August 18, 2003 Update: Wings of Their Own Dear Friends: We keep getting more cooperation and more suggestions. IT'S GREAT! This film is going to have been a major team effort, and you all should be proud. Since the last update we have: • Met with Ninety-Nines Charter member, Mary Goodrich Jenson in Connecticut. She showed us pictures of her childhood home, and told a story about flying on the Hindenburg. • Met with Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo in her home in NYC. She was the first female pilot hired by a major airline, American in 1973 • Met with Doris Abbate who was a founder of the Long Island chapter of the Ninety-Nines. • Survived the East Coast blackout with all footage intact. • Heard with sadness of the death of Achsa Peacock Donels • Met with some young women in the Air Force, one of whom flies an F-16, and she talked to us in front of the plane! • Connected with a WASP historian, Julia Lauria-Blum, who will help us set up some more interviews and provide photos and footage. • And, we finished cutting a three-minute "trailer" that will give potential corporate sponsors a taste of the film. We have begun sending proposals to our list of potential sponsors, but if any of you have high-up corporate contacts, we would appreciate the lead/intro. Five major sponsors would get this project completed by November. Don't be shy. We'll take all the help we can get.) We hope that this documentary will create enthusiasm for women pilots and demonstrate how you all serve as wonderful role models utilizing different pathways to keep airborne. Of course, why did women fly in the first place, what got them started, and why they keep flying is our core theme. However, the question that challenges us is why the percentage of women pilots is so low today? Women certainly have made advances and inroads into other traditionally male careers, such as medicine, law, engineering, and science. Even the professional sports field counts greater numbers of women athletes now. So what happened since 1929, when about six percent of all pilots were women? Though there are greater numbers of women pilots, how come the statistic for women pilots today remains at six percent? (This is our exploration.) Thanks again for your information and involvement. KEEP THOSE LEADS AND FOOTAGE COMING! Pass the word along to your friends about our work and stay in touch. We love hearing your news, too. Fair Skies to All, Mary Scott and Abby Dress Co-Producers of "Wings of Their Own"