Air Race Classic to visit Scottsbluff during June 16-19 race

From: http://www.starherald.com/news/local_news/air-race-classic-to-visit-scottsbluff/article_4703822d-e273-590e-be6d-0190a0c9a543.html

Aviation enthusiasts can get a glimpse into one of the oldest air races as the annual Air Race Classic visits Scottsbluff next week.

For more information visit www.info@airraceclassic.org  

A total of 52 planes will fly this year as they take part in the 2014 ARC that will be held June 16-19. The all-female pilots will make 10 intermediate stops throughout the race with one stop scheduled at Western Nebraska Regional Airport in Scottsbluff. ARC Stop Chairman Sherry Fisher said, depending on the weather, a few planes are expected to arrive at the airport on Monday night with others coming in throughout the day on Tuesday.

The four-day competition will begin in Concord, Calif. and will travel 2,338 nautical miles to New Cumberland, Pa., with all racers competing for the fastest time. The ARC began when aviation legend Amelia Earhart held the first Women’s Air Derby in the United States in 1929. Since it was forbidden for female pilots to race against male pilots, Earhart and 19 other women took matters into their own hands and created the first all female race.

Today, women from 17 to 90 years old start with a race team of two pilots that must fly by the Visual Flight Rule of only flying during daylight hours. Pilots are also given four days to make the flybys at each en route timing point and then land at the terminus.

“The participants will fly sun up to sun down,” Fisher said. “They will start at 6:30 in the morning until 8:30 at night.”

In preparation for the event, pilots will undergo briefings, flight planning and a fly-by study prior to take off. Pilots will race against their own best speed time in a small airplane of their choice. The aircraft must be a stock model and have their handicap speed identified with a check pilot.

These female pilots will also be building up their experience and refining their flight skills since the route changes each year to make the competition even more challenging.

“It’s just like the Sugar Valley Rally, but it’s done with airplanes,” Fisher said.

WNRA will be the fourth stop of the race. Local residents will also be able to visit with the pilots free of charge at the airport during the pilot stops. After the pilots take a brief break, they will travel on to Norfolk Regional Airport. WNRA Chairman Don Overman said everyone at the airport is enthusiastic for the ARC to be making a landing in Scottsbluff.

“I’m pleased that they (ARC) chose Scottsbluff,” he said. “It will be exciting for people to come out and meet the pilots.”

Help a trio of women pilots participate in the Air Classic Race!

Just discovered this GoFund site for 3 women pilots from Middle State Tennessee University who want to participate in the Air Classic Race (the successor to the Powder Puff Derby which took up where the PPD left off in 1977.

http://www.gofundme.com/Air-Raiders-Race

Alison Taylor is the page owner.

If you'd like to help them participate in this great opportunity, please go to the link above and donate what you can.

Alabama: Mobile pilots take part in 35th Air Race Classic

Blog.Al.com: Mobile pilots take part in 35th Air Race Classic

MOBILE, Alabama — When 50 planes with 105 female team members land at Brookley Field June 24-25 to complete the Air Race Classic 2011, two Mobile pilots will be among them.

The 35th annual air race for women pilots begins June 21 in Iowa City, Iowa, and Amelia “Mimi” Reiheld and Linda Keller will make up Team Number 6, the “Azalea City Avgals.”

Co-pilot Reiheld grew up in Spring Hill, attended Mary B. Austin Elementary School and graduated from Murphy High School. Her father was the late Roy Thigpen, a well-known Mobile photographer; her brother, Alec, is also a photographer in Mobile. Reiheld now lives with her husband, Rob, in what she describes as “pretty, historic little Edenton, N.C.”

Though she’s removed from the Gulf Coast by geography, she returns to Mobile fairly often to visit family, and “whenever my Mooney 231’s wings cross that lovely delta, I feel very much at home again,” she writes in the team’s blog, http://azaleacityavgals.blogspot.com/.

Linda Keller, who will pilot her N5174L 1967 Cherokee 180 “Miss Lima” in the race, lives in west Mobile.

“As the saying goes,” she says in the blog, “ ‘I’m not from here, but I got here as fast as I could.' " She moved to Mobile nine years ago after crisscrossing America “from midwest to northwest to southeast to midwest back to the southeast.”

Reiheld came by her love of flying as a passenger in her father’s plane as he did his work as an aerial photographer. And, she said, “I consider it such a privilege to be flying.”

She is a part of Angel Flight Soars, a humanitarian effort that provides free air transportation for people who have a medical need that can’t be filled in their local area. (See www.angelflightsoars.com .)

Keller said that for many years she was happy just to be a passenger in a plane piloted by her father-in-law, Ace Keller, a retired Air Force pilot.

She learned to fly “after the awful age of 40,” and often flies with her husband, Bruce, also a pilot. She is a realtor with Coldwell Banker Charles Hayes Real Estate and is an avid tennis player.

Flying in the race is very expensive, and the women have some sponsors whose donations will help finance the venture.

But, Reiheld said, “We could use additional sponsorship.” Twenty percent of all donated funds will be given to Angel Flight Soars, Reiheld said.

Along the race route, the all-female teams of flyers will make stops in North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas and Arkansas.

The Air Race Classic Inc. is a nonprofit dedicated “to encouraging current and future pilots, increasing public awareness of general aviation, demonstrating women’s awareness of general aviation and preserving and promoting the tradition of pioneering women in aviation,” according to the group’s mission statement.

34th Annual Air Race Classic Finished Friday

The 34th Annual Air Race Classic
Here's a PDF with the pilots and their results.


(Click to see full size version)

From The Missourian: Air race, primary, role model

The 34th Annual All Female Air Race Classic finished in Maryland last Friday. Beverly Cleair of Cape Girardeau (who might be the best female pilot/instructor in Missouri) completed the 2,400-mile race along with 51 other pilot teams. Speed achieved by airplane horsepower handicaps was the criteria for winning. The four-day race started in Fort Myers, Fla.

Beverly Cleair had been featured in the Missourian in June 20, 2010

Area woman to compete in 2,400-mile airplane race

Beverly Cleair has been flying in and out of the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport since 1982. When she retired from a career in health care in 2005, she became a flight instructor, teaching pilots in visual and instrument-guided flight.
Cleair said the students she teaches are a diverse group.

"There are some young, college age and even a few very young people that just have an interest and their parents want to see if this interest is legit," she said. "Probably the oldest I've had was over 70."

Over the years, Cleair has taught many students. Each pilot has to fly with an instructor every two years to maintain his or her license.

"They say flight instruction is about 96 percent boredom because you're watching it and 4 percent sheer terror," Cleair said.

On Tuesday, Cleair and her piloting partner Teresa Camp will take on the challenge of the Air Race Classic, a 2,400-mile airplane race that starts in Fort Myers, Fla., and tours through the Midwest before wrapping up four days later in Frederick, Md.

Cleair enjoys giving flying lessons at the Cape Girardeau airport but said she looks forward to the race. This will be her first time participating in the Air Race Classic. Cleair and her partner are flying for Wings of Hope, an organization in St. Louis that flies humanitarian aid to impoverished places around the world.

"I am volunteering for Wings of Hope as a pilot for their medical air transport," Cleair said. "It's the only free air ambulance in the Midwest, and it primarily supports kids who have birth defects or debilitating illnesses that need medical care."

The race prize -- $15,000 for the top finishers -- would benefit Wings of Hope if she and Camp win.

Camp is an engineer at Boeing and has volunteered her skills at restoring airplanes for Wings of Hope.

"I flew in the air race two years ago, and one of the things that is very important to me is who I choose to fly with, because this is pretty intense flying," Camp said. "Sometimes, especially when you first take off or are landing, there is a lot of aircraft in the area, so you have to be very alert. I really choose my partners carefully to make sure that they have strong skills but also good judgment. Bev's among the best. I'm looking forward to flying with her, and it should be a lot of fun."

Women's air racing has a rich history. The First Women's Air Derby had 20 pilots when it started in 1929. After World War II, another race took over, officially called the All Women's Transcontinental Air Race but more widely known as the Powder Puff Derby.

The Powder Puff Derby stopped at the Cape Girardeau airport in 1966. The race was discontinued in 1977, and the Air Race Classic was born. The 2010 race route brings the ladies to Murphysboro, Ill.

This year's race is the 34th annual and boasts big numbers and a diverse array of planes. It has nearly 60 planes registered, each manned by two female pilots.

"Every airplane is given a handicap, because you will have some very fast airplanes (multiengine planes) and then very slow airplanes, so each is handicapped according to how well it can perform according to the manufacturer's standards," Cleair said. "Each leg is timed, and then it's adjusted for your handicap, so there are winners of the legs and winners of the entire race."

The two ladies will fly a Cessna 182 single-engine plane. Camp said the lineup of pilots is just as diverse as the planes themselves.

"I know the year I flew, the oldest pilot was 92 years old," she said. "I got to meet a woman by the name of Margaret Ringenberg who was a World War II WASP [Women Airforce Service Pilots], and I got to chat with her while we waited for some weather to clear."

With four days to finish the race, Cleair and Camp said they must stay focused.

"There are eight legs; typically they're about 300 miles," Camp said. "In the [Cessna] 182, we ought to be able to do it in about two hours. It just depends on if you get a favorable head or tail wind."

In addition to the actual race of 2,400 miles, Camp said that the event is quite a haul.

"When you start adding in the flight to get down to Florida and the flight home from Maryland, it will be over 4,000 miles," she said.

Cleair said it's important to remember the team behind the pilots. "Often pilots of airplanes get the attention, but there are so many people behind us. They're the people who do the book work, the mechanics, the linemen that fuel, the people that support us with rental planes to give instruction in and the tower people who direct us. Aviation is a real team experience in itself."

Embry-Riddle’s Women’s Air Race Classic Team Gears Up for Competition

Press Release: Embry-Riddle’s Women’s Air Race Classic Team Gears Up for Competition

Two pilots from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Prescott Arizona campus will be participating in the historic Women’s Air Race Classic which starts on Tuesday, June 22, 2010. The race which has been in existence for over thirty years covers 2,483 miles and includes stops in nine cities.

The race originally started in 1929 under the Powder Puff Derby name. Even though the name changed, the tradition among female pilots to highlight their determination and tenacity to be respected aviators has kept the tradition alive. The race continues to stand as a symbol of pride for the friendly competitive spirit and camaraderie that still exist among all of the female aviators. This year the race celebrates the 100th Anniversary of Licensed Women Pilots.

Pilots Kim Turrell, from Simi Valley, California and Kristen McTee from Aurora, Colorado were selected to represent the Prescott team. Turrell is currently a Flight Instructor and McTee recently received the Outstanding Graduate Award during Spring 2010 graduation for achievements in her Aeronautical Science Professional Pilot program. Turrell and McTee were selected based on their piloting skills, interest in the event, competitive spirit, and their knowledge of aviation, safety, navigation, meteorology, and crew resource management. Kim Turrell participated in the race last year with Jenna Albrecht, where they werethe highest-scoring first-time team, took second place in the collegiate division, and came in sixth place.

The team will depart from Embry-Riddle’s Flight Line on Thursday, June 17, 2010 to start their journey. Their goal is to do well within the competitive field of more than 55 teams and over 100 pilots competing in the race and fly the fastest cross-country route. The team will be flying one of Embry-Riddle’s Cessna 172 single engine aircraft equipped with Garmin G1000 cockpit. Each aircraft is judged against its own handicapped cruising speed and the winning teams must follow the route as close as possible while improving the average speed. This format focuses on the piloting skills and decision-making instead of the speed of the aircraft.

The race begins at Page Field in Fort Meyers, FL (KFMY) on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. EDT.The racers must check into eight different cities on the 2400 mile route and complete their journey to Fredrick Municipal Airport (KFDK) in Fredrick, MD by 5:00 p.m. EDT Friday, June 25, 2010. This year the racers will stop in Waycross, GA, Tuscaloosa, AL, Hot Springs, AR, Cameron, MO, Murphysboro, IL, Elkhart, IN, Parkersburg WV, and Fredrick, MD.

This year’s competition also includes a team from Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach, Florida campus and collegiate race teams from Purdue, Southern Illinois, Jacksonville University, Dowling College, and Indiana State.

The Prescott Air Race Classic team is supported by Dr. and Mrs. John P. Johnson, President of the University, Universal Helicopters, Legend Aviation, Cessna, Garmin, West Wind Aviation, Tri-City Mobile Wash, Anderson Creative, Macayo’s Restaurant, Jeppesen, and the Embry-Riddle Women-in-Aviation Club and Diversity Committee as well as numerous community partners.

A special Send-Off Celebration will take place on Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. at Good-To Go Cafe on the Embry-Riddle Flight Line. To RSVP for the event or to learn more about the racers and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Crystal Ellis at (928) 777-4305.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., through the Worldwide Campus at more than 170 campus centers in the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East, and through online learning. For more information, visit http://prescott.erau.edu.

Save the date: June 26, 2010 and the place: Frederick Maryland

A documentary about the women's first transcontinental air race, commonly called the Powder Puff Derby, has been completed. Originally it was called the Ragwing Derby, but thank god someone was able to persuade the documentarist that that was a lousy title - no one would know what a ragwing derby was!

Now the doc is called Breaking Through the Clouds: The First Women's National Air Derby: http://www.breakingthroughtheclouds.com/

The website doesn't say that the documentary is complete, but if its going to be shown on June 26 at the terminus of the current women's air race in Frederick, Maryland. (A new, annual Powder Puff Derby, ran for 29 years form 1947-1977 (missing one year because of the oil crisis). When it closed down the Air Race Classic took its place. It is now the longest-running women's air race, from 1978 to 2010, with hopefully no signs of stopping.

http://airraceclassic.org/

http://sites.google.com/site/arc2010terminus/breaking-through-the-clouds

All of the pilots will be available to meet fans and aviation enthusiasts on June 26 at the Terminus.

I take the liberty of sharing the info from their webpage:

Starting their 2,400 mile cross country competition in Ft. Meyers Florida on June 22 the racers will begin to arrive at Frederick Municipal Airport, Frederick, Maryland on Thursday, June 24, and will continue through Friday, June 25. The last plane to qualify must complete their timing run by 5:00 PM Friday, June 25. The excitement will grow as the racers approach Frederick Airport coming in “ Fast and Hot” doing a timing run or “ Flyby” before landing. Landmark Aviation will serve as the Sugarloaf Ninety-Nine’s Welcome Center, and Frederick County Tourism Council will provide each racer with a welcome bag and mementos of their stay in Frederick.

Both the public and the media are invited to watch as these amazing women complete their 2,400 mile Cross Country “Great Race.” At least 40 teams are expected to compete, and given the unprecedented response to the 2010 race, perhaps even more. A team consists of a plane and two pilots.

The weekend will be filled with events, and the public is invited to join in celebrating the race, the racers, and 100 years of certificated women pilots.

Click HERE to purchase tickets online to the public events. Go to the link and choose events under "Guest Registration".
Click HERE to purchase tickets by check.


FRIDAY EVENING JUNE 25, 5:00 PM

WELCOME/MELTDOWN PARTY OPEN TO THE PUBLIC $25

ADVANCED HELICOPTER CONCEPTS, FREDERICK MUNICIPAL AIRPORT

A required event for the racers, and a ticketed event open to the public, this is an opportunity for the racers to wind down from their grueling four day ordeal, for officials to welcome them to Frederick, and for the public to meet and chat with these women as they exchange stories and renew acquaintances. Food, and the music of the Bobby Lewis Blues Band at this casual 1929 style hangar party will set the stage for a weekend full of history still being made. Period aviation dress is encouraged. The public, local officials and business leaders will join the Ninety-Nines in celebrating the racers successful arrival in Frederick. This event is sponsored by Aviation Insurance Resources, Advanced Helicopter Concepts, and the City of Frederick. (Email Gail@ARCterminus2010.com for ticket information.)



SATURDAY JUNE 26 12:30-2:00 PM

AIR RACE CLASSIC GIRL SCOUT OUTREACH, Not open to the public

ADVANCED HELICOPTER CONCEPTS, FREDERICK MUNICIPAL AIRPORT



The Air Race Classic will present a program for the local Girl Scouts. The Ninety-Nines, whose Sugarloaf Chapter is hosting the Terminus events are sponsors of the Girl Scout Aviation Badge. This fun and informative program is designed to educate the girls about airplanes and aviation in general. During the activity, ARC pilot volunteers meet with the girls, take them out to the ramp and show them the airplanes. Each participant will also receive a gift packet with information about flying, and flying memorabilia. Participating scouts will each receive a complimentary ticket to the film “BREAKING THROUGH THE CLOUDS: THE FIRST WOMEN’S NATIONAL AIR DERBY” to be shown at Hood College’s Rosenstock Auditorium.



SATURDAY JUNE 26 4:00-6:00 PM, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC $5

FILM “BREAKING THROUGH THE CLOUDS: THE FIRST WOMEN’S NATIONAL AIR DERBY”

HOOD COLLEGE ROSENSTOCK AUDITORIUM



Special screening of Independent Producer Heather Taylor’s much anticipated documentary film on the first women’s air race in 1929, dubbed the “Powder Puff Derby” which included such barrier breaking pilots as Amelia Earhart. “BREAKING THROUGH THE CLOUDS: THE FIRST WOMEN’S NATIONAL AIR DERBY” is a cinematic in-depth look at the women, their times, and their personal struggles. The public is invited, to this Archetypal Images, LLC film. Tickets required. Purchase online at link shown above. This film screening is being sponsored by AVEMCO.



SATURDAY EVENING JUNE 26 7:00-10:00 PM

VIP RECEPTION with Admission to Film, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC $20

DELAPLAINE VISUAL ARTS CENTER, FREDERICK MARYLAND



This is a Reception to meet the 2010 racers, the “BREAKING THROUGH THE CLOUDS” Executive Producer Heather Taylor, re-creation pilots and other participants in the film. The reception will be held in the Delaplaine’s Gallery, enhanced by a juried art show, food, and cash bar on downtown Historic Frederick City’s Carroll Creek. The public is invited to this unique event, and tickets will include admission to the film at Hood College. Dress is casual to Black Tie. The event’s sponsor is the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Ninety-Nines and is dedicated to their chapter’s late benefactor, Theresa Dellaquila. (Email Gail@ARCterminus2010.com for ticket information.)

SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 27

RACERS DEBRIEFING BREAKFAST, not open to the public

HILTON GARDEN INN, FREDERICK MARYLAND

This breakfast is not open to the public and is a required event for the racers. It is sponsored by Cessna and welcome comments will be presented by a representative of AVEMCO.

SUNDAY EVENING, JUNE 27, 7:00 PM

PRECEDED BY A COCKTAIL HOUR AT 6:00 PM

ARC AWARDS BANQUET AT DUTCH’S DAUGHTER RESTAURANT, FREDERICK MARYLAND

Open to the public $45

Awards to the race winners, exciting speakers, honored guests, state and local recognition, and a silent auction make this event the highlight and culmination of a weekend filled with celebration as racers, and their friends, family and fans come from across the country to share in their accomplishments. AOPA is the banquet’s sponsor. This event is open to the public as space allows. (Email Gail@ARCterminus2010.com for ticket information.)

ORIGINIAL ART DISPLAY

OFFICIAL EVENT ARTIST FRANK DUVAL HAS CREATED A SUITE OF DRAWINGS OF WOMEN OF THE 1929 RACE AS WELL AS THOSE OF THE 2010 RACE. THESE WORKS WILL BE DISPLAYED AT ALL THE AIR RACE CLASSIC’S TERMINUS PUBLIC EVENTS.

THE CITY OF FREDERICK IS ALSO HOSTING AN AIRPORT OPEN HOUSE ON SATURDAY JUNE 26 WHICH WILL START OFF WITH A BREAKFAST SPONSORED BY THE FREDERICK EAA CHAPTER.