Lock Haven FlyOut – 06/19/16

The Loch Haven Airport Fly In was a great success. Seven 99s met at 11 AM on Sunday, June 19th, 2016. Sally Moritz flew in with Terri Morse, Susannah Cook, and Diana Kelly. Sally belongs to a club which maintains the beautiful Piper Archer II in which they flew. Nancy McCurry and Leah Shaheen drove in together and Maribeth Dunlap met them at the airport in her vehicle. Maribeth arranged brunch at the Dutch Haven Restaurant where we enjoyed a beautiful brunch with prime rib, ham, turkey, and all the extras fit for a holiday meal. After brunch we toured the wonderful Piper Aviation Museum.

Christmas Party 12/13/15

Helen McKeever hosted another wonderful holiday party for our chapter on December 13. We got to meet one of our newest members, Leah Shaheen, who came all the way from Muncy, PA. Leah is a student pilot training at Williamsport. She joined a flying club based there and flies the club’s Cessna 172. When she’s not flying, Leah is busy working multiple jobs for an energy company and hotel chain. Marcia Johnson introduced her to the 99s. Since Keystone is Leah’s closest chapter, Nancy reached out to her to connect. We welcome Leah to our chapter and hope that we can help her reach her aviation goals.

Girl Scouts at Bradens – 9/12/15

On Sept. 12, the Keystone 99s partnered with EAA Chapter 70 at Bradens Airpark to introduce 32 girl scouts from five local troops to aviation. Keystone members taught sessions on preflighting an airplane, building gliders, using a compass and air traffic operations, while EAA members gave airplane rides through the Young Eagles program.

Here is Ellen Ghelardi teaching compass directions:

Nancy McCurry explaining how the four forces of flight apply to the girls’ gliders:

And Toni Marina preflighting an aircraft with the girls:

Thanks to Diana Kelly for organizing the event with the Girl Scouts and EAA, and also to Ric Carhart, Young Eagles coordinator, and the pilots who flew, including Ed Deacon and Rich Smith. Keystone 99s instructors were Nancy McCurry (building gliders and the phonetic alphabet), Ellen Ghelardi (compass), Toni Marina (aircraft preflight), Sally Moritz (airport environment), Helen McKeever and Irene Koehler. We also enjoyed a visit with past member Erna Bonstein. The girls and troop leaders asked many questions and had a great time flying their gliders, practicing ATC calls, and of course going up in a small aircraft. Hopefully we inspired a few of them to someday learn to fly.