The third annual Angwin AirExpo was held April 19 2026, organized by Angwin DART and Pacific Union College (airport owners.) It was a full day event with pancake breakfast, plane rides and flour bombing contest. Good weather and a good turnout made for a superb community event. See the photo slideshow here. Marin 99s member Marielle Coeytaux is a big part of this event each year, and she leads the Angwin DART (Disaster Airlift Response Team). She says: "We're a group of 34 pi

New member Alyssa Lane completed her PPL in April, and this made her eligible to be the safety pilot for an Instrument currency flight on May 12th. Alyssa is working on her Instrument rating so it was great experience to actually shoot some approaches (into Gnoss and Petaluma) in our other Alyssa's plane (Marin chapter Secretary Alyssa Abbey's Cessna R182) with Alyssa's husband Dan as PIC. It was a perfect day to fly and enjoy the beauty of the Bay Area. Sunny, not too hot an

Val Westen, long-time Marin chapter member, got to fly to a much loved destination, and here are her words: Landing in the San Juan Islands was a bucket list item for me. A dream came true in August 2019, when I flew over what I called Platypus Island (real name unknown to me), landed at Friday Harbor, and walked with my flying partner, Dan, to downtown Friday Harbor for lunch. Val highly recommends this west coast fly-in spot.

In just the first five months of 2026, Marin Treasurer Ghoncheh Angha has achieved both her Instrument and Commercial ratings! In January, she earned her Instrument Rating, one of the more demanding milestones in flight training due to the high workload and precision required. Thanks to thorough preparation with her instructor, she completed a check ride that the examiner described as one of the best-prepared he had seen. Despite a last-minute route change due to weather, she

Meteorologist for KCBS and 1st Lt in the California Army National Guard flying Blackhawk helicopters, Jessica Burch joined us yesterday at our Marin 99s meeting. We did our usual individual introductions and aviation updates around the room, starting with Jessica. What a super story!! Marielle and Madison finally made it in after the layer burned off between Angwin and Gnoss. We had a great group yesterday, well representing our broad range of aviatrixes (age and experience),

Last Saturday, Susan Hollander and Sue Royce joined a few women pilots from the Santa Rosa 99s chapter for a challenge flight up to Shelter Cove organized by Nancy Hayssen and her father, Art. Marielle Coeytaux and her co-pilot, Maxine, participated, but flew from Angwin and directly over STS to join us at Shelter Cove. We were given 20 locations to identify on the way up to 0Q5 from STS. Honestly, who could ever get tired of flying up the California coast. We are so lucky to

In Alyssa's words: "Looking back on our 3-week trip, I realize just what a big deal it was, at least for me. Getting my pilot’s license was a big deal for me, and even flying 100 miles from our home airport is a big deal for me. Going all the way across the country, with all the trip planning and actual flying, was an wonderful learning experience. And unforgettable. We’re so lucky to have done it." Alyssa and Dan stopped in Moab to stay with our Marin 99 extraordinaire Cindy

Margy Boyle recently volunteered as a pilot for Sonoma Jet Center's first Challenge Air event. They provided food music, games/activities, but best of all, flights for children with special needs. The children would walk down a red carpet lined with Star Wars figures and receive a chart of the flight, wings and certificate after their flight. Per Margy, the two best lines of the day. In the air, every time we hit a small bump, my cute little copilot kept saying ”drive careful

Maddie came to the Marin 99s back in 2018 and really wanted to learn to fly. I took her up in my Cherokee 180 (see selfie of us below), and let her fly. She was hooked. After that, her mom and I talked about the different college aviation programs and she ended up choosing Southern Utah University. Maddie now has over 1,250 hours and is a flight instructor at the same University she got all of her rating at, in a Cirrus no less. This is Maddie's e-mail to me a couple of days