32 All-Woman Teams Compete In Cross-Country Dash

Thirty-two Air Race Classic teams departed Centennial Airport in Denver, CO, Tuesday, racing a roundabout route to Atlantic, IA in the 33rd annual event ... a four day rally-style competition where the airplanes race against a clock, not head-to-head. It object of the game is to fly accurately and efficiently.

Race Organizers say the event is about a pilots willingness to learn more about being a safe, capable pilot. As long as a possible entrant has a current FAA medical and recent BFR, she has the basic knowledge to become a racer.

According to the Air Race Classic website, 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., a non-profit organization.

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.

This year's event includes stops in Liberal, KS, Sweetwater, TX, Lufkin, TX, Russellville, AR, Grenada, MS, Sparta, TN, Jacksonville, IL, Racine, WI, and finishes in Atlantic, IA.

FMI: http://www.airraceclassic.org/