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 

T minus three weeks and counting!

The support for our efforts so far is wonderful. We've had several very generous promises for a tank of gas (woohoo!) and one for dinner (an iced-tea toast to my friend!), so far. The SPOT satellite-locator gadget is on its way, according to Joe Ebert, from PilotJunk.com, and I'm thankful to say, it will arrive pre-subscribed and set up and ready to go. What a relief! And as if that weren't more than sufficient, he's also sending the charts we hadn't already acquired. What a dear! So, those who wonder how we arrived at our various destinations will, we hope, be able to follow the little dotted line on SPOT's website. Details to follow, with link.

A box arrived on my doorstep a day or two ago with snazzy Azalea City Avgals shirts in glorious hot pink and white, embroidered with azaleas and names. So exciting! We'll be highly visible.  Also in that same box was a wonderful, well-organized and well-written booklet by air racer Mary Pearson, that answered many questions, some I hadn't even yet formulated. It should be published and distributed to every ARC entrant, it's that good. In fact, it could be enlarged, with contributions from other successful air racers from recent years. Now whether any of this valuable information will be retained once the key is in the ignition is another question entirely.--

Cheers!
Mimi