Setback - engine rebuild

Mary was home from Florida this week, so we were able to complete the aircraft paperwork and mail it by the April 15th deadline. I have also figured out all the charts we need to get out to Colorado, fly the race, and fly back from Iowa - and when to order them so that they will still be in date by the time of the race. Altogether we need 17 Sectional charts, 17 IFR charts, 13 sets of IFR plates, and 6 Airport/Facilities Directories. You can get an idea of the sheer size of the undertaking if you bear in mind there are only 7 Airport/Facilities Directories for the entire country!

Mary flew N29SP this week, and confirmed what my instructor Bruce Everett and I observed which is that the plane was burning quite a lot of oil. The long and short of it is that two of the four cylinders are off to be rebuilt. Although this is not much fun for owner Adelle, it does mean that with reconditioned cylinders and an annual inspection in May, the plane should be fighting fit for the race! No doubt we'll have to spend quite a lot of time in May flying in the new cylinders, which will be a great opportunity to practice our teamwork and cockpit resource management skills.

Race number 8

Yesterday Alison got a call from fellow 99 Mary Ellen Morris, who was visiting the Air Race Classic booth at the Women In Aviation conference in Atlanta, Georgia. She was with Terri Carbonell, who was able to tell us that the drawing for the first ten race numbers was complete, and our team drew number 8! I called Mary to let her know. One step closer to the start of the race!

Picture of Team Adelle's Belles!

This is Mary Wunder (on the left) and Alison Chalker (on the right) standing in front of the Piper Arrow we are planning to race in this year's Air Race Classic! The plane belongs to Adelle Bedrossian, who has very kindly lent it to us - hence the name of our team!

Time to fill out the race forms!

Its February 8th, and today Mary and I will complete the first milestone towards competing in the 2009 Air Race Classic! We are getting together this afternoon to fill out the first of the race forms. If they are postmarked by February 15th, we will be entered in the drawing for the first 10 race numbers, so we want to get them sent out today. These are only the first of many forms we'll have to complete prior to the big race!

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, with 8-10 timing stops. Racers have 4 days to complete the course, and scoring is done for the performance of each team relative to its 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. We found last year's race to be a very intense and exciting experience, and we can't wait to do it again! This year's race is from Denver, Colorado to Atlantic, Iowa, and circles in a route that includes stops in Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Wisconsin!

To find out more about the 2009 Air Race Classic, as well as the history and results of previous races, check out their website http://www.airraceclassic.org/.

To see last year's blog from Team Cool Beans (Alison Chalker and Linda Evans), see http://evanslle.googlepages.com/.

To see last year's blog from The Dream Team (Mary Wunder and Barbara Strachan), see http://arc20.blogspot.com/.

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