Local women win air race

Team Wild Mama: Terry L. Carbonell, pilot; Ellen Herr, co-pilot; Laura Ying Gao, teammate, took first place. COURTESY PHOTO Terry Carbonell of Alva, Ellen Herr of Fort Myers, and Laura Ying Gao of Spring Hill, won the top prize in the 34th Annual Air Race Classic. The premiere allwomen transcontinental air race took place June 22-25. This year’s race began in Fort Myers with stops in Waycross, Ga; Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Hot Springs, Ark.; Cameron, Mo.; Carbondale, Ill.; Elkhart, Ind.; Parkersburg, W.Va., with Frederick, Md., serving as the terminus and host for awards activities. Fifty-four teams entered the race. The local team took the top prize of $5,000 for having the best score over their handicap.

The Air Race Classic began in 1977 as the successor to the 30-year-old All-Woman Transcontinental Air Race. That contest, in turn, continued the spirit of the original Women’s Air Derby, also known as the Powder Puff Derby, in which 20 female pilots including Amelia Earhart raced from Santa Monica, Calif., to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1929.

The Air Race Classic covers approximately 2,200 nautical miles and is held over four days during the last two weeks of June each year. Teams consist of two or three licensed women pilots, who must complete all eight legs of the race during daylight hours in visual flight conditions. Pilots range in age from 18 to 92 years and come from a wide variety of backgrounds. The 2010 race was a celebration of 100 years of licensed woman pilots.

Participants fly general aviation, nonexperimental, certificated airplanes with normally aspirated engines within the horsepower range of 125-600 horsepower. Each airplane is assigned an individual handicap depending on its speed, so teams flying slower planes have as good a chance of winning as those with the fastest models. The top 10 teams win cash prizes. College teams compete for a special collegiate trophy. Nine college teams entered this year’s race, and the trophy was awarded to Purdue University.

ARC draws competitors from across the United States, Canada and often from overseas as well. Year after year, they come to sharpen their aviation skills, provide role models, savor the camaraderie of fellow female pilots and see the beautiful country. As Louise Thaden, who flew in the very first women’s air race in 1929, put it, “skills are developed, self-confidence is increased and enduring friendships are made.”

For more information, visit the Air Race Classic at www.airraceclassic.org. 