LadiesLoveTaildraggers

Amal is based at AK28, Chena Marina Airport, Fairbanks, Alaska.

Amal with her Piper Cub Special

Am an avid hunter and fly fisher. I love anything outdoors, especially if I can fly there. I have flown mostly tail “dragger” aircraft, my latest and most favorite being a PA-11.

Picture from my Nome trip last year

My whole summer revolves around where I can go exploring and fishing. Am working on my instrument and commercials at the moment, so am flying even more!!!

From my caribou hunt last fall

-

you can see the hide drying out on the right strut, was fleshing it out when I took a break to take this pic

Blue skies!!!

Amal

Are you kidding me – it’s still raining here! I can even hear the tornado warning sirens right now and it’s starting to sound normal! Somebody please tell me, will this crappy weather ever end?! Seems like its been months of awful weather with occasional fleeting moments of VFR. And most of the VFR arrives the same time as the 30 kt winds gusting to 40. My Champ wasn’t happy in those kinds of winds and the Rans S7 doesn’t like it any better. The amazing thing about my bad weather luck is that I’ve had it better in Indy than you have in many parts of the country. I want you to know I really do sympathize with all you gals who keep checking the wx every day and just want to get back up there!  In the meantime I’m thinking positive thoughts like… warm… clear…. blue…. sunny… skies.

Oh, heck no, I want to see beautiful blue skies out my window!

-

And have a higher ceiling than this!

-

And be able to see my hangar better than this!

-

And wondering if our group is turning into this!

See more about Dianne Wieman at Dianne Wieman Flight to Middletown 2010

It’s such a treat to hear when girls from Ladies Love Taildraggers find each other through the blog. This is a perfect example of two taildragger gals meeting and spending what looks to be a great day flying together!! This was sent in by Vanessa Jump Nelson from Oregon.

Friday, Linda Fore and I went flying in her Supercub.  We took off from Twin Oaks, flew to Lenhardt’s Airhaven (paved AND grass options) where there is a weekly Friday morning gathering of pilots for coffee & donuts.

Vanessa & Linda w Linda's Super Cub

There are several lakes near it so it made a beautiful downwind photo on such a sunny day.

Lenhardt's Airhaven

We saw lots of friends there including my late father’s friend Bob B. with his beautiful silver biplane, which I captured in a photo.

Bob Burton's Biplane

Bob K. took a photo of Linda & I with her plane.  We also dropped in on Linda Melhoff’s hangar.  She wasn’t there but her husband, who is taking some taildragger instruction at Twin Oaks, showed us their beautiful Waco project in the hangar at Lenhardt’s, and I picked up another couple of copies of Linda’s mother’s book from him. Linda’s mom was a wing walker, pilot, etc. and her book is entitled “Wind in My Face.”  (Linda Fore pointed out that it was Linda Melhoff who got us together by telling Linda Fore about your website, Ladies Love Taildraggers, and when Linda F. got on the site she saw me listed as flying at the same airport. So Linda F pointed out that it’s Linda M’s fault that we are flying buddies!)

Rich Melhoff w biplane

Linda Fore & I flew alongside Bob K. to a beautiful private grass strip owned by a friend of Linda’s, where they parked their Supercubs side by side and I shot a photo of the two red & white beauties.

Two Supercubs at Olsons

Coming back to Twin Oaks I took a fun shot of our favorite “hang” from the air.  Twin Oaks offers a pancake breakfast for $5 the first Saturday of every month and lots of taildraggers come in with hungry pilots, including lots of female pilots!

Twin Oaks

Vanessa

With no warning, the day I’ve been dreading arrived today. I’ve worried about today for too long and tried to figure out a way to keep today from happening, but when it was all said & done, there just wasn’t any stopping it. I sold the Happy Champ today. OK, I admit it’s not the end of the world when you own an airplane you dearly love and you have to sell it, but it’s really hard.

It seemed like I was saying goodbye to my best friend today

You know I bought a beautiful Rans S7 a few weeks ago and am tickled to have it and thrilled with its performance. So the Rans got moved into the hangar where the Champ used to be and I was out of hangar space. There just wasn’t any way around having to sell it — had to pay for the Rans and couldn’t wear our welcome out at our friend’s farm strip where they were temporarily hangaring the Champ – in style I might add! (thanks Phil & Tess!)

Here I am with the new owner of N7569E, Jerry Keller, and his friend who told Jerry I had the Champ for sale.

If there’s anything that makes me happy about selling it, it’s knowing that Jerry (a CFI) is buying it to teach his family how to fly; his wife, Jane, his children and his grandchildren all want to learn how to fly and Jerry wants to teach them in a taildragger!… on a grass strip!!… and it’s only 38 miles from me so I can stop in anytime!

Jerry mentioned since women are going to be flying it, maybe the "Ladies Love Taildraggers" sticker on the tail can stay!

I can’t resist adding a few pictures of some of my fun spent flying the Happy Champ. I think you’ll understand why I dubbed it “happy” – it made me, and everybody else that got a ride here and there, happy too. Some of my many, many fond memories of N7569E……

2009 at Sparta with Diana Votow

-

2009 flying to breakfast with Celia

-

2009 giving rides to the girls from South Africa & friend Darlene

-

Off to fly formation with my daughter Jessica. Boyd, Craig & Justin flew circles around us in the Mooney!

-

2010 Family portrait

-

2010 Winter Flying - heat wide open!

-

2010, Darrell at Shelbyville helping me with those long, cold hoses at my favorite spot to refuel

-

2010 Giving Kristie a ride - I was 19 the last time I gave her a ride. She was terrified then but liked it a little better this time, really!

-

2010 Young Eagles Rides

-

2010 Weekend mother daughter trip in the Happy Champ visiting Katie

-

2010 Susan and I celebrating my birthday -just flying around - 2 champs, 2 happy pilots!

So, we said goodbye today. It gave me a tremendous amount of pleasure for almost 4 years and flying it I found the kind of happiness you’ll never get with your feet on the ground.  Even though I’m sorry to see it go, owning it was a great experience and I wish the very best to Jerry and his family as their fun begins!

Judy

P.S.  Jerry, I’ve stopped crying now.

Dee Holm has been flying nosedraggers since 2002, but things have changed and she’s having fun now!  Congratulations to Dee on her brand new taildragger endorsement!

New taildragger pilot, Dee Holm, looking good in her Ladies Love Taildraggers t-shirt!

“Hi there. Now I can say that I am a taildragger pilot!  The 26 hours during three months interrupted by bouts of bronchitis were well worth it.  I am totally hooked and can’t wait for my next solo ride to see if I can better my first three landings.”

Dee had a great airplane to get her endorsement in - a Super Cub

“My instructor had more confidence in me than I did myself–he let me go with 9 kt crosswinds 50 degrees off the runway heading.  The only glitch was I had to follow a high-wing student pilot flying B-52 patterns with 1 mile finals!!!  That’s not easy power out at the numbers  Just such an exhilarating feeling landing a three wheel stance all by myself and I must admit scary too.  If I win the lottery, I know what plane I will buy–a SuperCub.  Just hope my husband doesn’t mind that our Kitfox IV is my second choice ”

-

“In case you are wondering, the weather in Chandler, AZ was great!  My thanks to Chandler Air Service and Greg Stafford for such great instruction.  Note the Tee!

See you in the sky,”

Dee Holm

This is an amazing assortment of images that include advertisements, drawings and even a 1931 magazine cover, all featuring women aviatrix. Please double click to get a close up view.

-

*

-

*

-

*

-

*

-

*

-

*

-

*

-

*

-

Anyone that knows the history behind any of these images is welcome to leave a comment.

All images provided by Andy Heins.

Yep, they had a great trip and a FINE time! These boys know how to do it – in a Scout, a Rans S7S and more great taildraggers!

“This was our 2010 trip to Alaska. We started by stopping off at the Super Cub fly-in at Johnson Creek, ID. From there, we flew to Porthill, ID (a grass strip) for our border crossing, then up a beautiful remote mountain valley, which we called the Pre-Trench. After doing that part, the actual Trench we flew was mild.

These slides are of the first part of the Alaska portion of the trip. The cabin at the end of the slide show is what we rented for a base camp for the next two weeks of exploring. John Graham”

Alaska 2010 – Ohio Bush Planes – Part One from john graham on Vimeo.

Kim Ewing is based at Gwinnett County Airport (KLZU) Lawrenceville, Georgia.

Kim flying the Champ

I began flying in 2006, right after I graduated from high school. My aunt and uncle own and operate Bermuda High Soaring School in Lancaster, South Carolina and I learned how to fly in gliders with my uncle as my CFIG. After that, I was definitely “bitten by the bug”. At the time, I was attending college in SC, but I transferred to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University down in Florida to pursue flying as a career!

7GCA

In the summer of 2008, my aunt and uncle purchased a 1965 Aeronca Champ (7GCA). Its 150 hp and a blast to fly. I earned my taildragger endorsement and have been in love with that little airplane ever since, flying it every chance I get. I am a CFI and MEI and a commercial pilot w/ single engine land, multi engine land, single engine sea and instrument airplane ratings.

150 hp 1965 Champ, forerunner to the Citabria

I also have my private in gliders, and hope to earn my CFIG soon. My eventual goal is to fly the big jets for the airlines, but my roots will ALWAYS be in “real” flying, tailwheel flying!!

My fiance (also a pilot; he's a first officer for Alpha Flying and owns a Cessna 210) and I in front of one of the Geico Skytypers airplanes.

My fiance occasionally does photo flights in the 210 and if my schedule permits I am lucky enough to tag along and grab some photos of my own! This shoot was in November 2010 down at Homestead ARB in Florida with the Geico Skytypers and the Blue Angels!! Definitely an amazing opportunity to be there for that!

I just can’t say enough how happy I was to find your site!! Please include me on it, I can’t wait to meet more like minded lady pilots!! Also, I flew the 2010 Air Race Classic representing Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, and am dying to do it again in my Champ if at all possible!! Now if I could just find a partner…..!!

Check out Gail Schipper flying Basic in her beautiful, baby-blue Bucker Jungmann video. Gail is based at Longmont, Colorado (KLMO).

Gail & her Bucker Jungmann

-