News/Press Releases

Birds of a Feather – Part II

By Karen Atkins

One of the keys to success is preparation, and our plan to fly in the 2019 Air Race Classic included dozens of tasks that each of us would be responsible for.  This was no light undertaking.

When Kimberly, Donna and I decided to enter the race, we were woefully naive about the adventure.  One important decision was made right away – to fly Donna's plane, a well-equipped 2015 Cessna 182T, with avionics, radios, and navigation systems any flight nerd would die for.  Donna would be responsible for ensuring the airplane was registered properly with the race officials; Kimberly would plan flight routes and logistics; while I would be the overall organizer, keeping a log of our financial outlays and project plan.  We all had Air Race Classic safety courses to complete online, and registration materials needed our individual flight ratings, hours, and experience.

Airplane insurance is straightforward.  A main requirement to be Pilot In Command (PIC) is that an adequate amount of training be completed in that particular make/model.  For Donna's plane, her insurance required at least 10 hours of dual instruction in order to fly it.  Of course, Donna had plenty of hours — it's her plane!  We ALL wanted to fly legs of the race, and to fly this aircraft would be a dream.  I had over 300 hours in the same type, but Kimberly?  While she routinely flies a faster, more complex aircraft, she had no experience in this type of plane, and the race was fast approaching!  We solved this with Kimberly getting instruction in my Cessna and made it fun by flying to Jackson, TN, the start of the race, to check out the airport, along with a day trip to Destin, FL, for lunch.  Returning to home base, she was about 10 minutes shy of the 10 hours required, so we taxied VERY slowly back to the hangar, where the front tire promptly had a meltdown and decided to go pancake flat.  What fortuitous timing!

Registering the airplane with race officials, along with completing a handicap flight, would be two of the most onerous tasks in the preparation, and this responsibility fell solely on Donna's shoulders.  Every airplane must go through an annual inspection to ensure its airworthiness, but the race officials wanted more.  Exponentially more.  Donna was required to research every single Airworthiness Directive (AD) associated with that model aircraft and determine if it applied.  An AD is a legally enforceable regulation issued by the Federal Aviation Administration meant to correct a potentially unsafe condition in an aircraft.  For a Cessna 182, hundreds of these directives had piled up over the years.  After a herculean effort, this box was finally checked off.  Additionally, all aircraft were handicapped to determine their best at full power.  The team beating its handicap by the biggest margin after flying the course would be declared the winner.  After waiting for a perfect, no-wind day, Donna completed the handicap flight, with a device called the Bad Elf keeping track.

Since we were crossing an international border, there were customs requirements for both the airplane and us.  Passports, of course, but also a radio license is required for flight in Canada.  The airplane needed a 2019 Customs & Border Protection sticker, which costs a whopping $26…and when we had the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, our decal delivery was put in jeopardy!  It finally arrived June 12, just in time for us to leave for the race.

Planning ran the gamut from ordering paper charts to supplement our digital navigation methods to purchasing required survival kits being sold by the Air Race Classic, and a multitude of other tiny details.  All teams have a name, and we were encouraged to have team shirts or uniforms.  Kimberly ordered some great moisture-wicking shirts, with plenty of pockets, embroidered with #GiveMeAReasonToFly to match the colors of Donna's plane.  Weight and balance discussions were frequent — there were no ballast secrets among us girls!  We had lively conversations and late-night messages about the attributes of stylish lightweight flying gear and fast-drying undergarments.  Packing had to be kept at a bare minimum.

Even though the four-day race didn't officially start until Tuesday, June 18, we had to arrive by the Saturday before for mandatory briefings.  Since we were converging from 3 states, logistics were brought into play.  How would we all get there with Donna's plane?  In the end, this was one of the easiest tasks to coordinate, in that Donna flew herself to Tennessee from South Carolina, while Kimberly and I met up and flew with a pilot friend who dropped us off.  We had arrived.

Watching the fly-ins of all the Air Race Classic teams was exciting, with officials lining the birds up proudly on the tarmac according to their race number.  Spirits were high, with the red carpet laid out for racers.  Welcome barbecues, pancake breakfasts and a Hawaiian-themed kickoff party with plenty of local community interest and public relations filled our time.  They even had masseuses on hand to help ease the stress!  The weekend weather was spectacular, and we were all full of nervous anticipation for the race to start.

Sunday and Monday were saturated with all-day briefings, from timing technology to Canadian flying requirements to a first-time racers' clinic.  Virtually every aspect of the race was discussed.  One of the more comical facets was that verbal roll call taken at the start of each briefing.  A two-person team might call out "Dakota…FlyGirls" with each teammate yelling one word of her team name.  As the briefings progressed, creativity prevailed.  At the early Monday morning briefing, one team tiredly called out "Still…Asleep"!  When it was our turn, Donna, Kimberly and I shouted, "We are...International…Pilots," the room exploded with applause.

In due time, the briefings complete and the festivities over, it was time to start the race.  The Air Race Classic must be flown by visual flight rules, meaning you must stay clear of clouds.  Weather can be marginal, but pilots can easily find themselves squeezed without room to maneuver – strict attention must be paid in order to stay out of jeopardy.  Typically, this means simply waiting it out for weather to improve.  The race was due to start Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. and we only had four days to complete the course.

The morning dawned with low overcast skies and thunderstorms looming from the southwest, directly in the race's path.  Kimberly, Donna, and I passed long looks to one another, remembering one of our main promises: to be safe.  We were prepared, but it was time for the birds of a feather to make some tough decisions.