- Introduction

- Chapter History

- Officers

About Us - Chapter History



"The women are going to organize. We don't know what for," reported a New York Times columnist about the first meeting of The Ninety-Nines on November 2, 1929 at Curtiss Field, Long Island, New York.

The Ninety-Nines, Incorporated was founded in 1929 to provide support and networking for women pilots. All 117 American female pilots had been invited to assemble for mutual support and the advancement of aviation.

Those who attended the November 2nd meeting quickly decided that membership would be open to any woman with a pilot's license, and the purpose was "good fellowship, jobs, and a central office and files on women in aviation." Choosing a name was a little harder. Some offerings were The Climbing Vines, Noisy Birdwomen, Homing Pigeons and Gadflies. Amelia Earhart and Jean Davis Hoyt put a stop to the nonsense by proposing the name be taken from the sum total of charter members. Thus the group was momentarily the 86s, then the 97s and finally the 99s.

The name/number stopped at 99, but the membership thereafter grew worldwide. Although there are other female pilot organizations in various states and nations, virtually all women of achievement in aviation have been or are members of The Ninety-Nines

The Kitty Hawk chapter of The Ninety-Nines was chartered on December 17, 1969. An offshoot of the Petticoat Pilots, Nita Melvin and Camille Martin were the chapter’s first Chairman and Vice-Chairman. Some of the earliest members were Esther Fordham, June Rodd, Jane Mahaley, and Esther Zelnick.