13 charter members representing the United States, Germany, and France. [2] The Whirly-Girls provided a community for female helicopter pilots to share interests, remove feelings of isolation, and to come together in annual "Hoverings" beginning in April 1955. [3] Today the organization has over 1,700 members from 44 different countries. [1] An early member ("Whirly-Girl #1") was Hanna Reitsch, who flew her helicopter inside Berlin's Deutschlandhalle in 1938. [2] Member #2 was Ann Shaw Carter, the first female commercial helicopter pilot. [4] Charter member #10 was aviator Edna Gardner Whyte. [5]
The organization's logo was inspired by a recruiting show put on by the U.S. Army in the early 1950s. Four helicopters performed a square dance, with a caller on the microphone and a band playing "Turkey in the Straw". Two of the helicopters were decorated to represent the boys, and the other two represented the girls. The "girl" helicopters were topped with blonde wigs fashioned from dyed floor mops, and faces were painted on them in the style of Betty Boop. [1]
The scholarship program was started in 1968 in memory of Doris Mullen, a former member. It was incorporated in 1974, and became an international program in 1978. The program provides flight training scholarships to eligible women. [6]
Phelan received the National Aeronautic Association's Elder Statesman of Aviation Award in 1994. [2]
The Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots, also known as The 99s, is an international organization that provides networking, mentoring, and flight scholarship opportunities to recreational and professional female pilots. As of 2018, there are 155 Ninety-Nines chapters across the globe, including a 'virtual' chapter, Ambassador 99s, which meets online for those who are too busy or mobile to be in one region for long.
Ila Fox Loetscher, also known as the "Turtle Lady", was an American female aviation pioneer and noted advocate for the care and preservation of sea turtles.
Ida Van Smith was an African-American pilot and flight instructor born in 1917 in Lumberton, North Carolina and died in that very town on May 13, 2003.
Northwest Regional Airport is a privately owned, public use airport 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) northwest of Roanoke, in Denton County, Texas, United States.
The 99s Museum of Women Pilots (MWP) is a non-profit museum and research institute that seeks to preserve the unique history of women in aviation. It is located on the second story of the international headquarters building of the non-profit International Organization of Women Pilots: The Ninety-Nines ("99s") on the grounds of Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The 5,000-square-foot (460 m2) museum houses the largest collection of historical women aviator artifacts in the world.
Mary Wallace Funk is an American aviator, space tourist, and Goodwill Ambassador. She was the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, the first female civilian flight instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and the first female Federal Aviation Agency inspector, as well as one of the Mercury 13.
Eloise or Eleanor "Nellie" Zabel Willhite was the first deaf woman to earn a pilot's license, as well as South Dakota's first female pilot.
Dr. Dora Jean Dougherty Strother was an American aviator best known as a Woman Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) and B-29 Superfortress demonstration pilot. She was a U.S. military pilot, human factors engineer with Bell Aircraft, instructor at the University of Illinois and helicopter test pilot for Bell Aircraft.
Women have been involved in aviation from the beginnings of both lighter-than air travel and as airplanes, helicopters and space travel were developed. Women pilots were also called "aviatrices". Women have been flying powered aircraft since 1908; prior to 1970, however, most were restricted to working privately or in support roles in the aviation industry. Aviation also allowed women to "travel alone on unprecedented journeys". Women who have been successful in various aviation fields have served as mentors to younger women, helping them along in their careers.
Edna Gardner Whyte was an American aviator whose career as a pilot and instructor spanned more than four decades. She was also an air racer who won more than two dozen races.
Katharine Stinson was an American aeronautical engineer and the Federal Aviation Administration's first female engineer.
Gladys "Penny" Thompson was an American aviator and women's intercontinental air race-air show promoter and aviation publisher-editor during the 1940s and early 1950s. In 1953, she married Miami Herald humor columnist Larry Thompson, and for 20 years until his death, she was featured often in his daily column, "Life With Larry Thompson" and in three books he authored. She founded the Miami-Dade Mother's of Twins Club and the Twins Easter Parade.
Dorothy Wetherald Rungeling was a Canadian pilot from Fenwick, Ontario hailed as one of Canada's most experienced air racers. She was the adopted daughter of Ethelwyn Wetherald, the Canadian poet and journalist. In 2004, Dorothy published a collection of her mother's writing, "Life and Works of Ethelwyn Wetherald 1857-1940". Dorothy is also known for own her writing as a published author and Aviation Editor for the Evening Tribune, Welland and won an Aviation Writers Award at the 1953 AITA convention. Before venturing into flying, Dorothy also trained and showed horses and wrote a series of instructions for fellow trainers.
Elizabeth Haas Pfister was an American aviator.
Lorna Vivian deBlicquy (1931–2009) was a pioneering female Canadian aviator who flew for over 50 years, becoming Canada's first woman civil aviation flight test inspector. She contributed significantly to improve conditions for working women pilots. In 2014, she was posthumously inducted into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame.
Elynor H. "Johnnie" Rudnick was an aviation pioneer. She was the first female president of the Helicopter Association of America (HAA), first female president of Helicopter Association International, treasurer of the California Helicopter Association, a flight school owner and instructor, aviation business owner, aviator, and airplane restorer. She founded Bakersfield Air Park and Kern Copters, Inc. and helped organize Helicopter Association International. She was also considered an expert in aviation-assisted agricultural spraying.
Ann Shaw Carter was an American pilot who was the first female commercial helicopter pilot and the second woman to fly a helicopter, after the German pilot, Hanna Reitsch.
Mary Charlotte Alexander was an American aviation pioneer, one of the first women to become a commercial pilot.
Jean Ross Howard Phelan is the founder of the Whirly Girls and the 13th woman in the world to earn her helicopter accreditation.