HAZEL MARCELLA CORRY

Hazel was born May 17, 1916 and passed away April 10, 2006.  She joined The 99s July 27, 1959 and was a Life member.  She and her husband operated a flight school and general operation at Highland Park Airport before it was replaced by a "high-rise".  She also ran a flight school on Addison Airport in a building now located behind the Addison Police Department.  She was always ready to help with any projects in which the chapter was involved.  Although she did not do much race flying or set any records, those who knew her recall she was a genuine friend to everyone she knew.  She was good friends with Martha Ann Redding and Dorothy Warren.

MARY DORIS WELLER

Doris passed away February 14, 2005; she was born December 26, 1915.  She joined The 99s October 31, 1950 and was a Life member.  Doris was one of the original Dallas chapter founding members.  Doris, Jo Allison and Martha Ann Reading were close "running buddies" in their flying days.  Doris worked as an Air Traffic Controller.   Active in The Ninety-Nines and the Civil Air Patrol, she had approximately 1,500 hours of flight time.  At the time of her death, Doris was living in Lincoln, NE.

MARY ANN RHINE HENNESSEY

Born October 5, 1931 in Houston, Mary Ann passed away August 25, 2004.  She graduated from SMU with a Bachelor's degree in music with honors; pipe organ was her specialty and choir directing.  She was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority and active in sports as well as receiving several academic and athletic awards.  Mary Ann worked in the math department of SMU from 1950 - 1953.  She received several national science foundation grants and took many courses (including her Master's degree in Math) at SMU.  She spent 14 years teaching in the Dallas Independent School District, including 19 years at L.V. Stockard Jr. High School and 4 years at Thomas Jefferson High School.  She taught 14 years at Hocaday School and was Adjunct Math Professor at Brookhaven College. 

Mary Ann received her pilot's license in December 1961 and had 4000 hours of flying time.  She owned three airplanes and flew all over the United States.  She was also a tournament water skier, entering three national tournaments in jumping.    She almost lost her life to alcohol and became sober in December 1982.  Deciding to learn more about this disease, she became a Licensed Chemical Dependence Counselor along with other certifications.  She was a substance abuse prevention coordinator and DWI education instructor, and worked with many prevention and recovery organizations. 

MARGARET (MARGE) WATSON (As told to Ann Koenig at The 99s South Central Section Meeting June 1996 and reviewed by Marge Watson & Larry Alberts)

I asked my parents if I could take flying lessons when I was 18 years old.  They did not approve but assured me if I still wanted to fly when I was 21 years old I could.  Two weeks after my 21st birthday I took my first lesson. I trained at Penn State University with the CPT (Civilian Pilot Training program).  I received my Degree and my pilot's license in June of the same year.  After graduation I returned home to New Castle, Pennsylvania and worked at the Alcoa plant.  This was before Pearl Harbor.  My brother had completed his degree the June before I started College in September.  After graduation he had gone directly into the Armed Service and flew for the Marines and attained the rank of Major.  He was killed at Midway long before the battle in which the US defeated Japan. 

After my brother's death, I urgently felt I had to be more active in the defense effort.  Jacqueline Cochran sent me a telegram and I went to Sweetwater, Texas for the WASP training in 1943.  We were to be there only 6 months but were delayed a few weeks because of a big snow storm.  I left there January 6, 1944 along with 8 or 9 others who were stationed at Las Vegas, Nevada.  The commander at Las Vegas had informed the troops that 9 or 10 women pilots would be attached to the base and the women would be flying along side of the men.  We were accepted very well.  

The second day we were there they had a parade including all the troops and bands.  It was in the afternoon and cool, even with the sun out.  We were assigned to the reviewing stand in our new tailored uniforms that we had gotten as we left Sweetwater.  The shoes didn't necessarily fit too well and mine were too short.  We stood for over two hours as the troops went by.  We never had another parade and I finally realized they were looking us over, rather than us looking them over!

I started out flying AT6s.  I later flew the target airplane and the gunners of the B17 bombers would practice their anti-aircraft fire.  At first they only took pictures of what they would have hit.  Later they used live ammunition.  With the B17 at 10,000 -11,000 feet we would simulate attacks and evasive maneuvers.  While maintaining my duties flying the AT6, I was being trained to fly the B26.  My instructor had problems in that his wife was pregnant and he seemed very preoccupied.  One night another girl and I were being instructed in the B26.  I went through my lesson's maneuvers and it was the other girl's time. I went back and laid down to get some sleep.  The next thing I knew the instructor came back and woke me.  We were lost and he and the other girl panicked. They wanted me to take over and get us back. Of course I had to consider fuel and after a while I saw some movement. Remember this was wartime and no lights or rotating beacons to attract the enemy! I started down and it started getting warm and humid. The movement I had detected was the water off the coast of California and I was able to land at the Naval base near San Diego. There were many people all around. We sent word of where we had landed back to the Las Vegas base and were shown a place to sleep. It was filthy and there were lots of bugs but we were so tired we could sleep in our clothes with all the bugs.

The next morning we flew home to the Las Vegas base. The base had not received our message and all were delighted to see us alive with the airplane intact. Neither the instructor nor the other girl was any help. The girl had panicked and I never saw her again. The base received our message about six hours after our arrival.

Later while flying with the B26 instructor, I was in the left seat and we took off and were about half way down the runway when the left engine started sputtering. The B26 was not supposed to be able to fly on only one engine. I put both feet on the left rudder  and my back against the seat to keep the airplane flying straight.  We were not very high or fast and there was not enough distance to stop on the runway.  With full fuel and nothing but rocks ahead I had to try to nurse the airplane around and land.  I reduced the power of the right engine to keep from turning into the building adjacent to the runway.  The instructor panicked and insisted I change seats.  I had to adjust all the trim and move seats.  All he did was sit in the left seat with his hands in his lap.  He did not even touch the controls.  I used the sputtering left engine very carefully to get what little power I could from it and with the reduced power on the right engine I finally got up to about 200 feet AGL.  I had to make steep left turns because of the difference in power.  With steep turns and low altitude and speed we finally made it around and landed safely.  I don't remember but one more training session with another instructor in the B26 and I had earned the left seat.  I never saw the first instructor again.  I was the first woman at the Las Vegas base to be certified to fly the B26.  I was 25 years old at the time.

The B17 gunners would shoot live ammunition at the target banners being pulled by the B26 that had been stripped of its armament.  They were supposed to hit the target banners but after landing I found four holes in the plane and the next time I found two holes.  After that I didn't even look.  All training maneuvers at the base were planned for the day and it was very important that every plane was in the air at the designated time.  On one occasion a male pilot got in the left seat.  He was a commissioned officer and I wasn't going to say any thing but after inhaling and finding him drunk I asked him to get in the right seat and take a nap.  At first he resisted but we had a crew of four.  There were gunners, bombardier and navigators.  On this occasion one of the men stood behind me with a large metal rod that he just kept tapping on his left hand.  The drunk officer/pilot saw him, moved over and did not touch a thing.  We departed on time and completed the days assigned maneuvers.  I did not report the pilot but he ended up in Leavenworth.  The only problem was one of the girls was in love with him and she was very upset.

My first assignment was to give instrument instruction.  At that time instruments were taught with canvas cover over the entire canopy and only one could see outside.  One of my students was a first lieutenant that thought I didn't know anything and he did. He snapped the airplane and knocked us both unconscious.  I woke up to the screaming noise the airplane was making and indicating we were pulling 8 or 9 Gs.  I was able to pull the nose up and trim it for a climb and I blacked out again.  I woke up again when we were at high altitude and the plane was buffeting.  I got control again and brought it down to normal altitude.  He finally regained consciousness and since this was at the end of his training I had to make him go back through the maneuvers because I felt he must finish with the correct training.  Several months later, he and his wife came up to me at a party and they were both very solemn as if they were at a funeral.  I hadn't ever told Elmer, my soon to be husband, about the incident.

Elmer was Director of Flying and my commanding officer.  After we married, I was shipped out to a naval training base in the Mojave Desert.  It was standard procedure to separate all married couples.  I was flying Douglas Dauntless Dive Bombers that had been discarded by the Navy and given to us.  The sailors were shooting heavy fast anti-aircraft guns from the ground and I was flying 400 to 500 feet high towing target banners.  I was able to make good friends with several people including one of the flight commanders.  Somehow I had received word that Elmer was sick and running a high fever.  After the day's practice runs, I asked for a plane to go see Elmer, promising I would be back at the base for the next days maneuvers. They didn't want me to leave until they had made some radio repairs. However, they didn't have the part I needed for the repair. I could transmit but could not receive. Finally, somehow I got them to let me go on up to see Elmer and make the repair there. My plan was to return before dark. When I got to Las Vegas I found Elmer was not there but at a smaller base farther north. I finally found Elmer at Indian Springs, Nevada.

I was right in front of the tower and there were people all around. While I was still in my seat Elmer was out kissing me! He certainly was not himself. He never showed affection in front of anyone. He was usually strictly military in front of others. Elmer couldn't repair the plane at that base and wanted me to go back to Las Vegas for the repair. I decided to go back without the repair because it was getting late and would soon be dark. I had promised to get the plane back for training maneuvers the next day and I did not want to get my friend in trouble for letting me borrow a plane. As it became dark I discovered the plane had no panel lights. I had to broadcast my location and I knew exactly where to go. I could see one light on the dry lake bed and I thought to myself, you don't know how far down to go. I could not tell where the ground was. I descended very slowly, as if I were ditching on the ocean, and made a fairly solid landing. The plane was made for carrier landings so the gear could take the stress. I then heard from the back seat "We are not dead!". I had forgotten there was a young enlisted man behind me that had some time off and had begged for a ride. He leaped out of the plane and was so happy! The friend who had loaned me the airplane came tearing down in his car, put the plane away and took us back. The young man went to the enlisted men's quarters and told the story to all!

We had a lot of Italian POWs on the base. They could not go anywhere and were given jobs and paid for their work. One man managed a restaurant that served excellent French food. We walked in and it was closing. There were a number of people still there. They had finished eating and were just talking. My friend told the Maitre d' about the hard time I had and how hungry I was. The rules were that after the restaurant had served all the customers, the staff could cook themselves whatever they wanted to eat. The chef and all the staff came in bringing the best Italian food I ever had in my life! My friend did not get in trouble; Elmer got better and he had been happy to see me. It all worked out and I never got in trouble for leaving. 

JO ALLISON - A Golden Celebration of Flying (Written in 1992 by Holly Barr, and as told by Jo Allison to Martha Ann Reading, Marge Watson and Holly Barr)

Jo's life of flying began in 1941. Her husband, Robert, was a sheet Metal Contractor; one day, a salesman who had just earned his pilot's license came to make a business call. This salesman was very excited about his new skill and was anxious to take someone flying.  Jo's husband was not interested, but Jo certainly was. They took off from Hampton Airport, which was in Oak Cliff, and flew the entire afternoon. This experience could not have come at a better time for Jo, as her children were all in school, and she was looking for a new activity to fill her time. She had just found it.
 
Flying lessons were $4 an hour at Hampton airport; with her husband's blessing, she signed up. The lessons, funded from grocery money she had saved, were in an Aeronca Chief. She soloed at about the time the United States got involved in WWII. Many of the local men were trying to get into the Army Air Force, and Hampton Airport had to dedicate its planes and instructors to them.  Civilians were required to wait in line.  Undaunted, Jo went to newly constructed White Rock Airport, which was in East Dallas near White Rock Lake.  She completed her private lessons there on March 4, 1942 under the instruction of Ed Slover and Bob Milsap.
 
Jo didn't waste any time finding uses for her new skill, or people to fly with. She became the organizer of Sunday morning breakfasts. She designated the times and places, and all flying enthusiasts at White Rock Airport joined in.  Until 1945 when the war ended, these breakfasts were their main flying activity because of gas rationing.

In 1946 Jo joined The 99s.  At that time, there was a Texas Chapter and the organizations in the cities were called "Units".  The Dallas Unit purchased a Piper Cub for $300 in October 1950.  It was a 65 hp tandem model and was flown from the back seat.  The carburetor heat lever was in the front.  When it came time to land, the pilot had to unstrap herself, reach over the front seat, pull the carb heat, strap herself back in, and land.  Olean Sellers, one of our members, was flying this plane one day and the propeller disintegrated.  She was able to land safely in a small patch near the Buckner Orphans' Home.  The plane needed only a propeller to be back in commission.  The plane was then sold because it was very old and they did not want any more forced landings.

In 1957 the Texas Chapter voted to convert the Units to Chapters as it was very difficult to have meetings. The Dallas Chapter was the first Unit to receive its charter, which went into effect on November 17, 1957 with 16 members. There were 76 members in Texas Chapter at the time. 

Jo was very active in the 99s, and she and Martha Ann went to every meeting and convention. As they put it, "We would have had to be dead to miss a 99s function!" Jo had her own special recipe for Pink Ladies and she made them at the conventions. This recipe called for tequila (which Jo and Martha Ann procured via special flights down to the Mexican border) and pink lemonade. They would prepare these cocktails and have a few before showing up at the banquet, wearing facial expressions and making gestures that only Jo and Martha Ann could describe.
 
Jo and Martha Ann had many fond memories of trips to 99s conventions. One experience that stood out in their memories took place while driving to a convention in Brackettville, near Del Rio. A group of regulars attended the conventions together, and among them was Al Rose LeSage.  One year Al Rose couldn't make it to the convention, so she sent a case of whiskey along with her regards. (Al Rose's father owned Lone Star Liquor Company.) Gladys Kiefauver, a chapter member and kin to the politician Estes Kiefauver, was along on this trip.  It was against the law to transport liquor into a dry county, so Jo and Martha Ann hid the whiskey in the trunk under their other belongings.  They had so much liquor in the trunk that the car was riding very low. It was late at night, and while driving through Southwest Texas they got a flat tire.  They walked to the nearest town and asked the service station attendant for some help. He couldn't leave his place of business, so they borrowed his jack to remove the tire, then brought the tire back to him to repair.  The culprit was a piece of glass in the tire. Gladys, a militant teetotaler, exclaimed loudly, "WHISKEY BOTTLE!" Jo and Martha Ann looked the other way, got their tire, and went on their way.
 
Jo and Martha Ann found themselves in an unsettling situation while flying to an International 99s convention in Delaware.  Their intended stopping place was Huntington, West Virginia.  The weather had deteriorated while flying over the Smoky Mountains, forcing them to fly too low for the omnis to function.  Suddenly the sun came out, but they had no idea where they were. Martha Ann flew the airplane while Jo looked for a place to land.  The best place in sight was a factory parking lot.  While Martha Ann was setting up for the landing, Jo spotted an airport by a river.  They landed and asked the FBO attendant where they were. "Ashland" was the answer.  Their disorientation was complete. "Ashland where?" was the next question.  "Ashland, Kentucky" was the answer.  They left the airplane and took an airliner to Wilmington, Delaware.