Race numbers

We got a text from Mary at Women in Aviation in Reno telling us that we got race number 21! 21 is a lucky number I think, so we're feeling good about it. Mary's team is #17.

Celebrated with two beautiful spring flying days - the temperature was a balmy 55 degrees, the sky was blue, and the winds were light. On Saturday Linda flew a lesson, and I got some solo time in the C182. On Sunday Linda flew the C182 down to Chester County to meet Rich and I in the Cherokee. To explain: I have owned a 1971 Piper Cherokee for about nine years now with two partners (one of whom is Rich). However in 2009 I relocated, and instead of being 5 miles from home the Cherokee was an hour's drive away at N10 (Collegeville). So Linda and I decided to form a partnership and buy a plane together at DYL (Doylestown). I was expecting it to take us quite a while to find and buy the right plane for us, giving me plenty of time to sell the Cherokee. Instead, our C182 N222VW was only the second plane we looked at - things moved with lightening speed - and before we knew it we were owners! The Cherokee share is for sale of course, but no takers yet. So as a result, I managed to get the cool picture below. The plane in the front is our Cherokee. Two planes beyond that there is a rare sight - one of our sister airplanes, a 1971 180F with the exact same paint scheme and a very similar tail number. And beyond that, barely visible at the end of the row, our race plane C182 222VW.

We also found out that our Baby Bird team is Classic Racer # 30 Kansas State University (Megan Henderson and Nicole Lordemann), so we are excited to be able to help them out with some advice and what small amount of knowledge and wisdom we possess!

Another year, another race!

Its February 2011, and team Cool Beans (aka Linda Evans and Alison Chalker) is back again for the 2011 Air Race Classic. Linda and Alison haven't raced together since 2008, but Alison flew the 2009 and 2010 races with Mary Wunder, who is also flying again this year with new race partner Rose Brown.

New this year - the plane! As of October 2010, Linda and Alison are the proud owners of Cessna 182 N222VW, and this 1997 airplane is going to be racing its very first Air Race Classic. Here are two pictures taken during the prebuy:

Last weekend we took a break from the long cold winter and flew 2VW down to St Pete FL to see our friend (and former racer) Barbara and her partner Russell! We got some sun, saw an alligator, and got in a long shakedown flight on which we learned a lot about the airplane.

The Air Race Classic is a transcontinental air race for women pilots, and has been raced in one form or another for more than 80 years. Each year the route is different, but it is always a VFR (visual flight rules) race in daytime across approximately 2400 nautical miles. Racers have 4 days to complete the course, and teams are scored on their performance relative to their individual handicap. Understanding and handling your airplane to get maximum performance at full throttle is key, as is reading the weather to find good tailwinds and maintain VFR. There's no experience like this one. This year's race is a 2722 statute mile route from Iowa City to Mobile, Alabama, taking in eleven stops!

To find out more about the 2010 Air Race Classic, as well as the history and results of previous races, check out their website http://www.airraceclassic.org/.

To see the 2008 blog from Team Cool Beans (Alison Chalker and Linda Evans), see http://evanslle.googlepages.com/.

To see the 2009 and 2010 blogs from Team Adelles Belles (Mary Wunder and Alison Chalker), check out http://adellesbelles.blogspot.com/ and http://adellesbelles2010.blogspot.com/

To find out more about The Ninety-Nines, check out http://www.ninety-nines.org/