not us!!! The first place team was Classic #11 (Terry Carbonell, Ellen Herr & Laura Ying Gao).
They deserved it and it was exciting to see them take first place.
As for Classic team# 28 we came in 34th and I am really happy for our accomplishment. Although we didn't win any of the leg prizes (1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th) we did really well on three of them. One leg #1 (Fort Myers to Waycross, GA) we were 13th. In Leg #3 (Tuscaloosa, AL to Hot Springs, AR) we were 10th!!!! And on the 7th leg (Elkhart, IN to Parkersburg, WV) we were 15th. Not to bad for first time racers.
Things learned during this race....
1. Gum will melt (yes melt) in an airplane with a heat index of 105 on the ground.
2. While visiting Hot Springs in the summer no one goes in the hot springs.
3. You meet the nicest people in some of the most out of the way places.
4. Don't expect to sleep during the Air Race Classic
5. People want your autograph because you are flying an race which still shocks me
6. Airplane cookies are wonderful
7. After flying more than 17 hrs in three days DO NOT attempt to fly the rental car
by placing both feet on the gas and brake petals thinking they are rudder petals in the plane.
8. If you need weather information ask any pilot
9. Women pilots rock!!!
10. If you finish the Air Race Classic you can accomplish anything!!! :o)
For all of you who have followed us during this exciting adventure many thanks for your well wishes and prayers.
And for those who will ask....I would do it again in a heartbeat!!!!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Frederick Fly In....June 27th
Our friends Michel and Joanne decided to fly to Frederick and bring my husband along for the ride. We took them to the restaurant on the field and we had a great visit. Here are some pictures of our afternoon.
Joanne & Michel....
Barb & Ron....
Michel taking off from Frederick to head home.
Saturday Night Movie & VIP Reception...
On Saturday night we got to see a special screening of "Breaking Through The Clouds". This special screening of Independent Producer Heather Taylor’s much anticipated documentary film on the first women’s air race in 1929.
The reception was held at the Delaplaine’s Gallery. The Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Ninety-Nines sponsored this event and is dedicated to our chapter’s late benefactor, Theresa Dellaquila.
Here are some pictures of t this event.
The reception was held at the Delaplaine’s Gallery. The Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Ninety-Nines sponsored this event and is dedicated to our chapter’s late benefactor, Theresa Dellaquila.
Here are some pictures of t this event.
Friday Night Melt Down Party....
This is my friend Adelle who was the lady that lent her plane to Mary and Alison (Classic #9) to fly the race. We were outside watching the helicopter take off after the Melt Down Party on Friday night.
This is another fellow 99 Heather Hill taking a helicopter lesson.
This is another fellow 99 Heather Hill taking a helicopter lesson.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Official Timing Sheet....
We have signed our official timing and we are VERY excited. We have NO penalties!!!! Yes I said 0 penalties. That is awesome for flying this race for the first time. We are not in the top ten because we were not called this morning to fly the handicap flight again but we were happy not to be disqualified or have no penalties.
Thank goodness for Excel. I did all the timing and put it in an Excel spreadsheet and transferred in onto the official score sheet that we had to show the official timer. Our scores match his perfectly and that was also exciting!!!
Don't be disappointed but our scores might not be the best but we had a great time and finished without penalties!!!!!
Thank goodness for Excel. I did all the timing and put it in an Excel spreadsheet and transferred in onto the official score sheet that we had to show the official timer. Our scores match his perfectly and that was also exciting!!!
Don't be disappointed but our scores might not be the best but we had a great time and finished without penalties!!!!!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Frederick - June 26th
Sorry folks but I have had some problems uploading pictures so hold on to your seats because I will have some great pictures along the way and some pictures of us after we landed at Frederick yesterday.
So let's go back to yesterday morning (Where were we??) at Carbondale, IL. We got to the airport in the morning and we were first on the RON (remain over night list - that was an easy one for me to remember) list so we were the first plane allowed to take off if we were ready. There was one plane that got off the ground before us but we left IL and headed to Elkhart.
Now Elkhart is a different story. We got there and everyone was just waiting for weather to clear in the East. We grab a water and granola bar while we waited for fuel. There was hardly anyone leaving but we made a decision to make a run for the money. The skies were clear through Parkersburg, WV but the line of storms were heading to Frederick. Off we went and lucked out with the best tail winds the entire trip. We got to Parkersburg in less than 2 hours. We were expecting more than a 2-1/2 hour flight but the tail winds pushed us hard over the hills of West Virgina.
When we got to Parkersburg, WV there was a group of pilots waiting for the weather in the East to clear out. I checked the computer at the airport and saw the weather was over or just barely past Frederick. Being an East coast team we had a pretty good idea what to expect from this front that was moving through the area. We got fuel quickly and were only on the ground for about about one hour. We made the decision to run for the finish and off we went.
Now for those of you who haven't flown in a four seat airplane over the hills of WV in with high tail winds you have no idea what you are missing. One of the girls hit an air pocket and hit her head on the ceiling of the plane. We on the other hand were strapped down well and hit some air pockets but never came out of our seat belts and harnesses. Remember if you do get to experience this type of flying when you hit the air pocket you yell....Yeeeeee Haaaaa....
We get to Frederick and see the timing line only to hear that someone is in the pattern using the same runway for the timing line to do touch and goes. Somehow the timing works out and he didn't get in the way but we were prepared to kindly ask him to move because you want to fly low and fast over the line. Then it was off to try to land in 25 gusts of wind. It was interesting and we made it safety to the ground.
It was actually surreal how it felt to complete this race along side this bunch of women. What an accomplish!!! What an amazing adventure that we took.
I will continue to blog about our activities this weekend (there are a lot of them) and continue to post pictures. We will not know what place we came in until Sunday night. I can tell you now after calculating our score sheet that two legs we flew slower than our handicap (bad) and two legs we blew our handicap out of the water. The rest of the race we were better than our handicap speed so that was exciting. Win or lose it was an experience of a lifetime. More about that later!!!
So let's go back to yesterday morning (Where were we??) at Carbondale, IL. We got to the airport in the morning and we were first on the RON (remain over night list - that was an easy one for me to remember) list so we were the first plane allowed to take off if we were ready. There was one plane that got off the ground before us but we left IL and headed to Elkhart.
Now Elkhart is a different story. We got there and everyone was just waiting for weather to clear in the East. We grab a water and granola bar while we waited for fuel. There was hardly anyone leaving but we made a decision to make a run for the money. The skies were clear through Parkersburg, WV but the line of storms were heading to Frederick. Off we went and lucked out with the best tail winds the entire trip. We got to Parkersburg in less than 2 hours. We were expecting more than a 2-1/2 hour flight but the tail winds pushed us hard over the hills of West Virgina.
When we got to Parkersburg, WV there was a group of pilots waiting for the weather in the East to clear out. I checked the computer at the airport and saw the weather was over or just barely past Frederick. Being an East coast team we had a pretty good idea what to expect from this front that was moving through the area. We got fuel quickly and were only on the ground for about about one hour. We made the decision to run for the finish and off we went.
Now for those of you who haven't flown in a four seat airplane over the hills of WV in with high tail winds you have no idea what you are missing. One of the girls hit an air pocket and hit her head on the ceiling of the plane. We on the other hand were strapped down well and hit some air pockets but never came out of our seat belts and harnesses. Remember if you do get to experience this type of flying when you hit the air pocket you yell....Yeeeeee Haaaaa....
We get to Frederick and see the timing line only to hear that someone is in the pattern using the same runway for the timing line to do touch and goes. Somehow the timing works out and he didn't get in the way but we were prepared to kindly ask him to move because you want to fly low and fast over the line. Then it was off to try to land in 25 gusts of wind. It was interesting and we made it safety to the ground.
It was actually surreal how it felt to complete this race along side this bunch of women. What an accomplish!!! What an amazing adventure that we took.
I will continue to blog about our activities this weekend (there are a lot of them) and continue to post pictures. We will not know what place we came in until Sunday night. I can tell you now after calculating our score sheet that two legs we flew slower than our handicap (bad) and two legs we blew our handicap out of the water. The rest of the race we were better than our handicap speed so that was exciting. Win or lose it was an experience of a lifetime. More about that later!!!
More Pictures from June 23rd - June 24th
Finally I was able to upload photos. Here some more....
The hills of West Virginia....
Minutes after landing at Frederick with our Mama Bird Mary.....
The hills of West Virginia....
Parkersburg, West Virginia Airport.....
Minutes after landing at Frederick with our Mama Bird Mary.....
We was great to be surrounded by many familiar faces from PA. Mary's husband Arnie was one of the volunteers helping us clean out the plane and tie her down for the weekend.
This was Thursday night. The Heather Hill and her husband Dan along with their three beautiful girls took us into town with some of the others for dinner. This is a picture of Alison and myself at dinner.
Pictures from June 23rd - 24th
This is our view leaving Hot Springs on Wednesday morning...
This is what another racers looked like from the air. ***Warning objects are closer than what they appear!!! Actually we were all on a common frequency (122.75) the entire route and we were able to announce positions and tell each other we were passing left, right, under or over top. We didn't pass anyone. :o) 
This is in route (somewhere) of the flooding we saw along the way. The banks of the rivers were spilling over into fields and low lying areas.
This is Southern Illinois Airport where we stayed overnight on June 23rd.
This is what another racers looked like from the air. ***Warning objects are closer than what they appear!!! Actually we were all on a common frequency (122.75) the entire route and we were able to announce positions and tell each other we were passing left, right, under or over top. We didn't pass anyone. :o)
Wind Mill farms on the way to Elkhart, IN. What an amazing site. VERY, VERY cool but visable wasn't the best on Thursday monring.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Racing to the Finish......
We landed in Frederick, MD around 6pm tonight. I will tell you ALL about trip tomorrow once I can think straight and post more photos. Just so you are not bored tonight here is an article from the FrederickNewsPost.com. Enjoy and Nite-Nite...
Air Race Classic to touch down in Frederick
Originally published June 23, 2010
By Blair Ames
News-Post Staff
Photo by The News-Press, Fort Myers, Fla.
Pilot Terry Carbonell, above, of Alva, Fla., prepares her plane on Tuesday before takeoff for a four-day race that leaves Page Field General Aviation Airport in Fort Myers, Fla. More than 100 female pilots, working in teams of 52 aircraft, will participate in the race that stops in eight cities, ending in Frederick.
The sky above Frederick will be full of airplanes Thursday and Friday as 52 aircraft flying in the largest all-female air race in the country touch down at Frederick Municipal Airport.
The 34th annual Air Race Classic is holding the terminus of its race in Frederick and is landing for the first time in Maryland. The race started Tuesday in Fort Myers, Fla., with the deadline for racers to arrive in Frederick set at 5 p.m. Friday.
The 52 teams are made up of two to three pilots per team totaling 113 female aviators. Pilots range in age from 18 to 92.
Carolyn Van Newkirk from York, Pa., is racing with Frederick resident Lin Caywood and is flying her 18th air race.
"I am thrilled that Frederick is hosting the terminus for this year's race, right in my backyard," she said. "We need events like this to bring the excitement of aviation into different parts of the country."
Caywood, competing in her first race, is the chairwoman of the terminus committee and has been involved in planning the event since the beginning.
"It's a great honor for the state and for our chapter, the Sugarloaf Ninety-Nines," she said.
Besides Caywood, other local racers include fellow Sugarloaf Ninety-Nines chapter members Susan Beall and Sandi Terkelsen.
The race is landing in Frederick because of the advocacy of Terry Carbonell, Air Race Classic secretary and Maryland native.
Carbonell picked Frederick "because she was familiar with it and thought it was a beautiful, historic town," event consultant Gail Norman said.
This is the largest all-female aviation race in the country. The only other all-female air race is the Palms to Pines Air Race for Women, where pilots fly from Santa Monica, Calif., to Bend, Ore., in two days.
During the Air Race Classic pilots will race a total of more than 2,400 miles starting in Fort Myers, with mandatory stops in Waycross, Ga., Tuscaloosa, Ala., Hot Springs, Ark., Cameron, Mo., Carbondale-Murphysboro, Ill., Elkhart, Ind., Parkersburg, W.Va., and finally into Frederick .
The racers do not need to land at each checkpoint, but if they decide not to land, then they must perform a "fly-by" to be timed.
The race is unusual because the first airplane to land in Frederick isn't necessarily the winner. Planes are scored based on handicaps, which are set as the plane's current, demonstrated and best ground speed. Planes are assigned a handicapped speed and the goal is to have the actual ground speed be as far more than the handicap speed as possible.
A team's score is calculated by incorporating their handicap. Scores are calculated for each leg by taking the airplane's ground speed, subtracting any penalties and then subtracting the airplane's handicap.
With the scoring of the race based on the racer's handicap, the results of the race will not be calculated until Sunday. Racers will discover the winner Sunday night during an awards banquet at Dutch's Daughter restaurant.
Some racers will receive a hint on how well they fared against their competitors Saturday. The top 12 airplanes in the standings must be inspected to ensure there was no cheating. If a racer receives a call Saturday that her airplane needs to be inspected, then she knows she placed well.
Racers this year are competing for a prize pool totaling $15,000. First place will receive a cash prize of $5,000 and second will receive $3,000. Tenth place is the last place awarded a prize of $350.
Apart from the $15,000 prize pool, the lowest-scoring team is awarded the SOS Claude Glasson Award, which comes with $100. For each leg of the race, prizes are awarded to the four highest-scoring teams for that leg. The top 10 finishers are not eligible for the leg prizes.
Although many would like to win, most race to sharpen their aviation skills based on a survey conducted by Van Newkirk. Of 100 responses, the second most popular reason the women race is to be challenged, with the third being to enjoy the competition, the fourth to have the opportunities and finally some just race to enjoy the camaraderie of fellow female pilots.
"Most race for the experience, but there are numerous die-hards who really want to win," Van Newkirk said.
A component of the race is the collegiate competition. These eight college teams are competing for the Collegiate Challenge trophy. The large traveling trophy is engraved with the winning team's names and stays in the victor's school trophy case until the next race.
"These teams have been practicing all year for this," Caywood said.
The goal of the race isn't to finish first, but to fly the perfect cross-country trip. Any entry has an equal chance of victory depending on the accuracy of the handicapping, not the horsepower of the plane.
During the race, pilots must follow visual flight rules that prevent them from flying at night. With each leg expected to take between two and three hours, most pilots could finish Thursday if the weather holds.
Air Race Classic to touch down in Frederick
Originally published June 23, 2010
By Blair Ames
News-Post Staff
Photo by The News-Press, Fort Myers, Fla.
Pilot Terry Carbonell, above, of Alva, Fla., prepares her plane on Tuesday before takeoff for a four-day race that leaves Page Field General Aviation Airport in Fort Myers, Fla. More than 100 female pilots, working in teams of 52 aircraft, will participate in the race that stops in eight cities, ending in Frederick.
The sky above Frederick will be full of airplanes Thursday and Friday as 52 aircraft flying in the largest all-female air race in the country touch down at Frederick Municipal Airport.
The 34th annual Air Race Classic is holding the terminus of its race in Frederick and is landing for the first time in Maryland. The race started Tuesday in Fort Myers, Fla., with the deadline for racers to arrive in Frederick set at 5 p.m. Friday.
The 52 teams are made up of two to three pilots per team totaling 113 female aviators. Pilots range in age from 18 to 92.
Carolyn Van Newkirk from York, Pa., is racing with Frederick resident Lin Caywood and is flying her 18th air race.
"I am thrilled that Frederick is hosting the terminus for this year's race, right in my backyard," she said. "We need events like this to bring the excitement of aviation into different parts of the country."
Caywood, competing in her first race, is the chairwoman of the terminus committee and has been involved in planning the event since the beginning.
"It's a great honor for the state and for our chapter, the Sugarloaf Ninety-Nines," she said.
Besides Caywood, other local racers include fellow Sugarloaf Ninety-Nines chapter members Susan Beall and Sandi Terkelsen.
The race is landing in Frederick because of the advocacy of Terry Carbonell, Air Race Classic secretary and Maryland native.
Carbonell picked Frederick "because she was familiar with it and thought it was a beautiful, historic town," event consultant Gail Norman said.
This is the largest all-female aviation race in the country. The only other all-female air race is the Palms to Pines Air Race for Women, where pilots fly from Santa Monica, Calif., to Bend, Ore., in two days.
During the Air Race Classic pilots will race a total of more than 2,400 miles starting in Fort Myers, with mandatory stops in Waycross, Ga., Tuscaloosa, Ala., Hot Springs, Ark., Cameron, Mo., Carbondale-Murphysboro, Ill., Elkhart, Ind., Parkersburg, W.Va., and finally into Frederick .
The racers do not need to land at each checkpoint, but if they decide not to land, then they must perform a "fly-by" to be timed.
The race is unusual because the first airplane to land in Frederick isn't necessarily the winner. Planes are scored based on handicaps, which are set as the plane's current, demonstrated and best ground speed. Planes are assigned a handicapped speed and the goal is to have the actual ground speed be as far more than the handicap speed as possible.
A team's score is calculated by incorporating their handicap. Scores are calculated for each leg by taking the airplane's ground speed, subtracting any penalties and then subtracting the airplane's handicap.
With the scoring of the race based on the racer's handicap, the results of the race will not be calculated until Sunday. Racers will discover the winner Sunday night during an awards banquet at Dutch's Daughter restaurant.
Some racers will receive a hint on how well they fared against their competitors Saturday. The top 12 airplanes in the standings must be inspected to ensure there was no cheating. If a racer receives a call Saturday that her airplane needs to be inspected, then she knows she placed well.
Racers this year are competing for a prize pool totaling $15,000. First place will receive a cash prize of $5,000 and second will receive $3,000. Tenth place is the last place awarded a prize of $350.
Apart from the $15,000 prize pool, the lowest-scoring team is awarded the SOS Claude Glasson Award, which comes with $100. For each leg of the race, prizes are awarded to the four highest-scoring teams for that leg. The top 10 finishers are not eligible for the leg prizes.
Although many would like to win, most race to sharpen their aviation skills based on a survey conducted by Van Newkirk. Of 100 responses, the second most popular reason the women race is to be challenged, with the third being to enjoy the competition, the fourth to have the opportunities and finally some just race to enjoy the camaraderie of fellow female pilots.
"Most race for the experience, but there are numerous die-hards who really want to win," Van Newkirk said.
A component of the race is the collegiate competition. These eight college teams are competing for the Collegiate Challenge trophy. The large traveling trophy is engraved with the winning team's names and stays in the victor's school trophy case until the next race.
"These teams have been practicing all year for this," Caywood said.
The goal of the race isn't to finish first, but to fly the perfect cross-country trip. Any entry has an equal chance of victory depending on the accuracy of the handicapping, not the horsepower of the plane.
During the race, pilots must follow visual flight rules that prevent them from flying at night. With each leg expected to take between two and three hours, most pilots could finish Thursday if the weather holds.
Elkhart Weather....
The main reason we stayed in Carbondale - Southern IL was because the weather was not looking good last night in Elkhart, IN. They were calling for hail and tornadoes throughout the area. We got an update from Race Central last night that all planes have been put into hangers and were safe.
We also had a question about when the timing line in Frederick. Our timing paperwork from ARC only showed when the timing line closes in MD on Friday (5pm). It did not show when it closed today. So after some phone calls last night and talking to some folks at dinner (we were not the only ones that stayed in Carbondale) the web site was updated and the timing line closes today @ 8:41pm. That should give us enough time to get there as long as the weather holds out and our stops at Elkhart and Parkersburg are not longer than 1-1/2.
We are watching the Carbondale morning news and they just showed the Air Race Classic and had a story about the race. This has been happening all along the way. The Southern IL girls were interviewed but I am not sure if it was for the local news or their college news.
As one of our well wishers said...."Throttle to the Firewall".
We also had a question about when the timing line in Frederick. Our timing paperwork from ARC only showed when the timing line closes in MD on Friday (5pm). It did not show when it closed today. So after some phone calls last night and talking to some folks at dinner (we were not the only ones that stayed in Carbondale) the web site was updated and the timing line closes today @ 8:41pm. That should give us enough time to get there as long as the weather holds out and our stops at Elkhart and Parkersburg are not longer than 1-1/2.
We are watching the Carbondale morning news and they just showed the Air Race Classic and had a story about the race. This has been happening all along the way. The Southern IL girls were interviewed but I am not sure if it was for the local news or their college news.
As one of our well wishers said...."Throttle to the Firewall".
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
A Run for the Finish....
Sorry Folks....I typed this late last night and never posted......
We left Hot Springs this morning at about 8am and headed to Cameron, MO. We meet so many nice people along the way it is a very exciting but interesting journey. We waited for fuel in Cameron for an hour and half because this little airport doesn't have a fuel truck so we had to put the tow bars on the planes and drag them towards the fuel tank in a single file line.
We then moved on to Southern IL - Murphysboro. We got here midafternoon. There were a lot of the racers had been waiting there for the winds to change so they could get better tail winds to head to Elkhart, IN. We decided to stay over night here in Southern, IL because they are predicing bad storms with hail and possible tornados. I don't know about some of you but I do not prefer to see a toronado from the air in a small airplane.
So here is the deal. We need to get to Elkhart then to Parkersburg, WV and finally to Frederick, MD. Our computer calculations (without winds) is showing a trip of about 8 hours. There is some weather we will have to look for as we get closer to WV and MD but we are going to try and attempt to get to Frederick tomorrow. Worst case we should be able to get to Parkersburg, WV. Keep your fingers crossed because we would sure like to be in Frederick tomorrow so we can relax a little bit.
Thanks for everyone's well wishes today!!!
We left Hot Springs this morning at about 8am and headed to Cameron, MO. We meet so many nice people along the way it is a very exciting but interesting journey. We waited for fuel in Cameron for an hour and half because this little airport doesn't have a fuel truck so we had to put the tow bars on the planes and drag them towards the fuel tank in a single file line.
We then moved on to Southern IL - Murphysboro. We got here midafternoon. There were a lot of the racers had been waiting there for the winds to change so they could get better tail winds to head to Elkhart, IN. We decided to stay over night here in Southern, IL because they are predicing bad storms with hail and possible tornados. I don't know about some of you but I do not prefer to see a toronado from the air in a small airplane.
So here is the deal. We need to get to Elkhart then to Parkersburg, WV and finally to Frederick, MD. Our computer calculations (without winds) is showing a trip of about 8 hours. There is some weather we will have to look for as we get closer to WV and MD but we are going to try and attempt to get to Frederick tomorrow. Worst case we should be able to get to Parkersburg, WV. Keep your fingers crossed because we would sure like to be in Frederick tomorrow so we can relax a little bit.
Thanks for everyone's well wishes today!!!
June 23rd Pictures....
Cameron, MO
These folks were waiting for us with fresh strawberries, grapes, chicken salad sandwiches and cookies (see below)....
Everyone keeps their planes clean even our oldest pilot Ruby.
Now this my kind of a hanger...a plane and two John Deere tractors.
Airplane cookies....
These folks were waiting for us with fresh strawberries, grapes, chicken salad sandwiches and cookies (see below)....
Everyone keeps their planes clean even our oldest pilot Ruby.
Now this my kind of a hanger...a plane and two John Deere tractors.
Airplane cookies....
Pictures from June 22nd - The Embry-Riddle Girls...
This is the team from FL. These girls confirmed how hard it was to go to college, fly and live in Dayton Beach. Actually these college girls are the best. They are thorough, polite and darn good pilots. They have been friendly and helpful to us old girls. There are also three teams from South IL and they are a great bunch of girls too.
This is the team from AZ.... 
This is the team from AZ....
Pictures from June 22nd....
Here are some pictures from yesterday.....
Flying past cloudy Lakeland, FL
Part of the Mississippi.....
Classic Racer# 28 parked behind the tower @ Tuscaloosa, AL
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
June 22nd - Hot Springs, AR
We left Ft. Myers @ 8:45am and stopped at Waycross, GA, Tuscaloosa, AL and we are staying in Hot Springs, AR tonight. Just over 7 hours of flying time but we were on the ground at each stop for more than an hour. I don't think AL did too bad @ $5 per gallon!!! We ran the truck dry and they needed to refuel the fuel truck. I AM EXHAUSTED!!! I will add some details about the day and they I am doing to sleep.
As were preflighting this morning there was a camera guy on my back. It was a little unnerving considering I was trying to focus on the plane. The latest news from my sister in FL is that there is video of my body and not my face. Boy now that must be great video!!!!
The folks in Waycross were the nicest people you would ever meet. They had homemade BBQ waiting for us and all kinds of stuff to eat and drink. This little guy (maybe 7-8) comes running up to us and says may I please have your signature. The little guy had a program with all of our names on it and we signed it for him.
The timing lines we have to fly at low altitude full throttle are a hoot!!!! At full throttle you are fighting with a plane that wants to climb and you are only above the ground 200 to 400 ft. It was fun except we probably had all 51 racers trying to do it in a short period of time at Waycross, GA. Did I tell you the oldest racer is 92 and the youngest (I had dinner with her and her teammate) is only 18.
We are in Hot Springs and the heat index is 105. It is really hot. As the volunteers (YES ALL volunteers) took us to our hotel he was telling us that Hot Springs is known for it's hot springs and that our hotel had a spa that we could go sit in the hot spring. No way was I getting into any pool of water that was hot.
I would like to provide more details but it is past my bedtime. Tomorrow we are head to Cameron, MO, Southern Illinois and Elkhart, IN. Not sure if the weather will hold out yet but we should get the first two stops in.
As were preflighting this morning there was a camera guy on my back. It was a little unnerving considering I was trying to focus on the plane. The latest news from my sister in FL is that there is video of my body and not my face. Boy now that must be great video!!!!
The folks in Waycross were the nicest people you would ever meet. They had homemade BBQ waiting for us and all kinds of stuff to eat and drink. This little guy (maybe 7-8) comes running up to us and says may I please have your signature. The little guy had a program with all of our names on it and we signed it for him.
The timing lines we have to fly at low altitude full throttle are a hoot!!!! At full throttle you are fighting with a plane that wants to climb and you are only above the ground 200 to 400 ft. It was fun except we probably had all 51 racers trying to do it in a short period of time at Waycross, GA. Did I tell you the oldest racer is 92 and the youngest (I had dinner with her and her teammate) is only 18.
We are in Hot Springs and the heat index is 105. It is really hot. As the volunteers (YES ALL volunteers) took us to our hotel he was telling us that Hot Springs is known for it's hot springs and that our hotel had a spa that we could go sit in the hot spring. No way was I getting into any pool of water that was hot.
I would like to provide more details but it is past my bedtime. Tomorrow we are head to Cameron, MO, Southern Illinois and Elkhart, IN. Not sure if the weather will hold out yet but we should get the first two stops in.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Racers Start Your Engines.....
So it is almost 4pm on Monday afternoon. We have been in briefings since 8am this morning with a short break for lunch. We have all the information to fly the race and fly the low altitude timing passes at each airport. We are almost really to go. I am still organizing the our packets of information for each airport which includes the fly by procedures (each airport is different and each is approved by the FAA), our flight plan, our fuel and timing sheets and all the information needed to fly that particular leg.
The race numbers has been settled. They either got the wrong plane or they didn't see that we had the right size numbers and the 2" white boarder around the entire number. We were told that we would be contacted by a judge yesterday to be assess a monetary fine if there was still a problem but that wasn't the case so I think we are good to go.
After flying the handicap flight again on Sunday morning we have been all given our handicaps. We have the second lowest handicap out of the 51 planes still in the race. Our handicap is 114.63. Not quite sure how that plays out but it is used in the calcualations
of our scores. Although it does seem like we might be one of the slowest planes in the race. :o) Don't rule out the underdog!!!!!
Got to run. To many things to do and so little time. I will try to keep up on the blog as we go so stay turned. Right now it looks like we have until almost 8:30pm (sunset) tomorrow night to fly the last timing line of the day. We are tentively looking at leaving Fort Myers getting timed (& fuel @ each waypoint) at Waycross, GA continuing to Tuscaloosa, AL fly the timing line there and then deciding if we should continue to Hot Springs, AR. If weather is good we might try to get to AR just to get an extra waypoint out of our way. Stay tuned...
The race numbers has been settled. They either got the wrong plane or they didn't see that we had the right size numbers and the 2" white boarder around the entire number. We were told that we would be contacted by a judge yesterday to be assess a monetary fine if there was still a problem but that wasn't the case so I think we are good to go.
After flying the handicap flight again on Sunday morning we have been all given our handicaps. We have the second lowest handicap out of the 51 planes still in the race. Our handicap is 114.63. Not quite sure how that plays out but it is used in the calcualations
of our scores. Although it does seem like we might be one of the slowest planes in the race. :o) Don't rule out the underdog!!!!!
Got to run. To many things to do and so little time. I will try to keep up on the blog as we go so stay turned. Right now it looks like we have until almost 8:30pm (sunset) tomorrow night to fly the last timing line of the day. We are tentively looking at leaving Fort Myers getting timed (& fuel @ each waypoint) at Waycross, GA continuing to Tuscaloosa, AL fly the timing line there and then deciding if we should continue to Hot Springs, AR. If weather is good we might try to get to AR just to get an extra waypoint out of our way. Stay tuned...
Start Banquet.....
Pictures of the banquest last night and the banner that welcomes us @ the hotel. We were given special 2010 Air Race Classic charms that can only be gotten if you fly the race. It was a nice night and so many interesting women are either volunteering for this event or flying the race. We even have the past preident of Mooney who has been running a lot of the briefings. Very interesting group!!!! Then you have then two airport bums from PA....
Sunday, June 20, 2010
BBQ Pictures....
Adelle's Belles & Rick's Chicks.....
The Belles and The Chicks plus my sister Georgia....
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The Belles and The Chicks plus my sister Georgia....
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I will try to get some more pictures of me tonight for those who want to see that I am still alive and kicking!!!!
Start Briefing…
The race hasn’t even started and we have been penalized or they think we will be. There are rules and regulations for every aspect of the race. There are rules and regulations for the size of the race numbers that get applied to the plane that will be used during the race for the timing lines to be able to identify us as we fly over the line to be timed. I specifically ordered the numbers from a graphics place in Tampa, FL that our Mama Birds use and that know the specifics of the size of these decals. The numbers must be 18” high, 3” wide and a white boarder must surround the number if there is any striping on the plane. So the entire “2” and “8” were surrounded by 2” of white boarder. Any issues were to be reported to us at the time of the plane inspection which was 12:15pm Friday afternoon.
We received no notification so we believed there wasn’t an issue. During the briefing they started calling out teams that had problems with their numbers and we were one of them. There was a lot of discussion if we could go out this afternoon to fix the numbers (we still don’t know what the issue is) or if it had to wait until we got to the airport Tuesday morning prior to take off. Finally after more discussions one of the judges jumped up and decided that all those teams with number issues would be assessed a penalty. We are waiting for one of the ARC committee members to get back to us with further information and see if we actually will have to scramble and try to do something in 30 minutes or less on Tuesday AM.
I measured all dimensions of the numbers prior to installing them and confirmed that they were on placed properly on the tail. At this point we will have to wait and see. I refuse to get upset about this when we will have much better hurtles to jump once the race starts.
Handicap flight when well this morning. We are headed to the Start Banquet tonight. Here are some pictures from yesterday.
This is the a picture of the start briefing. Next to Ethel on her right is our Mama Bird Mary Wunder and our Mama Bird Alison Chalker....
We are going to get briefed tomorrow on all the fly bys. What they have done is posted a visual chart of all the fly by procedures at the hotel so we will be prepared for the briefing. Pictures were taken and now we will make notes on the actual Jeppesen charts they provided.
We received no notification so we believed there wasn’t an issue. During the briefing they started calling out teams that had problems with their numbers and we were one of them. There was a lot of discussion if we could go out this afternoon to fix the numbers (we still don’t know what the issue is) or if it had to wait until we got to the airport Tuesday morning prior to take off. Finally after more discussions one of the judges jumped up and decided that all those teams with number issues would be assessed a penalty. We are waiting for one of the ARC committee members to get back to us with further information and see if we actually will have to scramble and try to do something in 30 minutes or less on Tuesday AM.
I measured all dimensions of the numbers prior to installing them and confirmed that they were on placed properly on the tail. At this point we will have to wait and see. I refuse to get upset about this when we will have much better hurtles to jump once the race starts.
Handicap flight when well this morning. We are headed to the Start Banquet tonight. Here are some pictures from yesterday.
This is the a picture of the start briefing. Next to Ethel on her right is our Mama Bird Mary Wunder and our Mama Bird Alison Chalker....
We are going to get briefed tomorrow on all the fly bys. What they have done is posted a visual chart of all the fly by procedures at the hotel so we will be prepared for the briefing. Pictures were taken and now we will make notes on the actual Jeppesen charts they provided.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
So Much for Calm.... June 19th (9:21pm)
At the BBQ we were told that since the plane had two new cylinders installed that we would have to re-fly the handicap flight tomorrow morning @ 7am. So much for getting some extra sleep!!! Oh well...such is life. We will be up before dawn to get over to the airport packed and ready to move into the hotel. We have to be at a mandatory briefing @ 10am at the hotel which is down the road from the airport. It will be a busy morning tomorrow but it would be good to get the plane running again before take off on Tuesday.
The Calm Before the Storm (Saturday, June 19th)
Today was a pretty relaxing day. We got a good night sleep and got two hours worth of beach time this morning. We were suppose to have activities for the kids today at the airport from 2 to 4pm but there was a slim turn out by the public so we got some more time to relax and organize. The ARC committee introduced us to some of our fellow racers who had interesting back grounds. It was very cool to see some of the gals you are flying against and see what they have accomplished in the aviation world.
Organization is the big word in this game. We have so much aviation stuff to keep organized from our equipment (GPS, flight bags, etc) to all the charts (12) that are needed for the race. This doesn't include all the flight planning that was done through aviation software or the notes we have made to plotting and planning our course. I think we are pretty well over prepared and now we can sit through all the briefings over the next two days and get all that information organized.
We are on our way to the Air Race Classic BBQ at the airport from 6 to 8pm tonight. Tomorrow morning we move into the hotel so we are on site to start the briefings. Our schedule looks like this over the next two days….
Sunday:
All Contestant Briefing from 10 – noon.
Relax Sunday afternoon
Banquet from 5:30 to 8:30pm
Monday:
Racer Flyby Briefing 8 – 9:50am
Safety Seminar 10-11am
Outlook Weather Briefing 11:15 to 12pm
First Time Racers Clinic 1 to 2pm
Tuesday:
Take Off Breakfast 6 to 6:30am (like they expect us to eat!!!)
Final Race & Weather Briefing 6:30 to 7am
*** We have to get from the hotel to the airport and pack the plane
Take Off 8am
Pictures from Page Field and all the airplanes that are in the race....
Organization is the big word in this game. We have so much aviation stuff to keep organized from our equipment (GPS, flight bags, etc) to all the charts (12) that are needed for the race. This doesn't include all the flight planning that was done through aviation software or the notes we have made to plotting and planning our course. I think we are pretty well over prepared and now we can sit through all the briefings over the next two days and get all that information organized.
We are on our way to the Air Race Classic BBQ at the airport from 6 to 8pm tonight. Tomorrow morning we move into the hotel so we are on site to start the briefings. Our schedule looks like this over the next two days….
Sunday:
All Contestant Briefing from 10 – noon.
Relax Sunday afternoon
Banquet from 5:30 to 8:30pm
Monday:
Racer Flyby Briefing 8 – 9:50am
Safety Seminar 10-11am
Outlook Weather Briefing 11:15 to 12pm
First Time Racers Clinic 1 to 2pm
Tuesday:
Take Off Breakfast 6 to 6:30am (like they expect us to eat!!!)
Final Race & Weather Briefing 6:30 to 7am
*** We have to get from the hotel to the airport and pack the plane
Take Off 8am
Pictures from Page Field and all the airplanes that are in the race....
Sorry I have more pictures but uploading has been slow and we have to run!!! :o)
Friday, June 18, 2010
Fort Myers Here We Are....
We arrived in Ft. Myers by 11:30am this morning. WOW was the FBO hopping when we got there. There were women racers from all over the country checking in and getting their airplanes inspection. We are good to go. We got our creditionals reviewed and approved and the airplane was inspected by ARC.
The local news was at the airport interviewing different racers (no not us) and we saw it played back on the 6pm news tonight. There was a quote from one of the racers that only 6% (YES 6%) of the pilot population are women. The news also stated that there was a team with at least one of pilots was 92 years old. Age is only a number!!!!
The flight from Brunswick, GA to Fort Myers was not exactly uneventful. Weather was clear in GA but was we started making our way south into FL we started getting a lower cloud layer and there were storms in the Gulf of Mexico. Tom Kozel THANK YOU again for your wonderful Garmin 396 with XM weather. Dodging clouds was one thing but knowing that the weather was off the coast and out of our way was just very conforting. No worries and we cruised into Ft. Myers without any problems.
We had time later in the afternoon to take a dip in the pool and go have a great dinner at the Parrot Key in Ft. Myers Beach and we saw a very cool rainbow. My sister Georgia is our driver and tour guide until Sunday morning when we move into the race hotel. We hope to have a relaxing day tomorrow with the activities at Page Field that are open to the public (specifically the kids) starting @ 2pm and our ARC festivities kicking off tomorrow night with a BBQ at the airport.
Sunday and Monday will be busier since we will start our briefings for the race. Sorry too tired to post any pictures tonight. Thank you for ALL the well wishes and phone calls people have been sending us!!!! Night...Night!!!
The local news was at the airport interviewing different racers (no not us) and we saw it played back on the 6pm news tonight. There was a quote from one of the racers that only 6% (YES 6%) of the pilot population are women. The news also stated that there was a team with at least one of pilots was 92 years old. Age is only a number!!!!
The flight from Brunswick, GA to Fort Myers was not exactly uneventful. Weather was clear in GA but was we started making our way south into FL we started getting a lower cloud layer and there were storms in the Gulf of Mexico. Tom Kozel THANK YOU again for your wonderful Garmin 396 with XM weather. Dodging clouds was one thing but knowing that the weather was off the coast and out of our way was just very conforting. No worries and we cruised into Ft. Myers without any problems.
We had time later in the afternoon to take a dip in the pool and go have a great dinner at the Parrot Key in Ft. Myers Beach and we saw a very cool rainbow. My sister Georgia is our driver and tour guide until Sunday morning when we move into the race hotel. We hope to have a relaxing day tomorrow with the activities at Page Field that are open to the public (specifically the kids) starting @ 2pm and our ARC festivities kicking off tomorrow night with a BBQ at the airport.
Sunday and Monday will be busier since we will start our briefings for the race. Sorry too tired to post any pictures tonight. Thank you for ALL the well wishes and phone calls people have been sending us!!!! Night...Night!!!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Thursday, June 17th – St. Simmons Island, GA
Hi Ya ALL!!!
We left PTW @ 7:30am and got to Kinston, NC by 10:30am for our first fuel stop. It was a beautiful morning and the C-17 that was doing touch and goes at Kinston got out of our way. We left Kinston @ 11:30am and headed to Brunswick, GA (via Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head). We arrived at Brunswick around 2:30pm. We got fuel and looked at the weather at the FBO. We decided to high tail it out of GA and head to FL.
One problem…as we were getting into the plane we could hear the thunder and the dark clouds rolling in. So we get back to the FBO before the rain lets loose and we check weather again. By 3pm we decided we could either wait until 6pm to see if the weather cleared or we could call it a day and look for a hotel. Again we looked that the weather and the storms were continuing through GA and they were starting to pop up in FL. We decided to stay.
We asked Suzie @ Golden Isles Aviation where we could stay. Well Suzie picked up the phone make our reservations using the Golden Isles Aviation discount and here we sit in a LUXURY hotel (The King & Price Resort) on the beach for a VERY reasonable price. For those of you who are my flying friends stop @ Brunswick (McKinnon – SSI) and say hi to Suzie.
We had a great dinner overlooking the beach and now it is time to relax!!
Take off tomorrow is 8am and we should be in FL by no later than noon. Enjoy some of the pictures…
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
No Go.....Wednesday, June 16th (2pm)
Grounded - Wednesday, June 16th
There are thunder storms moving through PA, MD & VA this morning so we are currently grounded. We are going to access the situation around noon to see if we can get out of Pottstown-Limerick this afternoon. The goal would be to get to either Kinston, NC or if we are really lucky we would like to be at Brunswick, GA (Jekyll Island) before the end of the day.
The plane is packed and ready to go. We just need some help from the weather.
The plane is packed and ready to go. We just need some help from the weather.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Airport Bums
I truly feel like an official airport bum!!! I spent another three hours at the airport today helping Ron apply the race numbers to the plane and packing the plane so we are ready to fly first thing tomorrow morning. Flying tomorrow morning is another thing. The weather isn't looking too good but we can always file and fly IFR. We just need to see what tomorrow brings.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Test Pilots & Plane Waxing....
Sunday turned out to be a very busy day!!!! The plane came out of 100 hour inspection on Friday night @ 6pm. It was only flown for a short period on Saturday. Because of the weather today Ethel’s schedule freed up and we decided to put some time on the new cylinders and try to break them in. So we flew the plane for a little more than an hour. It was fine @ 2,400 to 2,500 rpm but a little rough between 1,500 to 2000 rpm.
Once we got done our flight I went home and picked up our plane waxing professional Ron. Between the two of us we were able to get the plane waxed in a couple of hours and boy was she shinning!!! Special thanks to my husband for helping get this important part of pre-race prep completed. Here are some pictures of the plane...
Once we got done our flight I went home and picked up our plane waxing professional Ron. Between the two of us we were able to get the plane waxed in a couple of hours and boy was she shinning!!! Special thanks to my husband for helping get this important part of pre-race prep completed. Here are some pictures of the plane...
We are still looking at departing for Fort Myers on Wednesday morning. Let's hope for nice weather and a plane that has it's cylinders broken in and ready to go!!!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
100 Hour Inspection
The airplane finally went into its 100 hour inspection late Monday afternoon (7th). It is expected to be down most of the week as they work on it. This means some last minute flying over the weekend and finally a good waxing at the end of the weekend. We hope to leave next Wednesday or Thursday (16th of 17th) weather and plane permitting. Keep your fingers crossed!!!
Mama Birds
In all the excitement leading up to the race I have forgotten to fill you in our Mama Birds!!! What is a Mama Bird? The Air Race Classic pairs experience racers with ladies who have not flown the race before. Our Mama Birds are Mary Wunder and Alison Chalker. So we are called “Baby Birds”. Ethel and I both know Mary and Alison since they are fellow Eastern PA 99s. It is very exciting to be paired with them although trying to get strategy out of Mary is like pulling teeth? She has been great help in trying to figure out what to expect when we get to FL and what we should pack. Mary and Alison are Classic #9 so keep eye out for their team during the race and wish them well. Our mama bird nicknames are MBM (Mama Bird Mary) and MBA (Mama Bird Alison). Mary has been calling Ethel and me... BBB (Baby Bird Barb) and BBE (Baby Bird Ethel).
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
I officially feel like an airport bum. I have been to PTW numerous times today. First I went to pick up the Garmin 396 GPS from Tom Kozel. Did I tell you how much we appreciate Tom letting us use his GPS with XM satellite weather? Thank you again Tom!!! Tom gave me instructions on mounting the unit in the plane. I then went back to the airport in the afternoon so Ethel and I went through the charts once again. Be prepared is our motto!!! I also programmed the GPS with all of our waypoints from Heritage Field (aka… Pottstown-Limerick airport) to Fort Myers, FL. Then I programmed all the waypoints for the race. I am currently updating my Flight Guide e-books that will need to be uploaded to my Kindle and I still need to download the airport approach plates. So much to do and time is flying by!!!
Here is a picture of our shirts……..
Here is a picture of our shirts……..
Special thanks go to Joanne Piraino who created the artwork and had the shirts made for us. They came out looking really great. The picture doesn’t do them justice!!! Many thanks Joanne for ALL of your help.
Handicap Flight….
On Sunday, May 30th Denise Waters from ARC arrived at PTW 5:45pm to fly the handicap flight with Ethel. Since the plane is only carrying Ethel and me during the race Denise took my spot in the plane for this flight. After a briefing and updating us on some additional ARC information the handicap flight began at about 7:15pm and they landed at 7:50pm. Things went smoothly and we are waiting for our handicap from Denise and the ARC team. I have to stress this point when talking about the Air Race Classic organization. They are a volunteer organization that amazes me as they take us through the various stages of preparation to get us to Fort Myers to start the race. Denise is the ARC Director of Airplanes and it was great to finally meet her after e-mailing her so often in the past couple of weeks. For our flying friends…Denise flies a Grumman Tiger and she flew in from Latrobe, PA after completely a handicap flight there earlier on Sunday. Once she was finished with us she was flying home to New York. Imagine doing this type of volunteer work in your spare time.
Ethel and I got some time to fly together on Monday, May 31st for a couple of hours to practice our racing techniques. For those who haven’t flown full throttle for long periods of time it is an interesting experience. Configuring the plane to fly straight and level when all she wants to do is climb proves to be a challenge as we get comfortable in the cockpit. Just simple things as cockpit organization are going to be tough as we plan to be in the plane for four straight days.
We are now patiently waiting for the plane to go in for its 100 hour inspection. Stay tuned for more information.
Ethel and I got some time to fly together on Monday, May 31st for a couple of hours to practice our racing techniques. For those who haven’t flown full throttle for long periods of time it is an interesting experience. Configuring the plane to fly straight and level when all she wants to do is climb proves to be a challenge as we get comfortable in the cockpit. Just simple things as cockpit organization are going to be tough as we plan to be in the plane for four straight days.
We are now patiently waiting for the plane to go in for its 100 hour inspection. Stay tuned for more information.
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