THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 8, 1994 TAG: 9407080575
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DIANE TENNANT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
For her 90th birthday in May, Achsa Donnel's grandson gave her a dogfight.
A real aerial dogfight in the sky, the perfect gift for a woman who longed for a combat mission early in the century, when planes were just getting off the ground.
Grandson in the yellow plane, Donnel in the red, they spent an afternoon buzzing the California sky with Dogfighters Inc.
``We flew in formation, we did all the aerobatics any of us knew and we shot each other down,'' Donnel recalled Wednesday, as she arrived in Norfolk on a commercial flight to attend the international convention of the 99s.
The 99s, an organization of women pilots, was formed in 1929 by Donnel, Amelia Earhart and other female aviators. They rejected such names as Noisy Birdwomen and Homing Pigeons in favor of the simple elegance of the number of charter members.
Donnel is one of three charter members planning to attend the convention at the Marriott. Included are hands-on experience with the Navy F-14 simulators at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, tours of NASA Langley and speakers on naval aviation.
``The organization in the past has been a real stepping stone for women, before military flying opened,'' said 99s President Lu Hollander, a pilot from Oklahoma City. ``While it's still not easy to be a career pilot as a woman, it's easier than it was 10 years ago.''
And easier than it was in 1923.
Donnel was startled that year to see two open-cockpit biplanes idling in a field as she drove by. ``I said, `Is he taking anyone up?' and the man said, `Sure, would you like to go?' and I said, `I sure would.' So he put me in a hat and goggles and away we went.''
The pilot took her for a straight flight, then they did turns and flips.They landed in a field, and Donnel turned to thank the pilot.
``All of a sudden, I realized the man had no arms,'' she said.
The pilot had a hook on his left forearm, tied with a string to the airplane's control stick. His right arm was missing, and he used his shoulder to control the throttle. Donnel, without hesitating, asked him to give her flying lessons.
``I loved the sound of the engines,'' she recalled. ``I loved the feel of flying. It was just like being a bird. You don't have anything like that today.''
They flew for several weeks before her father found out, and made her quit. She took up the sport again after she married. But chauvinism still reigned.
``In 1929, there was an air race, the first women's air race, which left Clover Field (in Santa Monica, Calif.) and flew to Cleveland. I got a call about it and they said, all the gals are going. Everybody with a license is going.''
But Donnel's husband said no, and she was the only licensed female pilot who did not participate in the race that would become the Powder Puff Derby.
``He disliked my flying very much,'' she said. ``He did not want me to fly.'' She persisted, and earned a commercial transport license in 1930, which meant she could pilot passenger planes.
Donnel's husband, Ross, ferried seaplanes to Manila before the United States entered World War II. He left Honolulu just hours before Pearl Harbor was bombed on Dec. 7, 1941. But he wasn't as lucky on a later flight. Trying to land in Ireland during a storm in 1956, his wing touched the ground, and he was killed.
Donnel kept flying, and so did the 99s. The organization numbers nearly 7,000 members worldwide, including military, commercial and recreational pilots and astronauts. It performs educational and philanthropic work, flying cancer patients, marking airports, providing role models for girls. It offers scholarships in the name of Amelia Earhart, the group's most famous member.
Donnel remembers Earhart, but not too favorably. Nor does she believe that Earhart's shoe was found recently on a Pacific island.
``She went down in the drink,'' Donnel said.
During the six-day convention, members will hear speakers ranging from Earhart's biographer to Capt. Jane O'Dea, the Navy's senior-ranking female aviator.
Donnel is completely in favor of women flying combat missions. ``There's not a reason why they shouldn't,'' she said firmly. ``I'd have enjoyed it.''
But flying, in general, is not as enjoyable today as it was when the cockpits were open, the goggles were snug and the sky was so clear that the air didn't visibly change until the plane reached 10,000 feet.
``We have ruined our world,'' Donnel said, leaning forward in her chair for emphasis. ``Our air is smoggy from our cars. We shouldn't be using gasoline in our cars.''
In 1923, she said, the fragrance of flowers and fruit trees filled the air, and FAA regulations did not.
``It was,'' she said, ``a joy to fly.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
BILL KELLEY III/Staff
Vick Lynn Sheeman of DeLand, Fla., and Lisa A. Cotham of New Orleans
inspect the latest Amelia Earhart biography Thursday.
by CNB