The final day for the ARC 2014 was Thursday June 19. Having completed four legs on Wednesday the 18th (with 52 seconds to spare!) we were fairly confident that we could achieve the final portion of the race by 5PM on the 19th. That was - if we could make the turnarounds without much delay, if the plane continued to perform well and if there were no weather delays.
We did it. We made the final fly-by at York, PA at 16:28 local time.
Flying from Iowa City to Danville, Illinois we had good speeds, stayed low and avoided the murky and fluffy clouds. The terrain was so very different compared to the ruggedness of the West. Field elevations lowering, humidity rising.
We crossed farmlands, the Mississippi River - into Illinois and past the Quad Cities, over the Illinois River and into Vermilion Regional airport in Danville Illinois. After the fly-by and taxi to the ramp we were exiting the plane and one of the volunteers shouted that we had our own cheering section in Danville. We looked up and were excited to see Bill and Marc! Bill and Marc left Fort Collins, Colorado on the 17th and steered course for the intercept in Danville. It was so nice to be greeted by them and see our family. The Danville volunteers were very friendly and eager to host us but we had intentions to move on out.
Next leg: Danville, Illinois to Athens-Albany, Ohio. North of Indianapolis, between Cincinnati and Dayton, temperatures rising, humidity high and headwinds. The airports en route were more plentiful and we were ever vigilant for traffic amidst the hazy sky. Flight following was helpful though not always available at lower altitudes.
About 30 miles West of Ohio University airport the scenery changed. We were over hilly, dense woodland. The airport was tricky to sight amidst the trees and rural forest area. Three other teams were at the airport when we arrived, teams that we had been chums with and as one of the slower planes we were bringing up the rear in the pack. A reporter and photographer from the Athens newspaper greeted us and was very curious about the cross-country adventure.
At first our turnaround felt relaxed and collegial in the air-conditioned FBO as we chatted with other racers, volunteers and the journalists. And -we were watching the weather ahead as a cell sat right at our destination. Before we knew it we were at the point of must-go to make the deadline. We took off several minutes after team #17, did the departure flyby and steered slightly more North for the final flyby in PA.
From Ohio, over a tip of West Virginia, tiny piece of Maryland and into Pennsylvania. Flying near Morgantown - Hi Kathleen, Cameron and Biscuit - Cara recognized the landmark stacks, settlements and River of her training/stomping ground around Morgantown, Fairmont and Parkersburg.
The last third of this final leg was over the Appalachian hills. Clouds were low and so were we. We stayed in touch with Classic Racer #17 over the air-to-air frequency and were so very appreciative of their reports from farther up course. Using all of our tools in the cockpit including this radio communication - XM satellite, cellular data for AWOS ahead, and the fine piloting skills of Caroline, we diverted to the North, avoiding building convective activity in our path and found a line into York. Wow. What a relief.
Final task was focusing on the flying, navigation and communication to reach our host terminus airport at New Cumberland, PA, 18 nautical miles to the North. Contact Harrisburg Approach, hand-off to tower, maintain VFR, spot the runway, hand-off to Ground and a hearty, joyous welcome on the ground at Capitol City airport.
