Finish Line!

We did it! Crossed the finish line in Frederick Friday morning, and boy were we happy! Tired, and happy.

What a contrast to coming in to Parkersburg, where we could barely find the airport. We saw Frederick over ten miles out.

This race has felt much busier to me than the previous two, but I'm not sure why. I think we are a great team - Liza is a super team mate.

When we lined up to leave Fort Myers for the start of the race, I thought we'd be off the ground by 8:25. But traffic was pretty busy that morning so it took a little longer for the tower to get 51 airplanes going.

I'd flown the handicap flight two days before and we received a handicap speed of 113.9. I was happy with that, but was quite surprised that it turned out to be the lowest handicap speed of all.

So off we went, finally, sometime after 9am Tuesday morning, and headed toward Waycross, Georgia. Liza took the first leg, which we agreed on partly because the right seat is the busiest and when one pilot is a first-time racer it's easier to have the more experienced racer taking the workload of navigation, timing, communication, etc. Liza flew a good, straight line and we both felt it was a decent time.

Then it was on to Tuscaloosa. A couple of airplanes had had trouble at the start, but everyone was able to leave Fort Myers, but in Tuscaloosa more problems appeared for some of the other race planes. A fuel pump eventually ended the race for one team, a starter put another team behind, and another had repeated avionics problems. Our only concerns were making it in to Hot Springs the first day because of the weather forecast, and the fact that the Cheetah's engine doesn't like to start hot. So every stop we planned to open the cowling as soon as we were shut down. I was a bit nervous about her hot-start capabilities, but our plan turned out to work well.

Making Hot Springs we felt was crucial to the overall strategy, and we were relieved to be able to bed down there for the night. My poison ivy was being treated with prescription creams, thanks to Liza and another racer, Dr. Sue, a dermatologist. My two docs discussed the best strategy to help stop the itching, and although it had spread quite a bit, the itching finally subsided, my puffy eyes and big fat lips finally began to look normal again.

Wednesday morning we headed to Cameron, Missouri. My personal favorite stop, other than the terminus here in Frederick, was Cameron, where the local Ninety-Nines hosted great tasting refreshment in one of the hangars, including strawberries, non-alcoholic bubbly drink, chicken salad sandwiches, little fresh sachet smelly things for the airplane, and a FREE neck and back massage. Cameron is a small town out in the middle of nowhere. They have only self-serve fuel, but there were guys there offering to help with fueling, and pulling the planes around in line. It was a right friendly place.

From there it was on to Carbondale. That was a fun stop because its a college town, home of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, and the college not only had entered the Air Race Classic for the first time, but they entered three teams! So there were many fans and lots of enthusiasm at Carbondale.

Next stop, Elkhart, Indiana. This was another major milestone for us, making Elkhart. Making it there, the sixth of eight legs by the second day meant we had more leeway to strategize the final two legs. Elkhart was another great stop because I enjoyed watching the torrential thunderstorms come through (after the plane was in the hangar), and the familiar Indiana landscape I know and love. The volunteers there were fabulous. The local EAA chapter was out in full force helping with everything from shuttling to hotels to handing out refreshments, and being there with friendly smiles and encouragement.

Day Three saw only one flight, in to Parkersburg. We had a hard time finding the airport - this was the most challenging leg for us. The best part of Parkersburg was getting to have dinner with my cousin Jan and meeting some of her friends. We only had one more leg to go at that point, but it was one I wanted to be fully rested for.

Going in to Frederick we'd have to fly over the Appalachian Mountains and then would have to fly right between the restricted air space of Camp David to the north and Washington, D.C. to the south. Getting in either of those no-fly zones would get us an escort from a few F-18s, so being sharp and having my head fully in the flight was important. This last leg was mine to fly, and I sure didn't want to end up too low over the mountains or in a federal prison. So we got some sleep and saved the last leg for Friday morning.

Mike was already in Frederick waiting to cheer us on at the finish line, as he has been the previous two years I've raced.

There were clouds over the Appalachians, but fortunately we were able to climb over them. A nice tailwind gave us a good speed at 7,500 feet, and descending put us at redline, making this last leg a good time. Spotting the airport here was a breeze, and this normally high-density traffic airport was relatively quiet, or quieter than I expected when we arrived for the flyby past the time line. Our time line ran across one runway, and traffic was landing on the other one that crossed it, so radio communication was vital. But there wasn't much traffic around when we came in, so down we swooped for the high speed low approach, then an immediate left turn to stay out of restricted airspace, and land on the other runway.

We were marshalled to the grass along a taxiway, greeted at the plane, and after unloading all our personal belongings, posing for the photos, and locking up the plane, we turned in the keys, the plane impounded at this point.

One of the best things about the terminus being in Frederick was that this is the home of AOPA. We had a tour of AOPA this afternoon and I got to meet some of the people I've worked with over the past few years as the Airport Support Network Volunteer for the Liberty Airport. I heard one of our press releases made AOPA's SmartBrief this morning, too.

We had lunch at the restaurant on the field, interrupted by a tv interview for the local CBS affiliate. A handful of people were gathered to watch the interview, including the Zimmermans. Mrs. Zimmerman said how "honored" she was to be there with all these women race pilots, and her husband agreed. Then we found out Mr. Zimmerman had stormed the beach at Normandy! And he was honored to be there with US?! Walt Zimmerman, it was such an great honor to meet you, my friend. It is because of you and those who served with you that I am even able to fly this race.

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Mike took me to the hotel where I zonked out for about an hour and then we returned to the airport for the melt-down party in the hangar. The local helicopter school was offering flights and Liza went up on one, so hopefully she'll contribute her story here. I got a picture of her going up.

Tomorrow there will be lots to do, and I'll have more to post.