Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Air Race Classic! DAY 2

Day 2

Barb and Maggie (Barb was going to race but couldn't get to the start)
Up at the crack of dawn and off to the airport. At the end of each night you write your name on a list and the order you are in is the takeoff order. We were allowed to start our engines at 6:30AM and about 8 teams got in the air nice and early. We had to do another fly by to start our time but it was a little crazy since 5 of us were in the air practically at the same time so we had to find each other an not run into anyone. We end up circling a couple of times to sequence ourselves and then we were off. Over the course of the leg we spread out but were able to tell if someone was passing us. We had an air to air frequency that we could talk to other racers and alert them of how far out we were-
 "Classic racer 34 100 miles from Three Rivers.. Classic racer 33 102 miles from Three Rivers passing on the right and lower". The some of the stuff you would hear and you would look for traffic.

Maggie flew the first and second legs of the day from Jeffersonville, IN to Three Rivers, MI (just a fly by) then we flew to Kalamazoo, MI for fuel (this leg and the first leg were the only ones where you didn't land at the same place as you did the fly by). And then from Kalamzoo to Lawrenceville, IL.

Lawrenceville, IL
Lawrenceville was a bigger airport that used to have military operations there but was calm and not a lot of traffic (by this time the field had spread out also). We stopped and got fuel late morning and planned our next leg. We could see weather coming into our next stop (Kirksville, IL) so we decided we had to go now to beat it or we would be staying overnight. On our way to Kirksville we kept checking the radar and it was looking ok and that we would land right before the storm came in.

Someone passing us.
We got to Kirksville with plenty of time and got fuel and some snacks. At that point we were thinking we would have to overnight because of the storm. However, it seemed to fizzle out and we knew we would have a nice tailwind (since we were battling a headwind on the way there). We decided, since we had plenty of day time left to go "now" and ride the tailwind down to Union City, TN and beat the storm. That was the right decision. Most of the way was clear but the last quarter we had to duck under a massive cloud layer and fly low for a bit. We got to Union City and were hit with a wall of thick, hot humidity but we were glad to be done! We got pampered with tshirts, cold water, snacks, ice cream, dinner, and some of the country club members bought us well deserved beers!



Getting out of the haze.


We crashed at the hotel and I had time to call friends and family and update them on the race while watching an epic lightning storm. We were doing great for the race! We completed 7 out of 9 legs  in 2 days! We expected to finish in 4 days (and even had a bet going with some other teams to see who would land closest to their estimated time- we clearly lost that bet!). With 2 days left to complete the race and only 2 legs left we didn't have anything to stress about.



Union City, TN (too bad the picture didn't come out too clear)

 Stay tuned for day 3.


















Flyby at Connellsville, PA

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Air Race Classic! DAY 1

Day 1!
This is long since overdue... but here is the 1st of a multi part series on our air race.

We finished the AIR RACE CLASSIC! What an adventure. Last time I posted we were at the start. After a weekend of seminars and banquets and meeting new people we were ready to go!



Lining up for the start. We are #34 (and 35-38 are behind us in the semi circle not pictured)






Somewhere enroute...
Taxiing in to Hickory, NC for fuel.
Monday morning at 8AM the first engine started and the race was on. All 50 airplanes launched in 45 minutes and we were headed to Hickory, NC. It was a mad house at Foothills airport (where we did our first fly by) and at Hickory where most of us had to stop to get fuel. A fly by is where we fly over a timing line somewhere on the airport at 200 feet above the ground. When we cross that line our time either stops or starts (depending on what part of the leg you are on). For the first leg we had to fly 6 miles away and land at a towered airport to get fuel. The controller did an amazing job at handling 50 aircraft plus regular traffic. We spent about 30 minutes on the ground in Hickory and then departed for the next leg. Maggie flew the first and I flew the second.

 My leg was from Hickory, NC to Connellsville, PA throuhg the Appalachian Mountains (very beautiful). In order to start the clock we had to fly over the timing line again. Since there were still planes coming in and out of the fly by we had to sequence ourselves in and also spot the 5 other planes in the pattern. Fly bys are quite exciting but also stressful.
Connellsville, PA





At Connellsville we did flybys and landed at the same airport. The way we were landing (due to wind direction) happened to be the opposite of the flyby so it was very hectic and you had to be on guard and looking for traffic since people were going opposite directions on the same runway (one team would be landing and one would be doing a fly by at 200 feet).




After we got fuel and relaxed for a bit we started the longest leg to Jeffersonville, IN (my stomping ground). I flew this leg as well since I knew the airport well, but still had a but of a hard time finding the airport since at lower altitudes the land looks different. We landed well before dark and were contemplating going to the next stop (Kalamazoo, MI). However, we would be cutting it close to sunset and there were storms rolling in around MI. So we decided to overnight in Indiana. We tied down for the night, booked into a hotel, and went to dinner with some of the other racers and talked all about the race.

What an exciting but tiring first day!
Made it to Jeffersonville (Clark County), IN

Stay tuned for Day 2.