Iosco County Airport gets some new direction

The Bay City Times reports that the Iosco County Airport has a new 80-foot runway compass rose:

With the runway and apron at the Iosco County Airport in East Tawas newly resurfaced, Saturday was a perfect time to paint an 80-foot compass rose. About 15 supporters from the Michigan Chapter Ninety-Nines, with local helpers, painted the compass marking on the new airport apron surface.

The Ninety-Nines is an international organization of women pilots started in 1929 by Amelia Earhart and other certified women pilots at Curtis Field on Long Island, N.Y. Pilots align their planes on the compass rose to check the accuracy of their magnetic compasses.

"Way back in the early barn-storming years, they didn't have aeronautical charts that identified airports," said MacLeod, who lives in Tawas City. "Airports didn't always look like airports. They looked like farmers' fields."

Ninety-Nines promote fellowship through flight, provide networking and scholarship opportunities for women and preserve the unique history of women in aviation.