Pancakes and Luau's


Today was the deadline for all the racers to be parked and have inspections complete for the race.

The morning started off with a classic hangar pancake breakfast where we sat with our friends from Indiana State University.

Nina and I volunteered at the youth aviation event that the Memphis Chapter of the 99's (Ninety-Nines) hosted. We talked with the young girls about flying and about aviation careers.

Friends from LeTorneau Univ., Auburn Univ., Kent State, The Ohio State, and MSU Denver of Metro St Univ. of Denver
 A welcome luau was held for all the racers. We were able to mingle and meet many teams including friends from previous races.


A Grumman Goose showed up for the luau. When it departed, they rocked their wings and did a low pass by the hangar making everyone cheer.

- 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