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.