Race Route for 2009

WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO VISITING OUR HOST AIRPORTS:

KAPA, Centennial Airport, Denver, CO

KLBL, Liberal Mid-America Regional Airport Liberal, KS

KSWW, Avenger Field Airport Sweetwater, TX

KLFK, Angelina County Airport, Lufkin, TX

KRUE, Russellville Regional Airport Russellville, AR

KGNF, Grenada Municipal Airport Grenada, MS

KSRB, Upper Cumberland Regional, Sparta, TN

KIJX, Jacksonville Municipal Airport Jacksonville, IL

KRAC, John H Batten Airport Racine, WI

KAIO, Atlantic Municipal Airport Atlantic, IA

#31

It is easy to get excited about numbers like #1 (for obvious reasons), #3, #7 (these seem to be popular favorites), #10… I donno… #13, maybe?!… but we are Team Classic #31… and DETERMINED to be excited about it.

So, what is the significance of #31?
Here are some of ours. Please, feel free to add your ideas to the list in the comments section.

1. 31 is a maximum number of days in a month.
2. It is an atomic number of Gallium.))
3. One of the biblical names for God is El, meaning The Almighty. The numeric value (Kabbalah teaching) of this word is 31. Thus, #31 is stamped with the theme of The Almighty God. 31=30+1, where 30 is 3 (divine perfection) times 10 (ordinal perfection) and so represents a magnification or superabundance of divine perfection. Adding 1 to this value would indicate divine perfection plus more, divine perfection added to.
Aren’t we special?!))
4. 31 is the prime number, the third Mersenne prime and the fourth primorial prime. As a Mersenne prime, 31 is related to the perfect number 496. 31 is also the 4th lucky(!!) prime and the 11th supersingular prime.
5. Pradjapati (Hindu creator diety and protector of life) created the Universe by articulating the odd numbers from 1 to 31, according to the Vajasaneyi Samhita - sacred Hinduism texts, Vedas.
6. The words "freedom" and "eagle" are used 31 times in the Bible.
7. And most importantly - It is the Race Number of Team Right Attitude!!

It's Official

Today we have been officially accepted and registered for the race!!
We are Team Classic #31!!!!!!!!
“We’ve been hearing about this race forever and you have been officially accepted only NOW????!!", you ask?! YES.

The High and the Mighty

We are currently working on dates when we can get together and get to know each other.
Fly. See how well we work together (although it seems too late to back out now even if we do not.)))

...As long as we are better than John Wayne and Robert Stack in cockpit resource management.
THAT SURELY BEATS RATIONAL DISCUSSION!!))

Why do you race?

“I want to race because it sounds like an amazing experience and a great way to gain friends in aviation. I also love the idea that so many other great women pilots have competed in this race; it has such great history.”
- Jessica Miller

“Flying hurls you into an environment where you cannot rely on abilities of your body alone and it makes you turn to untapped reservoirs of your mind and spirit. One taps even deeper into these reserves in organized racing, which I see not as much as competition for speed and distance, but more as a lab of sorts for modeling these abilities. A tiny glimpse into a vast potential.”
- Irene Lev

"I race because I love this country and I want to see every little town, general aviation airport, back road, farm land, and green pasture from the air."
- Athina Holmes

Stay Tuned...

We will fly the Mooney M20G about 2,500 nautical miles through 12 states.

Picture of THE airplane is coming. Stay tuned...
For all of us it is the first time flying in a race.

The Race

The early air races were the “on to” type, with noon and night control stops, and the contestants more or less stayed together. In that manner, weather and flying conditions were practically the same for each entrant and the race officials could release standings to the media after each day of racing.
The current race routes are approximately 2,400 statute miles in length, and the contestants are usually given four days, flying VFR in daylight hours, to reach the terminus. Each plane is assigned a handicap speed – and the goal is to have the actual ground speed be as far over the handicap speed as possible. The pilots are thus given the leeway to play the elements, holding out for better weather, winds, etc. The objective is to fly the “perfect” cross-country. In this type of race, the official standings cannot be released until the final entrant has crossed the finish line. Actually, the last arrival can be the winner.
Scoring techniques evolved over the years, and in 1952 the AWTAR began using the handicap system of scoring. The Air Race Classic has continued to use this type of scoring throughout its history. The ’29-30’s races flew shorter legs and made more stops than the current races. Now the legs are 280 to 320 statute miles, and seven or eight control stops are designated for either landing or fly-by. The races are open to all women with fixed wing aircraft from 145 to 570 horsepower. In earlier days, the fastest airplane with no specified handicap was in a good position to win, if it held together over the long haul and there was no big navigational error committed. Now the handicapping system is used – each plane flying against its own speed. Supposedly any entry has an equal chance of victory, depending on the accuracy of the handicapping. All participants are true winners in their own right, flying the best possible race.

History of the Air Race Classic

Women’s air racing started in 1929 with the First Women’s Air Derby. Twenty pilots raced from Santa Monica, CA to Cleveland, OH, site of the National Air Races. Racing continued through the ‘30’s and was renewed again after WWII when the All Women’s Transcontinental Air Race (AWTAR), better known as the Powder Puff Derby, came into being. The AWTAR held its 30th, final and commemorative flight in 1977. When the AWTAR was discontinued, the Air Race Classic, Ltd., (ARC) stepped in to continue the tradition of transcontinental speed competition for women pilots and staged its premier race. The Air Race Classic was reincorporated in 2002 into the Air Race Classic, Inc.