Dani here -

My hubby and I flew out last weekend and noticed this plane sitting on the tarmac at Reno. I immediately knew who this plane belonged to (and I was VERY excited), but my husband had no idea.

Do YOU know who this plane belongs to? Write in the comments if you do (or don’t) and what generation you’re part of. My hubby is Gen X and didn’t know, I’m a xennial (or millennial) and did.

RHS99 Dani and Kid Rock’s Airplane at KRNO 10/8/22

For those who didn’t know - this plane belongs to Kid Rock, a musician. “American Bad Ass” is a hit single off his “History of Rock” album released in 2000.

After taking the photo above, we flew out to Concord to spend the weekend in the bay area with family and friends. My husband flew the leg down, and I flew the leg home (pictured below). You can tell some of the areas in which I was task loaded and drifted around. I’m looking forward to spending more time in the air and further improving my skills.

RHS member and student pilot Tara T working hard on her PPL at GIFT! She’s busy flying, but sent these photos to Stacie. Way to go TARA! We can’t wait to hear all about your week of flight training!

If you’re unfamiliar with GIFT, please check out their website and if you’ve the time, consider volunteering your time (or funds) to them!

It’s hard to believe it was just a year ago that RHS members Serena and Hannah M. were at GIFT! Check out Serena’s blog post from a year ago!

Some know her as our Chapter’s Amelia Earhart Scholarship Committee Chair, some know her for instituting the Chapter’s rule on use of the word “Just”, but I call her “My Favorite Moe!”. (If you’re new to the chapter, don’t worry, Chapter ATC will warn you before issuing a pilot deviation for the “Just” rule) However you know her, here’s the exciting news from Moe yesterday:

“Boom! All Done. Finished SIC checkride today. “

Moe - SIC Checkride - DONE!

There she was, having fun doing stalls in a Jet around Bozeman. Anyone (other than Heather and Moe) know what the stall speed on a Phenom 300E is?

But wait, there’s more….No, really, we have to wait until November, but stay tuned because Moe is out there flying.

Funny Cartoon, but a serious topic. I firmly believe that mid air close calls are a matter of when, not if. Whether you’re VFR in a glider or IFR in a jet we must all see and avoid, deconflict, and take aggressive action to avoid midair collisions.

Safety Guidelines From the FAA

Mid Air collisions in aviation tend to be deadly. Check out this FAA Air Circular and this FAAST publication on how to avoid them. The Circular in particular is interesting because it has reaction times, and my fellow aviatrixes, they are not as fast as you’d think.

AOPA Air Safety Institute Video and Preliminary NTSB Report - a Case Study

Check out this AOPA Air Safety Institute Video and the associated preliminary NTSB Report on a tragic accident that occurred on July 17, 2022, at the North Las Vegas Airport (VGT). This case study is particularly applicable for us because the accident took place on an offset parallel runway, which is of course what we have here in at the Reno Tahoe International Airport (RNO) .

Back to something fun

To end (dare I say land?) this post on a lighter note, take this fun Right-of-Way quiz from Bold Method which involves a plane on fire, a tow with Glider, and a balloon. Do you know who has right of way? Take the quiz and find out.

Because a picture is worth 1,000 words and just in case you don’t remember….

This past Saturday morning Dani did some touch and go’s in Reno with her hubby in their 182, Monday Heather flew her Dakota to breakfast in Reno, and on Tuesday Stacie was out flying a Cherokee during lunch.

You may wonder where we’re getting these flight paths from. If you’re interested in “following” your favorite pilots (and no, I’m not talking about social media here), check out a neat little website and app called “Flight Aware”. (Yes, I’m sure there are others, but this is what Stacie and Dani use.) All you need is a tail number and you can see your favorite pilots flight path. Not only this, but you can receive notifications of when they take off and land! This is all thanks to a little piece of technology required by all aircraft that enter airspace classes A, B, and C, known as ADSB.

So, tell us, what’s YOUR tail number?? Better yet, send trip reports with photos and or screenshots of your aviation adventures to rhswebmistress@gmail.com

When you’re at lunch with one of your fellow RHS99ers, you pull your wallets out to pay the bill, and then get distracted and excited about seeing one another’s Pilot Certificates. Picture perfect moment.

This past weekend was the bi-annual Minden Aviation Roundup. This was an excellent event with a number of fantastic aerial demonstrations. The piloting skill of the performers was breathtaking and beautiful. I didn’t get any good photos of the jet powered glider, but his performance was one of my favorites.

Heather, Sammy, and her future 49 1/2 Kelsey met for breakfast before heading to the show. Dani went early with other friends and saved seats up front for everyone. At the airshow Dani ran into our own Gwen, and later on Tina, from the Reno Area Chapter. A good time was had by all! Enjoy the photos below!

R-L, Sammy, her future 49 1/2 Kelsey, and Chairman Heather

L-R Chairman Heather McCoy, Past Chair / Webmistress Dani Rhoda, and Sammy Lanz; with Blue Angels 4,5, and 6 in the background.

Pro Tips if you’re never attended the Minden Aviation Roundup: Bring your own chair, large refillable water bottle, sun screen, large shade hat, wear light weight breathable long sleeves and pants, and bring and a bigger umbrella to get some protection from the sun.

Airspace Education! Ladies, if you attended the Reno Air Races, Girls in Aviation, or the Minden Aviation Roundup, those all count towards our Chapter’s Airspace Education scores for the Southwest Section. Look for an email and a web fillable form in the near future!

If you were at our BBQ, you saw Laura and Mike’s Kit plane in person, with that AMAZING paint job. Here’s an article on what they did to prep for that gorgeous paint.

Mike and Laura Starkey’s RANS S-21: Part 15

Happy October everyone!

How many different types of aircraft have you flown, and which one is your favorite?

Yes, you can only chose one!

This past Monday afternoon Dani completed her 2nd biannual flight review. When was your last BFR? (Ok, you don’t have to answer, but are you legal to fly??)

Congratulations to the Sierra Battle Born Chapter of Women in Aviation for hosting their first Girls in Aviation Day this past weekend. The event was held at Atlantic Aviation and Great Basin Aviation. There were over 50 girls registered to attend, and at least 4 Reno High Sierra 99s volunteered at this event. This event was a huge success; attendees had a grand time learning about all aspects of aviation, and meeting women who work in aviation. Naturally, we were all excited to meet the fighter jet (lady) pilot. See some of photos below. Our own student pilot, Tara was dressed up as Amelia and had her dog Piper in tow.

If you live in the Minden area, then you probably already know the Navy’s Flight Demonstration Squadron arrived on Sunday night. They’re here in preparation for the Minden Airshow, the Aviation Roundup this weekend.

The Taildragger Cafe was not expecting the 35 pilots and crew to descend on them for dinner, but they successfully managed to feed everyone anyway.

We can’t wait to see the Blue Angels perform this weekend. In the meantime, we’ll enjoy watching their practice performances over the Carson Tahoe / Minden practice fields.….

As many of you already know, we lost a pilot at the Reno Air Races on Sunday, Aaron Hogue. One of the RHS members working in our fundraiser booth commented that she heard crowd react, and immediately knew someone had crashed. Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Hogue. Click here to read a Flying Magazine article with some more information.

RARA / Ballista, the L-29 flown by pilot Aaron Hogue, was at the top position for the start of the Jet Gold Class race on Sunday. [From racingjets.com ] and [Flyingmag.com]

The Reno Air Races are still going strong, with Stol races, unlimited, and more. I honestly couldn’t keep up. Here’s the beginning of one of the races!

The coolest thing about working the Air Races is that you get to meet 99s from all over!! So, the photos below are not only RHS 99s, but also 99s from Kansas, Texas, and California. Thank you again to our volunteers, you’re amazing ladies.

Some interesting things - a gentleman who visited our booth yesterday came back by today, with a briefcase he believes belonged to Amelia Earhart.

Lastly, planes are fantastic, but I love jewelry. I was thrilled to see the Aviation Jewelry booth was back. I just love their “Bad Attitude” pendant and earrings, but I bought the regular attitude pendant instead. :)

Despite the smoky skies, the Reno Air Races are going strong and so is our Merchandise booth! Thank you to all of our volunteers!! We’ll post more photos as we get them!

I received permission from Stacie to share her FB post about earning her BFR sign off. Please see her comments and photos below:

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Stacie - September 13, 2022

Today was the best day EVER!!! I flew in some strong crosswinds at Minden and after some instruction I nailed the landings. Maybe better than when there’s no wind. Then Jere signed off my long anticipated biannual flight review and I can now fly on my own!!! I can’t even stop doing the happy dance!!!

I need to thank Laura Starkey and Heather McCoy for introducing me to Jere (best instructor ever!), Jeff Goodwin for listening to every last detail of every flight and every video, and lastly all my friends, the ladies of the 99s and my family for all the support!

Sometimes life leads us away from the things we love, like aviation. After an almost 20 year hiatus, Stacie just earned a signoff for her biannual flight review. Congrats Stacie!!!

I invite you to take a moment with me and reflect on what happened 21 years ago. My condolences to those who lost loved ones.

This morning I was crewing at the Great Reno Balloon Races for RHS 99 Balloon pilot Karalyn, and took this photo.  As they finished playing “The Star Spangled Banner”, on the word brave, all pilots hit their burners.  They lit up the morning sky with flame as T-6’s from the Reno Air Race Association flew overhead.  It was a beautiful sight to see, and a moving moment. 

Hello everyone!

Just a reminder - we still have THREE slots we need to fill for our RARA Fundraiser. This is so very important, so please ask your friends, neighbors, and anyone you know over the age of 18, if they’d be willing to volunteer 4 hours of their time in our small merchandise booth, in exchange for parking and entrance to the Reno Air Races. Click HERE to sign up.

Is to give scholarships!

That’s right - Scholarships are POSTED! Visit our Scholarships page for more details!

As many of your may remember, we used to have two younger (aka teenage) members in our Chapter, Summer and Syd. Both of these young aviatrixes were from Truckee, and both received scholarships from our Chapter. Well, our esteemed Chairman, Heather received this lovely note from Syd and wanted to share it with you!

Good afternoon, Reno High Sierra,

I want to first say THANK YOU for giving me the opportunity to learn, assist, and grow from all of you. Today is my first day at the Florida Institute of Technology, pursuing my Bachelor's in Aeronautical Science with Flight degree. My first class was Meteorology for Aviation and Summer Benjermanson- a fellow Reno High 99'er, was in it! 

I will keep you posted on my journey and again can not thank you all enough for holding my wings! I hope to make you all proud and can't wait to do the same someday too!

Also, if you find yourself in Melbourne, Florida, don't hesitate to reach out :-)

Syd Whisler

We’re so excited to hear from these former RHS 99s! Syd did include her contact information but I thought it prudent NOT to post, so if you would like to reach out to her, please contact rhswebmistress@gmail.com or renohighsierra@gmail.com.