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.