By Bob Shane
The Classic 6 team of Mooney CEO Gretchen Jahn (right) and Carol Foy won the race, flying Jahn’s 2005 Mooney M2OR Ovation 2GX.
This year’s 30th Annual Air Race Classic was held from June 20-23. The four-day event covering 2,478 statute miles saw 32 teams depart Falcon Field in Mesa, Ariz., on a route with designated stops in Santa Teresa, N.M.; Ozona, Texas; Bryan, Texas; Bastrop, La.; Ada, Okla.; Lawrence, Kansas; and Albert Lea, Minn. The race ended in Menominee, Mich.
The Air Race Classic, only open to women, attracts female pilots of all ages and backgrounds. The roots of the race extend back to 1929, the Powder Puff Derby and Amelia Earhart, who was the first president of the 99s, the organization that started the race. The Air Race Classic is for fixed wing aircraft. Participants can only fly during daylight hours, under visual flight rules. The first place prize is $5,000 with monetary awards going to the top 10 finishers.
“Each plane is handicapped based on what the airplane should do,” explained Vicki Hunt, the current president of the Air Race Classic. “You race against that handicap.”
This system enables planes of varying horsepower to participate. To win, the handicap, or average cruise speed, must be exceeded by as wide a margin as possible.
Technicians inspected each aircraft upon its arrival in Mesa, looking for safety items and undocumented speed mods. Care was taken to make sure that none of the participants had illegally modified an aircraft to enhance its speed.
Each aircraft was assigned a number representing its takeoff order at the start of the race. Later, each team decided when to leave a designated airport, enabling them to use the weather and wind in the hopes of improving their time.
This year, the Classic 6 team of Mooney CEO Gretchen Jahn and Carol Foy, flying Jahn’s 2005 Mooney M2OR Ovation 2GX, took first place, with a handicap of 174.23 and race total of 21.731. Behind them in second place was the Classic 1 team of Denise Waters and Ruth Maestre, flying a 1979 Grumman Tiger AA5B, with an HCP of 126.87 and race total of 20.230. Classic 2 team members Katherine Conrad and Katie Sparrow, flying a 2000 Piper Warrior III PA28-161, with an HCP of 106.00 and race total of 19.528, took third place.
Further race results can be viewed at [http://www.airraceclassic.org].
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- L to R: Arizona pilots Judy Yerian and Helen Beulen finished in 15th place in Yerian’s 1998 Cessna Skylane 182S, Classic 24.
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- Aircraft participating in the Air Race Classic could be seen neatly lined up on Falcon Field’s ramp before their departure on June 20.
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- Lee Trekas, a member of the inspection team, prepares to examine the engine compartment of Classic 4, a 1971 Cessna 172S entered in the Air Race Classic flown by Janet Yoder and Caroline Baldwin. The team finished in 13th place.
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- L to R: Pilots Raven Roberts and Catherine Eisenhauer, flying Classic 35, a 2000 Cessna Skyhawk 172R, had their credentials reviewed by volunteers Thelma Cull, Kathy Walton and Joyce Wells, all members of the 99s. Classic 35 finished in 14th place.
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- L to R: Veteran air racers Marge Thayer and Ruby Sheldon teamed up to fly Thayer’s 1978 Cessna Skylane 182RG, Classic 17, finishing in 16th place. Thayer, participating in her 19th race, won the Air Race Classic in 1989 and 1995 with Sheldon.
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- Pilots participating in the Air Race Classic attended a safety and weather briefing prior to the start of the race.
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- L to R: Pilots Karen Redman and Heidi LaPine are checked in by ASU aviation students Tristan True, Jennifer Klein, Jessica Chromy and Shannon Hosme. As Classic 25, they finished in 18th place.
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- Upon arrival in Mesa, Ariz., Classic 25, a 1993 American Champion Scout 8GCBC flown by Karen Redman and Heidi LaPine, is pushed over to the Heliponents hangar where it will receive the mandatory inspection prior to the start of the race.
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- Heliponents Inc., based at Falcon Field, made their hangar available to the Air Race Classic for staging aircraft arrivals and departures. The company is a full-service FBO exclusively servicing Bell helicopters.
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- L to R: Janelle Baron, Tricia Erker and Robin Mikols represented Kansas State University at Salina with Classic 26, one of the school’s Cessna 172s, and finished in 17th place.