Racing recap day #3

Thursday June 23

 Three legs remaining for the air race.  Fortunately conditions did not lead to an actual tornado overnight yet we had concerns for possible thunderstorms developing later on in Illinois or farther on course.  So as soon as we could, after sunrise, and in turn for takeoff order, we set off from Champaign-Urbana, to repeat the flyby at Tuscola and continue south via Kentucky to Tennessee.

This day had a lot more clouds though we did not encounter storms.

Murfreesboro was very welcoming. In addition to the Aerospace activity, the community is also known for Recording Industry programs.  Alumni of Middle Tennessee Stste University include Hillary Scott of lady Antebellum, composer George S. Clinton and economist James M. Buchanan. 

Next stop- Americus, Georgia. But first, across the beautiful hills of Tennessee, including the area known as the Cumberland Plateau.  Through the northeastern corner of Alabama and into Georgia.  

The little white speck over the hill in the difference is Classic Racer #60

Over the Chattahoochee River and under the busy Class Bravo airspace.

The terrain going down, flat farmland, peanuts, poultry farms and heat!

Jimmy Carter Regional Airport in Americus, GA was the next flyby and stop.  Wonderful refreshments.  Souther field at Jimmy Carter Regional airport was the site of the first and only World War I airbase in Georgia.  Another note of fame was the location of Charles Lindbergh's first solo flight in a Curtiss Jenny. Staff at the FBO spoke fondly of Jimmy Carter's presence in the area and of occasional burst of activity at the field complete with multiple secret service personnel.  

The nice goody bag from the Americus stop included this valuable tool for comfort in the cockpit.

Last leg- down to Zellwood, Florida for the final flyby at Orlando North Airpark. Lower and lower, the earth turning white and many lakes dotting the land.  Cross the Suwanee River, Gainesville, Ocala, Leesburg, and - where is that dastardly runway for the flyby?  Well done team!  Ahh, we are a bit saddened that we have come to the finish.  Exhilarated too.  

Ok- call up Daytona approach and here we come.  As we followed the directions from the controllers we made our way in to Daytona's airspace and down on the 10,500 foot runway!  For Cara this was familiar territory. For Caroline and Lydia we were excited to see the Embry-Riddle campus and the locale for Cara's training.

The team did an outstanding job encouraging, motivating and working with each other.  We were hot and tired and tremendously proud.  At 5pm on Thursday we were the 8th team in to the terminus, 24 hours before the arrival deadline. 

Racing recap day #2

Wednesday June 22- we awoke in the pre-light dawn and readied ourselves and the airplane for departure.  Because we were the last in the previous night we knew that we might be the last to leave in the morning. Better to be ready to go in case some of the other teams were not intending to leave. Sunrise was at about 0630. We took off by 0800, destination Waco. 

The first two legs of the race were slow, with speeds lower than our assigned handicap. Now we were seeing some higher speed with a slight tailwind and smoother air. 

257 nautical miles across central Texas and we were at Waco.  Cara did a fantastic job at the helm as we set up for a dual flyby at TSTC Waco airport. This was our first flyby at a towered airport.  Turned out we liked having the direction of the tower to safely direct traffic.  There was a chance that the tower would direct us to fly in a way that conflicted with our flyby instructions but fortunately that was not the case.  Two teams from the local Texas State Technical College were in the race.  After refueling ourselves and the plane we were underway for leg four, Arkadelphia bound. 

Heading northeast we were delighted to find more of a tailwind, pushing us on our way out of the Lone Star state. Crossing the Trinity River, then near where Oklahoma meets Texas and Arkansas, and the Red River, 251 no later we set up for the next flyby at Florence Memorial Field Airport, outside Arkadelphia, Arkansas.  

Arkadelphia is home to Henderson State University with three aviation degree programs. Wow - it was hot and sticky.  We had a swift turnaround to continue en route to Missouri. 

Leaving Arkadelphia we climbed for the rising terrain, flew near Hot Springs and up and up to fly over the Oachita and then Boston Mountains.  The hills were green, and dotted with lakes.  

Next stop: Warrensburg, Missouri. 

Crossed the Osage River, continuing North with a nice tailwind.  Skyhaven airport, owned by the University of Central Missouri, was a nice stop.  Ping pong, a charging station for our electronics, and pancakes!  The airport's core values of: integrity first, excellence, service before self, relationships, joy and safety always resonate with us!!

Decisions, decisions...  shall we stay or shall we go?

We went.  Our fourth leg of the day in to Illinois.  We climbed to 7500' for optimal tailwinds on this 262nm leg to the northeast. Crossing the Missouri River, and then the mighty Mississippi into Illinois.  The terrain was mostly flat here, farmland, rivers and St Louis off to the South.  

The final flyby of the day was at Tuscola, Illinois 20 minutes south of Champaign-Urbana.  What a great day!  Oops- a tornado watch was in effect so we had the plane hangared overnight. The area had rceived heavy rain earlier in the day but was clear in the evening.  Exhausted and satisfied we crashed at the motel, hoping for more tailwinds in the morning.  

Wow! A top 10 finish

Trying to wind down from the elation of earning 7th place!

Classic Racer #29, the Baldwin Family Flyers, earned the fastest flying family award, the fastest Piper award and 7th place overall. 

We are thrilled!

Racing recap day #1 part 2

"LLLeaving Double Eagle airport we went back to run the flyby again at Mid Valley Airpark. A couple of other planes were close by and we expected others were coming and would soon follow on course with us. We also knew that it was getting hot and we had to climb to round the mountain range as we headed for Texas. Climbing up to 9500 feet was slow and the air was not very smooth. Our trusted pilot Caroline handled the plane well as we headed east to Midland. 284 nautical miles to the southeast. 

After some more scattered hills the terrain started to lower and flatten. 

The end of the second leg was at Midland Airpark.  We made the flyby, turned left as directed and, now off the clock, came around to land.  Wait a moment!  Massive congestion had developed on the incoming approach. Multiple Landing and flyby aircraft were in the area.  It was not safe for us or anyone else to try to make an entry. We could see additional incoming planes coming in and knew it would be a while before we could safely get in.  Although it was not an emergency, and we were not running out of fuel, we decided that the safest place for us was on the ground at a nearby airport.  This is not a specific recommended action by the ARC but was the right thing for us.  

Big Spring airport was about 20 miles to the northeast so there we went.  After landing at Big Spring we taxied to the flues pump and lo- 'out of order'. Oh well we can pause on the ground and then we will be okay to make it back to Midland.  But at the FBO we met Jim and he got the fuel truck to come around and fill the tanks. They were very nice and interested to hear about women's air racing.  

Big Spring derives its name from the nearby big spring which was a source of conflict for Comanche and Shawnee Indians, as well as a water source for coyotes, wolves, buffalo, antelope and mustangs. 

The volunteers were packing up when we landed yet still very helpful to us. Justine Ruff, director of Midland Airpark and the Midland International Air and Space Port gave us a ride to the motel. Nearby Midland College has an Aviation Maintenance program.

Racing recap Day 1

Tuesday June 21 the alarm clocks sounded at 0445 AM!  Thankfully we had slept some but still awoke with tremendous excitement. All teams assembled for an early breakfast and final pre-race briefing. Although a layer of smoky haze was settled in the area the forecast was good.  

By 0730 we were out at the airport for packing and pre-flight. Thanks to Sara, Karin, Ned, Katie and Henry for meeting us in Prescott and joining in the festivities. 

At 0800, as scheduled, plane #1 started its engine. In race number order all planes followed using the progressive taxi to runway 21L. And we were off to the races!!!

Immediately we climbed to cross the mountainous terrain on the first leg across northeastern Arizona and New Mexico. The temperature began to rise and the air became increasingly more wavy and roly (technical terms for certain). 

Viewing the beautiful scenery during cross country flights is one of the delights that we experience. The photos sometimes display reflections of the airplane windows and ourselves. 

Race planes started to spread out according to unique course routing and differential speeds. 

And on in to the Albuquerque area. Smoke loomed in the distant NE over the ridges east of Albuquerque. 

The fly-by for the end of our first leg was at Mid Valley Airpark, a privately owned, public access airport along the Rio Grande and south of Albuquerque. The strip was a bit hard to find. 

Our stop airport was Double Eagle, to the north and outside the busy ABQ airspace.  Here one can imagine where there used to be practice training bombing ranges for bombardiers in World War II.  It was a relief to have completed the first leg and fly by.  The volunteers were amazing with offers of hand-made necklaces and chili powder, and the fueling very efficient. 

We reviewed weather info and decided to launch for the next leg.

Density Altitude!

We Did It!

Classic Racer 29 arrived in Daytona Beach, Florida at 5 pm yesterday after the final flyby over the runway at Orlando North Airpark. 

We felt excited, exhausted and so proud to have safely completed the 2719 statute mile race over 11 states in three days. 

The greeting on the ramp at Daytona Beach International airport was very welcoming.  Tyler met us at the airport and we soon buzzed off for a fun dinner in nearby Port Orange. After navigating the accommodations for the night we collapsed into a deep slumber.  More to come wth photos. Thanks for your support of our adventure!

Prescott Final Day

Our last day of briefings included all of the detail about flybys, a safety presentation focused on density altitude and an outlook weather briefing. 

This year the teams will again all be carrying Bad Elf trackers and Spot devices. The Bad Elf trackers are gps units used to mark distance and time to assist in calculating our speeds and scores. The Spot is for tracking our location.

Also this year the teams can easily be tracked using mapprogess and listening to the flybys can be streamed via liveatc.net

Links to both of these can be found on the Air Race Classic webpage. 

Follow our track and listen to the radios.

http://www.airraceclassic.org/

This evening a surprise notice by email caused great concern.  A microburst hit the airport and each team was asked to report to the airport to inspect the aircraft. With little time to spare before darkness we went out feeling a bit nervous. Thankfully there was no visible damage. The plane had obviously shifted on the chocks but everything seemed a-ok. The sunset was beautiful.

We are off to sleep with great anticipation of tomorrow's flying. 

Prescott day 2

Saturday and Sunday have been busy with daytime briefings - mandatory for all racers - and evening social events.  

Briefings were at the Embry-Riddle campus. School is not in session so we did not see many students. The campus has nice buildings and grounds, outside the city center area. 

Sunday night we all attended the Start banquet with introduction of the racers and words of wisdom from our presenters. 

Spot

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0OsTxYniuYu6jJqIY5sLjrXovXmq7jEBN

Prescott day 1

We arrived ar PRC around 1100 on Friday. Immediately we saw racer friends from prior races and began meeting new teams and volunteers. During the afternoon we completed our pilot and aircraft check-ins as well as aircraft inspection. 

Thanks to Caroline's terrific and thorough preparations, and good communication we were in good shape.  Everything proceeded with out a hitch until we noticed the pilot side window was open and the latch had cracked and fallen apart. Oh no. While not a serious safety concern, and not essential to flight, this was something we wanted to repair.  After conferring with the officials we made a plan to stop at a shop and buy some adhesives.  With some gorilla glue and tape we were set. While exploring Lydia came across a bracket on the ground that turned out to be a perfect fit for the window closure. On Saturday while the plane was already impounded for integrity with the race competition we were granted permission to install the fix.

This weekend the team gathered with family from Colorado and California. We stayed in downtown Prescott and very much enjoyed the city. There are fascinating granite formations, big open sky and a nice historic down town area. 

Silver City to Prescott

We departed Silver City on Friday the 17th at about 0900.  Cara flew left seat, Caroline right seat and Lydia in the back. The climb out was nice and the air smooth.   🛩

Past the Gila River, Cliff off the right side and a very small amount of smoke to the North near the cliff dwellings.  

50 miles in and we cross into Arizona. For the next 100 miles it's very rugged, wild, beautiful and increasingly bumpy. Cara did an outstanding job on the controls and adjusting for performance. All of our communications, data and navigational aids were working as hoped. 

About 100+ miles in we started to see the smoke layer to the north and then increasingly thick smoke. 

The Show-low fire has grown tremendously. Flight service provided some information and we navigated to a waypoint to clear the TFRs between the two large fire-fighting centers. 

We were able to appreciate the beauty of forest, rocks, canyons and ridges. Off to the left was the Salt River Canyon Wilderness area and rough dry land. 

The air became increasingly bumpy in to Prescott. Approaching our destination we were impressed with the air traffic in the area. 

Ernest Love Field, Prescott's airport is to the north of the city and a few miles from the Embry-Riddle campus. We gained an hour on the clock an arrived at about 11:00 local time, and were guided to our pre race parking spot on the ramp with about 20 other race planes.