Darline "Dottie" Sanders was born in 1918 in Buffalo, NY, and lived Lemon Grove, CA. She earned her private pilot license on May 1, 1949. She and her husband owned a two-place Cessna, Model 140A, 1950 model. She became a member of the San Diego chapter of "The Ninety-Nines" in 1949 and served as secretary, vice-chairman, and chairman of that chapter. In 1961 she formed, and was the first chairman of, the El Cajon Valley Chapter of 99s. She also served as governor of the Southwest Section and as International membership chairman, and attended many Southwest Section meetings and International Conventions.

She flew the All-Women Transcontinental Women Races, also known as the Powder Puff Derby, 20 times from 1950-72 as a pilot seven of those years and the remaining as a co-pilot. She placed in the top 10 four times, second in 1971, and first in 1972. As co-pilot she also flew in the Angel Derby, the Intercontinental Air Race, the Palms to Pines Race, and the Bahamas Treasure Hunt. She was a member of the Pacific Air Race board of directors, raced in it as both pilot and co-pilot, and also served as its treasurer and chief timer. She represented the El Cajon Valley Chapter on the aviation committee of the El Cajon Chamber of Commerce from 1964 until 1992, and was an original member of the San Diego Aerospace Museum (now the San Diego Air and Space Museum).

She was awarded the Gillespie Field Achievement Award in 1978 for her service to that airport and was inducted in the International Forest of Friendship in 1985. The 99s San Diego Chapter awards an annual scholarship in her honor, the Dottie Sanders Memorial Flight Scholarship. The scholarship may be used to fund training or flight instructor certificates of female pilots who reside in San Diego, Riverside, Orange, and Imperial counties. She passed away in 1999.