Four Members Of The Montana 99s Painted The Tarmac At The Broadwater Airport
Author: Matt Nelson
Matt Nelson
On November 2, 1919, 117 women pilots from around the country got together to form their own organization, and they chose the name ‘Ninety-nines’ after the first 99 charter members showed up. Amelia Earhart was the first president, elected in 1931. Now it is called the International Organization of Women Pilots.
Four members of the Montana 99s came to the Broadwater County (formerly called Townsend) airport on Saturday, September 27th, to paint the airport name and the field elevation on the tarmac in front of the hangars and the location of the fuel pump, since the airport is now open to air traffic after the recent reconstruction of the runway and taxiway, and tarmac.
The four ladies very diligently made extensive measurements of the letters and numbers to be painted and then applied an outline of each character with two-inch-wide blue tape. They were at the airport for about 4 hours.
Janine Schwahn is the Vice Chair, Amelia Earhart (AE) Scholarship Chair, and Airmarking Chair for the Montana 99s. She has held numerous officer positions in the past, and member since 2009. She said, “We go around to different airports and we put the name of the airport and the elevation. We paint it with 10-foot-high, yellow letters. We service 40 airports in Montana."
"It started back before the wars so that people could identify the airports, pre-GPS, etc, where you were, and during the wars to cover up airfields. They all got covered over, blacked out, so now we do it again as kind of a historical remembrance for one of the things we used to do. So, it is a community service, and we do it for free. Montana Aeronautics gives us all the paint, and we use donations to buy all the supplies."
Jessica Lancello is an active board member on the Broadwater County Airport board. She said, “I am a Captain on the Boeing 737 for Delta Air Lines. My husband, Dylan Lancello, is a Captain on an Airbus 320/321 for Delta Air Lines. We have been in Townsend for 6 years.”
Heidi Litton is the wife of Wade Litton, one of the two flight instructors at the airport.
Thanks to all of you ladies for painting the runway.
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PhotoCredit: Matt Nelson
Image 1 Caption: Members of the Montana 99s. L-R Janine Schwahn, Charithy Fechter, Megan Bleck, Kelli Weed, Jessica Lancelle, Heidi Litton, and Airport Manager Dwight Thompson.
Photo Credit: Matt Nelson
Image 2 Caption: Fresh paint job on the airport tarmac by the Montana 99s
Photo Credit: Matt Nelson
