Aviation for Women - March/April 2010

Three Musketeers
by Gene Nora Jessen

Book Review by Jacque Boyd

Not so long ago, Mr. Cessna built great airplanes for the “every-pilot.” Mr. Piper built a slightly more expensive, but equally popular alternative. Then there was the “Cadillac” of the general aviation world, built by Mr. Beech. Okay, I’ll admit that’s more than a little simplified version of general aviation from the early 1960’s through the mid-1980’s. Well, maybe not!

The Fabulous Flight of the Three Musketeers tells the story of the introduction of a new Beech aircraft, the Musketeer. Beech’s plan was to demonstrate the airplane for the public and the press by flying three of the airplanes for 90 days, in formation flight across the 48 contiguous states. Gene Nora Jessen, the book’s author and one of the “Three Musketeer” pilots, chronicles the delightful journey of the airplane for those 90 days. Jessen, Joyce Case and Mike Gordon were chosen to be the demonstration pilots who, in the summer and fall of 1962, introduced Beech’s new model to the masses.

The Flight of the Three Musketeers is a story of three pilots demonstrating an airplane, but also a treatise of the times. Jessen and Case flew the airplane in dresses and heels with Gordon in a suit or at least a dress shirt and a tie.

Jessen organizes the “chapters” into the seven legs of the promotional flights. Leg 1 was a six-day trip that began in Wichita, Kansas, to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On day two they flew to Dallas. Day 3 included flights to Houston and then separate trips for Jessen to Texas City and Galveston. Add in the thrills of a new airplane to demonstrate, new radios to test, learning to be a sales person, weather glitches, formation flying and oh yes, again flying in high heels.

This book is for you if you’ve ever owned a Beechcraft product—you’ll love the background and the history. This book is for you if you were flying in the “good old days” of the 1960s. This book is for you if you simply enjoy a wonderful aviation story well-told. The photos—and there are a lot of great photos—will make you smile and some of them will make you simply laugh aloud!

Jessen, who had been a flight instructor at the University of Oklahoma, quit her job there in 1961 to take part in some secret physical tests conducted at the Lovelace Clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Does that sound vaguely familiar? Yes, she was one of the women, as she says “light-heartedly tagged The Mercury 13.” Jessen is also one of the elite few women who have held the office of President of the Ninety-Nines, Inc., the world’s oldest organization specifically for certificated female pilots. ✈

ISBN: 978-1-4392-3151-7
Booksurge Publishing; Soft cover; $16.99

Likes To Go Fast
Has Stamina

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Aspires To Be The Best

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They must have written withdrawal, refund, transfer, and reinstatement policies. Accredited schools must submit audited financialstatements proving financial stability.