- May 3, 2024
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Betty Hostler, 85, was terrified of flying commercially. When her best friend moved to South Carolina she decided that she would learn to fly herself. When she showed up to her first flying lesson, at a little grass strip in New Jersey, a 6-foot-2 teenager walked out to greet her.
They proceeded to the hangar, where a J-3 Cub hung on a hook.
“He picked it up with one hand and put it on the ground, and said, ‘Get in,’” Hostler recalled while sitting in a booth at Highjackers Restaurant. “I thought I was as good as dead.”
But Hostler pushed through. She flew her first solo flight and got her pilot’s license in 1959. In 1962, she joined an international organization of licensed women pilots, The Ninety-Nines.
A group of female pilots from all over the Space Coast gathered Saturday, March 10, to honor Hostler’s 50th anniversary in the organization. The Ninety-Nines began in 1929, when Amelia Earhart sent letters to all American female pilots. Of 117 licensed women, 99 showed up and the club was named for the charter members.
For Hostler, a retired piano teacher who has lived in Palm Coast for the last 20 years, flying brought freedom. She has logged thousands of hours and flown herself all over, including the Bahamas, Mexico and Nicaragua.
“The first time I saw the top of a cloud was pretty darn exciting,” Hostler said.
Since Hostler no longer flies, she said the fellowship and companionship of women with the same interest have kept her memories alive.
