2017 Air Race Classic

The 2017 Air Race Classic has come to an end. We had so much fun; flew over 3,000 miles with the before, during, and after stages; visited new places; enhanced our piloting skills; and spent time with so many wonderful people. 

Our time in Santa Fe was fantastic. We went for a hike, visited the Georgia O'Keefe museum and Meow Wolfe, and enjoyed walking around the historic town. 

Sunday nights's banquet was exciting for all of us. Classic Racer #29 is thrilled to have achieved 4th place as well as awards for the fastest family team and the fastest Piper team. 

Thank you for supporting us in our love of flying, racing and adventure.  With love to you all!

Finished!!

Classic Racer #29 successfully completed the Air Race Classic yesterday. We arrived at Santa Fe airport just prior to 3pm.  Exhilarated, relieved, and tired are some of the feelings we were experiencing. Immediately we unpacked and cleaned the plane, and turned in our timing devices. 

Caroline and Bill marvelously coordinated a family get together here in Santa Fe. We are enjoying relaxing with our loved ones and attending to he final Air Race appointments. Sunday evening, tomorrow, brings the final banquet with awarding of prizes and celebration of the racers. We met with the judges this afternoon and leaned that we will receive penalties. We are disappointed though proud of our achievements. 

Here are a few photos from our final racing legs and visiting in Santa Fe.

 

   

 

    

Race day #3

Awoke to clear skies and cool temperatures. We are excited to fly on to the South.  For now we are waiting for a storm system along the route to pass to the east. 

Greetings to you from the North. 

 

  

June 21, 2017

This morning we awoke to find the end  of a storm moving through.  Here is a shot of our plane on the ramp at Indianapolis Regional airport. 

 

Yesterday's flights in to Indiana were warm, slow and bumpy. We had a nice evening meal with Cara and Mia, and an early wake up call came very soon. 

After some waiting for improvements in the conditions ahead we blasted off to the North.  This was to be the longest leg at 333nm.  Completing the leg with the appropriate fuel reserves was a concern and thanks to fine planning and luck of the winds we did fine. 

Our route took us across Illinois, and across the Mississippi River to Iowa. 

 

In Decorah, Iowa we were greeted by friendly folks at the airport and the fueling was super efficient!  A menacing storm was headed in from the West. We made a quick turn and dashed on to the next stop. 

On to Minnesota. 

Again we had done favorable winds. After yesterday's headwinds this was a treat. 

Here is a photo of Classic Racer 34 over one of the many lakes we passed en route to Bemidji. 

 

Snippets from race day #1

This morning was beautiful as we awoke early for the final pre-race briefing and trip to the airport.  The excitement and anticipation was palpable in our meeting. Lovely Patti drove us out to the airport. Reuniting with the plane was a thrill. The start was delayed about an hour. We are not sure why there was a delay. Just after 08:30 we departed in the middle of the pack and headed for Ohio. Into the headwinds. 

The first flyby was at Millersburg, Ohio. Then on to Indy Regional. 

Follow us via the links on the air race classic website. 

www.airraceclassic.org

If you are familiar with forrflight you will know how exciting it was to be flying s close to our fellow racers in this screen shot 

Frederick

Yesterday team #29 completed the aircraft inspection process, handed in the keys and sighed in relief. Later in the morning we enjoyed a terrific walking tour in downtown Frederick with Chris Smith. In the afternoon we participated in a youth aviation event.  Seeing the young girls enthralled with all things aviation is delightful. In the evening the festivities continued at the minor league ballpark. The hometeam- The Lynchburg team defeated the hometown Keys. Prior to the start of the game there was recognition of the heritage of the Air Race Classic and a dramatic flyover. And - A ukulele band provided the national anthem.

Here are a couple of photos of the plane upon arrival and parked out on the field in Frederick. Frank and Will so kindly helped with the tie downs in the hard crumbly ground. 

Happy Fathers Day

Today we have completed the first day of race briefings and this evening we enjoyed the Start banquet. 

I have been having problems uploading photos and am trying to persevere with what I know so far about using the blogger program. 

Here is Classic racer 29 at the banquet. Stasi Poulos from Mindset Aviation shared a presentation about the innovative technologies with flight simulation.  Tomorrow we will receive the final briefings on the Start and Terminus, the fly-bys, weather and a safety feature.  Looking forward to seeing cousin Patti tomorrow.  

Pre race flying fun

Traveling to Frederick has been an adventure. 1387 miles since we departed Silver City yesterday morning. Many thanks to Bill for your love and support. Our route took us North over the hills and along the Rio Grande valley to Socorro. Then East and into Texas.  Hotter and hotter, leaving the hills behind and finding humidity. 

Not quite there yet...  Just short of our destination for the week, we are getting into the West Virginia hills and summertime thunderstorms. Tonight we are in Ripley. Optimistic for a short flight over to Maryland tomorrow. 

We have encountered so many kind people who have provided assistance, a smile or a grand hello. How nice it is!!  Some photos from yesterday and today. 

Flew across top of Texas, into Oklahoma, Arkansas, and then Missouri yesterday. Today we flew to Kentucky, then Ohio and now West Virginia. 

First travel day Eve

Monday, June 12 7:50PM Mountain Daylight Time

Tomorrow AM Lydia will depart from Fort Collins and join up with Caroline in Silver City.  At last, the months of preparations are converging on the days of travel and adventure.  Lydia is so grateful to Marc, her coworkers, teams and family that have encouraged her to fly on amidst the bustling air and busyness. 

Today has revealed some of the West's potential for dramatic storms.  We will likely be challenged by some similar weather events as we fly across the amazing interior of this vast land.

Thunderstorm warnings, tornado watches and tornado warnings were part of the skyscape in Northern Colorado today.  Thankfully my neighborhood escaped the funnel clouds, hail and dangerous winds that struck in farther NE Colorado and Wyoming.

We are excited for the days ahead.  Please follow us on the Spot tracker page.  Starting Wednesday morning, 6.14 and until we arrive at Frederick, Maryland we will be using our Spot GPS tracker.  During the race, starting Tuesday AM the 20th, our course will be viewable via the Air Race Classic link as well.  Watching the teams progress through the ARC link will be fun!

This is our race plane from 2014 when we arose to an ice-colored plane in Elko, Nevada.  See the Spot sticker in the window?  This year we do not expect any icing.

Here is the link to our Spot tracker page.  Classic Racer #29 will be taking off from Silver City, NM on Wednesday AM June 14.
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0rT1i14x2y3O2aR07UNSKl4oQYPGVfr6Q

Here is the link to the ARC web page which will host the plane tracking during the race.
http://www.airraceclassic.org/

Thank you!

Air Race Classic 2017

It's nigh on racing time again!  Whoot Whoot!!!

The 2017 Air Race Classic will be June 20-23.  Look at this fantastic route-

Caroline and Lydia will be flying N15695 as Classic Racer 29, Baldwin Family Flyers.  Cara is racing with Mia Hallgring as Riddle Racer Blue, Classic Racer 31.  How exciting that we will again be racing and that Cara is flying with a collegiate team from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona.  ERAU has two teams from Daytona and two from Prescott.

The field is comprised of 52 teams, 16 of these are collegiate teams.  The race begins in Frederick, Maryland and ends at Sandia East Airpark, South of Santa Fe. 

We are thrilled to have this opportunity to fly. 
Prior to the race we can be followed at this site using our Spot tracker:  http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0OsTxYniuYu6jJqIY5sLjrXovXmq7jEBN
During the race track us via the Air Race Classic tracking site:  https://airraceclassic2017.maprogress.com/

Daytona Beach R&R - a long lost post from 2016

I found this post from last summer - Enjoy!

On Friday and Saturday the team had time for rest, relaxation, touring, review of the timing, and clean-up.

We went walking on the beach and played in the surf.  

Friday evening was the melt-down party on the rooftop deck overlooking the Embry Riddle flight line.

Saturday we toured more of Embry Riddle and met Kathleen and Sandy at Orlando airport.