GO, GO, GO!

KLXT-KFRM
KFRM-KAUW
6.19.19

 LXT is Lee Summit, MO where we had stopped for the night in hopes that the next morning would be flyable. We woke up early and headed to the airport where MVFR (marginal visual flight rules) conditions and IFR (in-cloud flying) to the north made it so we could not depart.

As we waited for the weather to clear along with many other teams, we were able to meet a female pilot pioneer, who received her pilot license in 1940, her name is Jeanette Bratton. She told us she learned how to fly before she learned how to drive. It was so amazing to meet her and have her tell us some of her stories.

After some more waiting, debating, and weather briefer calling, we decided to takeoff and head to the next stop, Fairmont, MN.

We made this one a quick turn where we fueled up and took off headed to Wausau, WI.

Flying into Wausau was beautiful and we were greeted by the friendly FBO cat.

I had to add this photo to show the bug massacre on all the leading edges of the airplane. Nina and I cleaned the plane for an abnormally long time to maintain the least amount of drag for the next leg.
One of the planes in the hangar at AUW
Wednesday was a very long day for us from all the waiting, flying, cleaning, and Canada preparation. Our ground crew at Purdue was and are working hard alongside us to help plan the legs which includes the early wake up times. We greatly appreciate their dedication and hard work.

 KAUW-KCIU-CYAM
CYAM-KCIU-CYYB
6.20.19

 Up early again ready to GO, GO, GO!
Nina and I completed our flight planning and hopped in the plane toward Canada.
It was a beautiful morning as we climbed up high and headed to Chippewa County airport for our flyby and customs at Sault Ste. Marie (CYAM).
When we landed at CYAM, we called CANPASS to report landing in Canada and then we were greeted by customs agents. Here we fueled up and departed to North Bay, Ontario.
It was bumpy coming in for the flybys and there was a good crosswind coming in to land at North Bay. Soon we were on the ground converting US gallons to litres and once again, cleaning our aircraft, this time Nina was on underbelly duty.

 With one more day of the race left, go to maprogress and follow the rest of our travels on 6.21.19, Classic Racer 16!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Finally Finished, Fully Fatigued, Forever Fulfilled

Image
After landing in Welland, Nina and I had some time to sightsee while our aircraft was impounded for inspections. We visited Niagara Falls with our friends and it was incredible.  The falls from the Canadian side are breathtaking.  Soon it was banquet time, where we would wait in suspense to hear the final ranking. We placed 25th in the 2019 Women's Air Race Classic. The president of the Air Race Classic had a quote she mentioned a couple times at the start briefings, saying that winning is "1/3 planning, 1/3 flying, and 1/3 luck." Nina and I had an amazing race where we met so many inspiring people.  There is no other experience like the Air Race. The flight experience is unique; only with this organization do we ever fly an aircraft across the country at full throttle , surrounded by women pilots from around the globe, continuing this historic race.  I was honored to have represented Purdue University in this r...
Read more

Start Your Engines!

Image
Race Day One: Wowza KMKL-KSUZ KSUZ-KLXT The day started off with less than ideal weather. All the racers woke up for breakfast and a briefing where our start was delayed for an hour. Catching a ride to our plane on a golf-cart We headed to the airport to preflight and pull our planes out of the grass onto pavement. Since it had rained the night before the field was soaked and therefore our shoes ended up waterlogged.  After some more delays due to low ceilings and IFR weather on the route, the race officials cancelled our legs to LaGrange, GA and Hattiesburg, MS. We were sad about not being able to stop at these places as the volunteers work hard to help the event run smoothly, but the race must go on and go on it did at noon CDT direct to Saline County, Arkansas. The first flyby is always as busy as a beehive, so we kept our eyes outside and ears listening as we set up for the flyby. A plane landing and one taxiing  We stopped for fuel at SUZ (Salin...
Read more

Crossed the Finish Line!

Image
CYYB-CYFD-CNQ3 6.21.19 We landed in Welland! Our morning started off early in North Bay (CYYB), we wanted to get off the ground early in hopes of catching the tailwind. We waited on a fuel truck for a bit and then we were off! On the North Bay to Brantford (CYFD) leg, we contacted Toronto Centre who helped inform us of any traffic on our route.  CYFD was our first flyby to continue on this race so we planned our descent, lined up, flew the flyby, and kept on our route to Welland (CNQ3). After completing our flyby at Welland we landed and were greeted by volunteers waving Canadian flags. We parked and turned in our paperwork. We were driven from our parking spot on a closed runway in style by the vehicles pictured above. Later in the evening there was a Meltdown party at the Dorothy Rungeling Airport(CNQ3), where we became honorary members of the Alligator Club of Pelham.  As for the scoring of the race, we will not know where we ...
Read more