Monterey Bay Ninety-Nines

He rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

--Psalms XVIII, 10

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Betty Ardell Hinn - Dell to all who knew her . . .

Dell Hauk married Dr. George Hinn in 1965. Dell had two children from a previous marriage as well as two step-children. She had five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Dell taught her son Jay Hauk to fly, and he received his private pilot certificate, then moved on to obtain additional ratings. Jay is currently a Captain for United Airlines. Jay reversed roles with his mother and became Dell's flight instructor for her instrument rating.

Dell's daughter Carol is also a private pilot as well as Carol's daughter, Gail.

When Dell married Dr. George Hinn in 1965, she had logged approximately 4,000 hours. They had a mutual agreement that he would not tell her how to fly and she would not tell him what to do in the operating room. The arrangement worked.

In 1945, Dell was an instructor in a Red Cross Water Safety Instructors' Course at San Jose State University. She taught young soldiers to "swim through burning oil on water" and to jump off a ship with full gear. Dell felt this class would be her contribution to the war effort. In class she met Marion Barnick who was her swim partner and an enthusiastic aviator. In October 1946, Marion offered to take Dell for an airplane ride, which turned out to be a lesson since Dell was placed in the left seat, took the controls, flew the plane, and was immediately hooked.

Flying Activities
Dell moved to Honolulu, Hawaii where she received her private pilot certificate. Her first passenger was her mother who shared her enthusiasm and dream. Flying a J-3 Cub was exciting for Dell since she had to share airspace with fighter jets. Flying from Honolulu to Haleiwa each day, the fighter "jocks" were used to seeing Dell in her little yellow J-3 Cub and they had fun flying barrel rolls around her. Dell just flew straight ahead and hung on.

In the 1950's In the 1950s Dell earned her glider rating and achieved a flight level of over 20,000 feet above Minden, Nevada. While attempting the "Minden Wave" within the 20 x 30 square mile window, Dell overheard a commercial jet ask ATC to explain "what a glider was doing flying at 20,000 feet?"

During the 1970's, Dell accumulated several hundred towing flights from the Vacaville Glider Port that was owned and operated by her son...

Professional
Dell was a corporate pilot for Grower's Exchange, a large produce company in the Salinas Valley, charter pilot for Air Trails in Salinas, and also hired by the Monterey County Sheriff's Department for five years to fly women prisoners from Salinas to and from prisons throughout the Southwest penal system. Rather than carrying a gun, "Deputy Dell" carried a batch of Snickerdoodles and iced tea for her prisoners.

From 1980 through 1985, Dell flew a Beech Debonair from Salinas to Sacramento on a regular basis as charter pilot for Assemblyman Eric Seastrand. After Eric died of cancer, she flew the newly elected congresswoman, Andrea Seastrand from San Luis Obispo to Sacramento during her term in office.

THE NINETY-NINES
Dell was encouraged to join The Ninety-Nines in 1946, and was instrumental in the formation of the Monterey Bay Chapter.

Dell held the office of Chapter Chairman three times, Treasurer, Secretary, Newsletter Editor and Nominating & Membership Chairman.

Through the Women's Medical Auxiliary of Monterey, Dell began a relay of drugs and medical supplies. This project grew to include The Ninety-Nines. The Ninety-Nines would collect the supplies and fly them to the central point at the Santa Barbara Airport where they were then re-sorted and distributed by Direct Relief International to underdeveloped countries in the free world. Dell also donated her time to Angel Flight, transporting patients to Stanford Medical Center and UCLA for medical treatment.

Dell flew 12 Powder Puff Derby races, one Air Race Classic, one Palms to Pines, two Pacific Air Races, and six Great Pumpkin Classic races. She logged PIC time in 66 single-engine and eight twin-engine aircraft.

Dell was honored on her 80th birthday by 99s and friends at a luncheon and presented with a commendation by the Mayor of the City of Salinas. She had logged 10,000 hours, she was honored.

Dell flew to new horizons in her sleep after a loving family-oriented Mother's Day celebration in 2010.

The late Betty Ardell ("Dell") Hinn, a pilot from Salinas who often flew with her pet poodle Pepe by her side, has been honored nationally for her more than 50 years of devotion to aviation and her 10,000 hours of flight time. See article in the Californian.

STATISTICS

Powder Puff Derby-12 Races
Co-Pilots
Daughter - Carol Hauk 1955
Granddaughter - Gail Champlin 1975 (first grandmother & granddaughter team)
Jackie Petty (former WASP)
Thon Griffith
Jane Rood (Wood)
Solo Twice

Air Race Classic-1 Race

Palms to Pines-1 Race

Great Pumpkin Classic- 4 Races
3 races as Co-Pilot for John Powers
1 race as Co-Pilot for Jack Jella

Pacific Air Races- 2 Races
1 race with Granddaughter Gail as Co-Pilot
1 race with Nancy Rodgers as Co-Pilot

AVIATION CONTRIBUTIONS

Dell feels that her greatest contribution to aviation was as a flight instructor, where she accumulated over 800 hours, inspiring many of her students into aviation careers.

Other organizations

• Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association - 1946 to Present
• Salinas Owners & Pilots Association - Charter Member
• Monterey County Airman's Association
• Civil Air Patrol
• El Kampers
• RV Club ( Wagon Masters)

Aircraft Flown By Dell Hinn
List is solo flight only

Beechcraft
Bonanza: Models
"C" through "V"
Baron
TravelAir
Stagger Wing
Debonair

Cessna
Models: 120, 140, 170, 172, 180, 182, 210,195, 310 & 34011
Cardinal RG

Piper
Cherokee: 120, 140, 235, Arrow, Dakota, Archer,
Lance Comanche, Comanche 400,
Twin Comanche, Apache, Pawnee, Pacer, Clipper,
J3 & J4, Cruiser,
Cherokee Six, Saratoga, Vagabond, Clipper, Tri-Pacer, Colt, Warrior, Navajo

Miscellaneous Aircraft
Aronca 7AC
Aero Commander 112A BabyAce
Bellanca
Citabria
Decathlon
Ercoupe
Fairchild PT-19, PT-23 and PT-24
Funk
Great Lakes
Luscombe 8A & 8E
Monocoupe
Mooney
Morrisey
Navion
Ryan PT-22
Staib
Stinson L-5, 108, Voyager, & Station Wagon
Swift
Taylorcraft
Trojan
Varga
Vultee BT-13
Yankee

Multi-Engine
Aero Commander 560-E
Aztec
Baron
Cessna 310
Cessna 340-11
Cessna Skymaster
Travel Air
Twin Comanche