Memorial Day 2016



Baldwin Family Flyers near the pier in
Fairhope, Alabama at the terminus of the 2015 ARC

This year 54 teams are flying the race on a route that is honoring colleges and universities that have a specialization in aviation. 

19 of the teams are student teams from: Texas State Technical College, Indiana State University, University of North Dakota, Liberty University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott and ERAU-Daytona Beach, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Purdue University, Minnesota State University Mankato, Western Michigan University, LeTourneau University, Kent State University and Lewis University.  Wow!  So many student teams - inspirational and quite exciting.

Over four days, for a total race distance of 2362 nautical miles or 2719 statute miles the teams will compete to fly the best cross country flight. 

Noteworthy for this Memorial Day is the news from two weeks ago that the President signed a law allowing the Women's Airforce Service Pilots to be laid to rest at Arlington cemetery.  Passed by the house in March, and by the Senate earlier in May, the WASPs, pioneering pilots are most deserving of this honor..
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36316118

Bev Weintraub, fellow racer wrote this article:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/05/19/eight-decades-after-amelia-earhart-made-history-lets-celebrate-todays-women-pilots.html

Another piece of news recently about the ARC that includes mention of the Baldwin Family Flyers:
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2016/may/10/all-female-air-race-classic-honors-aviation-colleges
The photo at the top of the article shows our race plane with #13.  That year we had a super hot start at Lake Havasu, Arizona.