WE MADE IT!!!

It wasn't a flawless race, it wasn't without its challenges, but we got here to Mobile, safe and sound, and even though we weren't able to leave Borger, Texas until noon, we crossed the finish line at Brookley Field  this evening a good 19 minutes before the deadline.

Highlights-The flying, of course. Real challenges, met and overcome. Talking with extraordinary pilots, and sharing hangar tales with great gals who enjoy flying as much as we do. Meeting the kindest people imaginable, in places we didn't know existed. (We'll never forget the beyond-the-call services of Rocky Rexrod, Our Hero.) Having college fliers in Norman, Oklahoma run out to our airplane jumping and cheering the last racer through.  Seeing gorgeous countryside from the best possible perspective and marveling at the awesome towering thunderstorms in the distance on both sides forming a perfect path to the gulf coast, as we neared Mobile. Sharing the fun and excitement with friends and relatives.

We encountered weather challenges- gusty winds, some of them ferocious crosswinds, bumpy air and 110-degree heat that made for very anemic climb rates...
We had mechanical troubles and equipment problems, which were frustrating.

All in all, it was an incredible experience!  So, how did we do? No idea until the banquet on Sunday night. Quite sure we won't cart off the top prizes. But no matter what, we had a heckuva good time.

Electrical gremlins persist-and lots of miles yet to go.

Our mechanic friend, the so-kind Rocky Rexrod of Dumas, Texas, had his head buried in our airplane until midnight last night. He was doubtless hoping to sleep in this morning. Alas, it was not to be. We launched from Dumas at 7 am, headed for a restart at Borger, Texas, and found that despite our six-hour drive to Lubbock yesterday to buy a new alternator and regulator, we still had problems. The same problems, in fact.  Back we went to Dumas, and here we sit. No replacement circuit breakers anywhere within 500 miles, apparently, and now we're waiting for the airport manager to return with hangar keys, so Peter can be robbed to pay Paul. SOMEbody in there is bound to have a couple they're not using anytime soon. Even so, at 10:30 and counting, with no breakers yet found, it's looking mighty dismal for our chances to reach Mobile before 7:58 CDT, which is our final finish time. But we WILL fly this race, just for our own satisfaction.
Nice man at Anywhere Map has given his thoughts, and if we ever get airborne, we'll have some new tricks to try to make that box show its amazing pictures for us, so we can see what weather, especially near Mobile, lies ahead.

The scenery around here, except for the occasional small town dwarfed by its neighboring refineries, is desolate and dusty. Rocky says, "We haven't had a drop of rain here since October. The Panhandle is dryer than Death Valley this year."  The nearby reservoir appears to be about a quarter of its usual size- lake bottom looks like a grassy valley.The huge blades of wind generators just south of Dumas flop lazily around and  around- rather scenic, in a way. This would seem to be great wind-power territory- the wind, even early this morning, was out of the south at 20 gusting to 26. Come to think of it, every windsock I've seen in Texas has been straight out. But it's sure sunny, much to the locals' distress. A motel sign near Amarillo yesterday, asked motorists to "Pray for rain!"  Will do.

Hope the next post has miraculous good news. If not, well, it's been fun, and a wonderful learning experience.

The deep blue skies of Texas

gusty hot wind, and remarkable hospitality are the things that will stick in our minds about today's adventures so far. We headed out to the airplane, hooked up the gadgetry, taxied out for takeoff, and immediately knew that all was not well. Radios were scratchy. Panel-mount GPS went dark. Much-vaunted Anywhere Map Septa wouldn't start at all, not so much as a flicker. We taxied back to see what might be making the electrical system unhappy, and I sat on 'ignore' listening to AnywhereMap's hold music-- figured I might as well trouble-shoot my end of things, while Linda figured out hers. Got REALLY tired of listening to Beethoven's first piano sonata, and Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, even though I'm fond of both composers. For some reason, nobody there wanted to talk to me. Can't understand that....(eye-rolling smiley here.)  So there's no AnywhereMap at all, and no AWM tech support. Good thing we have paper charts. If we get the airplane going again, we'll be running through a line of big thunderstorms between here and our destination, without benefit of XM-Weather. I hate to say it, but I wish I'd borrowed my brother's proffered  Garmin-695 instead!

The lovely men running things at Borger, Texas made phone calls, recommended a fine mechanic 35 miles west, who made room in his hangar for us. One of them hand-propped us, we noted that there was no charging happening, and alternator flickering. Nonetheless,  we were soon on our way to Dumas, Texas,  a half hour in the wrong direction, following roads,with only one radio and  no lights on. It wasn't but a moment before the whole electrical system flickered its last, and died. Fortunately, there wasn't a crowd trying to get into Moore County Airport. Mechanic Rocky soon had his head under the cowling, and took off to a local autoparts store to check out the alternator. The good news was that the alternator checked out OK, and we don't have to go to Amarillo or Lubbock to pick up a new alternator. The bad news? Rocky just got a phone call saying his dad has just had a stroke, and is on his way to the hospital. So, understandably enough, is Rocky. *sigh* Poor guy.

So, not sure what amusement there is in Dumas, Texas, but I expect we'll find out. Meanwhile, 40-some other airplanes are headed for Mobile, aiming to get there before sunset tomorrow night. Wish we were there!

Race Day Number One!

Today started a long time ago, in a faraway land. We arose well before the birds in little Beatrice, (pronounced Be-AT-tris) Nebraska, got out to the airport, admired the windsock sticking out at rigid attention, piled our bags in Ms. Lima, and got on our way to the starting line at Alliance, Nebraska. Headwinds made it a slow trip, but really rather pretty, under deep blue sky sprinkled with a very few little puffy clouds. Even considering our decision to get a bit of gas in Broken Bow, we got to Alliance with a surprise hour and a half to spare, having forgotten about Mountain Daylight time. The people of Alliance and the Nebraska 99s put on an amazing show of hospitality for us- great sandwiches, homemade cookies, chips, soda pop, fresh fruit-- just super. If we'd had more time there, we would definitely have had to go visit the world-famous "Car Henge."  Google it.
We took advantage of our low race number, lined up, and were number-three off the field. That was the last thing we did right for a while...the Alliance-to-Great Bend first leg was, shall we say, a 'learning experience.'  But we enjoyed a good tailwind across the grasslands of western Nebraska and Kansas, and joined the parade into Great Bend. Oh. THAT landing light. Oops. Oh, well. Did I mention how terrifying it can be to sit in the right seat while the airplane you occupy hurtles at the end of the runway much too fast and much too low?  No flies on Linda's flying-- she's very good at this thing. All the same, airplanes are usually supposed to slow down as they near the end of the runway, not keep on going as fast as they can, only a couple hundred feet above the asphalt.  More great hospitality, good snacks and cold beverages provided by Kansas 99s and Great Bend residents. This time on departure, we had the cockpit festooned with sticky note reminders, and took special pains to brief the procedures in excruiating detail.  I think it worked-- or at least I hope it did.
The next leg crossed high plains and near-desert, poking along with a bit of a headwind, and amazingly empty countryside. Miles and miles and miles without so much as a steer in sight. Roads were even a rarity. Borger, Texas showed up on schedule, though, with the biggest oil refinery in the United States on its northern edge. Also, we learned, it's home to a 'real hi-tech bowling alley' and the biggest movie theater in the Texas Panhandle. We're likely to miss out on those attractions, because our day is very much over. More fun tomorrow as we head for Norman, OK, and El Dorado, AR.  We will probably have a fairly early start, as the Borger residents are looking at a high of 105 tomorrow. Couldn't have been much over 99 when we got there today.  Dear townspeople have gone out of their way to get us to hotels, to restaurants, and back to the airport at ungodly hours tomorrow morning. We've had doors opened, luggage carried, homemade cookies by the many dozens, and good stories of local interest. That's probably been the best thing for me is the chance to meet so many truly fine people.

Three hours was quite enough of THAT.

We took off from Iowa City under low-ish broken clouds and a stiff headwind and aimed toward Beatrice, our first gas stop en route to the new-and-improved race start at Alliance, NE. As we cruised along in moderate chop at 2500 feet, we noticed the ground rising almost imperceptibly toward us, and by the time we reached Beatrice, we were right at pattern altitude. Along the way, we saw patches of showers off in the distance, but nary a raindrop on Ms. Lima. The neat little farms were green, green, and vast thickets of wind generators had sprouted all along our route. The visibility was a zillion miles in every direction. Crossing the Missouri River, we saw why Nebraska  is so lush-looking. Muddy floodwaters spread several miles wide, and many barns and farmhouses showed only their roofs above water. Roads disappeared under water for a half a mile at a time. Apparently that's where the levee was breached. Appalling!
Arriving at Beatrice, Linda performed a very nice 25 mph-crosswind landing. We were welcomed by hospitable airport personnel, met three other ARC race teams, and decided not to buck 40 knots or more on the nose this afternoon. . Besides, one team staying the night here knows of a great little restaurant nearby. We all piled in the Beatrice airport van, and headed for a nearby and very reasonably-priced hostelry. The forecast for tomorrow is much more benign.

Flooded Nebraska farmland.

Headed for Alliance--the shorter way

This morning Classic Racer  team #6 should have been well on its way to Brookings, SD, thence to ND, back to SD, and Wyoming. Instead, we're looking at forecast headwinds of 25 and winds on the ground along the whole route gusting to 35, direct-ish to tomorrow's noon start of the shortened race course, at Alliance, Nebraska. We're disappointed to miss out on what would have doubtless been fabulous hospitality at those first four stops, and glorious high plains scenery, but remnants of a large low pressure area continue to blanket the whole upper midwest. So, we're looking at a bumpy five hour ride in marginal conditions, and thinking new thoughts on tomorrow's strategy. Airplanes are straggling out of IOW as I write, with promises to meet up in Alliance tonight. What fun. Eager to get airborne, even if it's less than ideal conditions. Got new territory to conquer. Onward, and especially, upward!

Midwestern Weather Forces Course Change

We, and a hundred other women pilots, spent much of the last day or so peering anxiously at the weather map, wondering how on earth we were going to be able to get out of here on Tuesday morning, thunderstorm lines and high winds notwithstanding, bound for the Dakotas, and then the easternmost mountains of Wyoming. Well, turns out, we're not. The early-morning weather briefing didn't sound very optimistic, and by late afternoon, it was obvious that there might be airplane-eating dragons northwest of us. Accordingly, the race course has been truncated. The powers that be have decreed that the race will NOT start in lovely, hospitable Iowa City, but what was to have been our fifth stop, Alliance, Nebraska, a day and a half later. New plan is to hunker down here in Iowa City (Ms. Lima has lucked into a hangar for what might be a wild night) until this big low pressure area and associated lines of thunderstorms get by here, and then high-tail it for Alliance. At noon on Wednesday, we will officially start, and aim for the rest of the adventure... Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and finally, Mobile. While both of us flatlanders are disappointed not to be headed for the mountains and the Dakotas, to explore what would have surely been magnificent territory, we have to admit it's really better that we won't have to negotiate such high terrain with high winds and low clouds. The saddest part is that we won't be able to say we've been to Spearfish, South Dakota. Meanwhile, more good food and good company in Iowa City, and more adventures to come, as we head west to the other side of Nebraska tomorrow.

Saturday's fun

This was supposed to be a quiet day in which we might smugly rest on our laurels. Alas, Ms. Lima's handicap flight will need to be reflown due to an equipment problem. Today's weather didn't cooperate, with low ceilings, morning fog, and a long line of other teams to fly this afternoon. So, we're hoping for a bright-and-early morning flights. 

Tonight's hangar party featured a fine barbecue buffet and a big-band group that's been playing the same music together (with a succession of members) since the 1940s. More incredible stories. One woman was a neuroscientist doing important MS research.When she retired from that, she went and got just about every pilot rating in the book, and is now happily teaching flying. Another contestant is a retired airline pilot who traded the family ranch in Montana for a big trawler, which she and her husband have skippered all the way around the eastern half of the United States. When she's not flying her little airplane or teaching flying, she lives aboard their boat on the Mississippi River. What a life!!

So the  meetings begin tomorrow. Hoping to pick up some good hints.

Preliminaries accomplished!

We have the first hurdles cleared-- pilot credentials checked and approved for us both, aircraft inspected and approved, and handicap-flight flown to establish our baseline airspeed. The object of the game, now, is, through precise flying and clever choice of altitudes with tailwinds, to beat that average speed. The airplane and crew that can beat its own speed by the biggest margin wins; that means even slow airplanes have a fair chance. So, this evening we'll be exploring the local science museum with a batch of Girl Scouts, and tomorrow seems to be fairly uncommitted until an evening barbecue. Sunday and Monday will start our briefings and official meetings. Tuesday we're off.
The inspection was amusing-- REALLY efficient. We pulled up to a hangar, and immediately a swarm of mechanics, all in day-glo chartreuse volunteer tee-shirts, converged on the airplane. Airplane cowling removed, one mechanic inside the airplane and half a dozen more guys with flashlights, wrenches, and/or clip boards began to check lights, engine, and other components, while three more pored over our fat aircraft log books. If we weren't confident of our airworthiness before, we are now!

Welcome to Iowa City!

What a gorgeous day we had!  We took off from Mobile into clear blue sky- all the thunderstorms were behind us, and headed north, over Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri to Iowa City, over farmland, forest, over incredibly green Ozarks, and on up west of St. Louis. Meandering rivers and lakes gave way to precise midwestern one-mile square section-lined fields. The mighty muddy Mississippi crisscrossed our path, and in places, it was obvious that these people had had a LOT of rain lately. Off to the west, thunderclouds billowed, and the AnywhereMap showed brightly colored areas to be avoided. Hoping to beat the east-bound storms looming on our western horizon, we pressed on past our planned second fuel stop, another 45 minutes or so. It worked-- we got only the barest bit of a shower, and absolutely glassy smooth the entire trip. Arriving in Iowa City, we found ourselves unexpected... apparently no marshalling, no ride from the west-40-acres, no registration, ... but a warm welcome from our Mama Bird, and a ride to the Taj ma Sheraton for the night. Ahhh. Early dinner more than compensated for no breakfast and no lunch, and now it's on to go prepare for tomorrow's check-in formalities. This is beginning to feel alarmingly real! :-D 

Iowa City is a nice place. Don't know what I expected, but the beautiful pedestrian mall right in the middle of town, just outside our hotel door, with several hundred people, mostly local, from infants to elderly, enjoying a warm summer Thursday evening, was a delight. There must be a dozen restaurants, most with tables outside, big gourmet grocery/deli, gift shops, clothing stores, craft galleries- there was no sitting in a hotel room for us! Friday nights feature free concerts, and apparently the plan is to arrive early to find a place to sit..

Tomorrow: NC to Alabama!

From Mimi: Whatever it is I'll need for the next two weeks must be packed by tonight! Tomorrow morning I'll head southwest from northeastern North Carolina. First stop is at Southern Pines, NC to pick up an Angel Flight passenger. I'll drop him off in Augusta, Georgia, and then it's on to Mobile!

Meanwhile, Linda has had the busiest real estate sales week she's had in several months-- good news/bad news scenario. Good news is she may be able to afford this junket... bad news is all the air race preparation time she was counting on has evaporated.

We'll count on getting our heads together tomorrow or Wednesday, and on Thursday, we're off for IOW for all the pre-race duties- timing run, aircraft and document inspection, safety briefings, and meeting dozens and dozens of new friends. What a trip!

The devil is in the details--

Or so they say.

Details are what we're focusing on now. Getting our various electronic gadgetry set up is the fun part, and that's my bailiwick.  You will be able to follow us HERE for a SPOT GPS breadcrumb trail, courtesy of Joe Ebert at PilotJunk.com. It will update itself every ten minutes, so if we get hopelessly lost, the whole world will know it before we will. 

Get lost? Us? No way. Alan Kirby at AnywhereMap called this afternoon to promise that UPS will be ringing my doorbell by midmorning tomorrow with their fabulous-looking newest product, the Septa electronic flight bag, moving map, weather display, and approach plates- the works! I'll be taking both items on a shakedown flight tomorrow, a business trip to Charleston, SC. Will make note to self: quit playing with the wonderful toys and fly the airplane!

Linda is taking care of last minute obligations- scheduling our timing run, scheduling the airplane's inspection, making window posters to thank our wonderful sponsors, and about a thousand other things she's too kind to mention. And naturally, the real estate market chooses this week to improve, so she's got her day-job to tend to, as well. Good thing she's so energetic!

Our hope is to head from Mobile for Iowa City on Thursday, 6/16, and begin the pre-race duties  Friday. It's all getting alarmingly close--so much left to learn-- and I'm suddenly remembering how I felt a few decades ago. For nine eternities, I'd been impatiently awaiting the birth of our first baby. The morning finally arrived, and with the first contraction, I took it all back. "Wait, wait! I'm not quite ready-- give me another week, OK?"  So all I really need is about two more weeks.... Right..

-Mimi