Monday, June 27, 2011

Enroute to Salina!

The ladies were enroute to Salina, Kansas today! I received a message from them around dinner time...and I believe they have made it home by now !!

Congrats to these two, wonderful young ladies for their accomplishment! I'm sure they have more pictures, stories, and results to post in the days to come.

WELCOME HOME Classic 30!!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

We got 15th!!

We are both very excited to have placed here, even though we didn't place in the top ten. Especially since this was our first race. tThe banquet was a lot of and the food was really good. We found out that our mama bird placed in 9th place. We are so happy for them!! Congratulations mama birds!! Thanks again for your help.

There were 43 teams who competed and we are very excited about our position. We hope to be able to compete next year and help our younger teammates.

Go classic 30!!!!

Thanks again everyone for all of your help, support, and well wishes we couldn't have done it without all of you!!

We leave at 8:00 tomorrow for Salina, so we will see everyone next year!

Go state!!

P.S.

Today we spent the day at the beach after our mandatory breakfast. Nicole and I are both very sunburned now, and yes we did put in sunscreen. Tonight is our awards banquet, wish us luck!! We will let everyone know how we do after it is over. Go classic 30!

Sunday night, our last night away from home

On Friday we arrived here at Alabama. Nicole and I both had our first chance of flying VFR on top. This means that we took off in good weather with clear sky's and good visibility. Along our route there were places reporting IFR, but Nicole and I looked at the satalite images and realized there were no clouds there. So we took a chance hoping to get a better tailwind and we took off. We flew above the low clouds, that were caused by rivers and a small dew point spread on the ground. While we were flying luckily the racers ahead told us the clouds cleared up 150 miles before Mobile.

Megan was flying the plane when we arrived at Mobile. This airport is very pretty because it lies on the Gulf of Mexico. The airport we landed was at sea level at 26 ft. I got a little disoriented flying over the ocean with cloud in the sky and the blue water below us. Nicole and I could not believe that the race was over. Once we were on the ground we taxied back to the ramp where we gave each other a big high five. When we got out of the plane we were greeted by our Adopt-A-Racer girls from the boys and girls club of america. they were both wearing tshirts they had decorated with our race number on them. We than let them have a seat in the plane, showed them the controls, and explained to them how things worked. We told them that anything was possible and that their are scholarships out there for them to do these types of things.

On Saturday we met again at the USS Alabama ship, where they were awarded for going through the program. We surprised them with K- State aviation tshirts donated by AHP. After the ceremony both the girls had to leave so Nicole and I, along with her parents and grandparents, got to explore the ship. It was very hot inside the ship but very interesting. Nicole's grandpa had worked on a ship so he guided us through it and explained everything as we went.

We aRe now getting ready to head to the banquet where we will find out the results for the race. We will keep you posted and provide the standings when we get back from the banquet. Wish us luck!!!!

Friday, June 24, 2011

We made it!!

We made it!!

We just completed of fifth and final leg of the 35th annual Air Race Classic. Overall we both agree that the decisions we made were the best we could have. We wouldn't have been able to make it here without the help of many awesome people.

First of all we would like to say a huge thanks to the Conner Burton Aviation Foundation. Without their help we wouldn't have been able to even compete. Next year we hope to teach the younger girls at our school what we have learned. So that we can always have a team for Kansas State University in the future. After we graduate we hope to be able to give back to the Burton Foundation someday when we are able. To check out their website just go to http://burtonaviationfoundation.org/Welcome.html
There you can make a donation or see many of the other students at Kansas State University that the Burton Foundation has helped. Thank you again Jan for all of your help!! The Burton Foundation helps our students by offering scholarships to some students that would not be able to fly without them.

Also a big thank you to Robin and Niki. Without them neither of us would have been able to prepare for this race. We were clueless enough when we got here and had to ask both Robin and Niki for advise along the way. A special thanks to Robin for helping us keep our blog updated, some days we were just to tired to update it ourselves.

A big big thank you goes out to our maintenance crew at Kansas State. They made sure our airplane was in top shape to fly for this
race. Our line guys also did an awesome job cleaning and waxing our plane before we left, to bad bug free airspace doesn't exist. But we did
our best to keep the plane clean along the way. Thanks again for the help during our race Mike.

Another person who deserves our thanks is our Mama birds. Linda Evans, Alison Chalker and Barbara Strachan. They were also a big help in answering questions when we didn't have the answer. We enjoyed getting to know all of you. Competing in the air race was a lot of fun and we hope to be able to meet with all of you in the future. Thanks again for all the advise.

One last thank you goes out to Kathy Sanders, Mark Friesen, the Aviation department, Natalie Blair, our Marketing Team, and of course all of our readers who have followed our blog. Thanks again everyone!!

KSU Made it to Finish Line!

Megan and Nicole JUST completed the 2011 Air Race Classic!

Stay tuned for an update from them.

CONGRATS Ladies on this amazing accomplishment!!

KELD: Waiting on the Weather

I just chatted with Megan and Nicole. They were up early this morning looking at the weather and are just waiting on the right window of opportunity to head out for the finish line. Keep your fingers crossed that the weather holds up for them today!

My thoughts and prayers are with them. GO KSU!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

After flying two legs, waiting at El Dorado airport for three hours, and taking much needed three hour nap Nicole and I are planning out final route to Mobile, Alabama!!!

This morning we woke up at 4:30 in order to plan our routes that we excepted to fly today. I flew the first route from Borger, Texas to Oklahoma University's airport, in Norman, Oklahoma. We completed our flight with a tailwind and are having an amazing time.

We arrived at Norman around 9:00 this morning. Since it Is a controlled airport and home to Oklahoma University it was hectic getting in and out. Everyone was waiting there because of the current IFR conditions that were in El Dorado, our next stop. But we checked with a briefer and were one of the first teams to head out of OK. But little did we know we would have a little delay. Only in Norman will you wait 40 minutes on a taxiway to takeoff. Good thing we accounted for extra fuel that flight!

Nicole flew the next leg to El Dorado, Arkansas. The flight there was nice and smooth. We were by ourselves for the most part on this leg. Halfway along our route we noticed something shiny ahead of us and not moving. There was a haze layer so we assumed it had to be a plane because otherwise we didn't think it would shine. It appeared to not be moving, which normally indicates traffic with which you are on a collision course with. We talked on the air races air to air frequency and there were no souls around us. We were perplexed. Turns out as we flew further it turned out to be a building of some sort. We felt kinda silly until we heard Embry Riddle Prescott make the same assumption over the radio.

When we arrived in El Dorado we cleaned the bugs off the plane and headed inside to check the weather. There were thunderstorms hanging out right over our destination. After being on the phone with two different flight briefers and after calling Robin we decided to stay in El Dorado. The forecast showed thunderstorms in the vicinity and we did not want to risk our safety because the storms were producing two inch hail and 60 mph winds. Thunderstorms generally indicate there will be low ceilings and poor visibility. Because we are flying VFR it is important to follow visual flight rules which means 1000 ft ceilings and 3 miles visibility is mandatory. Flying into the clouds is grounds for disqualification. Several teams went ahead and continued to Mobile but we believe we made the right decision by staying in El Dorado.

We have one more day to complete the race. Pray for us that we will have tailwinds and that the rain and thunderstorms will move out of the area.

Go Classic 30!

Overnight in El Dorado, Arkansas

Megan and Nicole made it to Arkansas! ONE leg left to go! They will be updating the blog later tonight.

They will also be up early to check the weather and wait to see when the best time to depart is. Good luck ladies on your last leg!
Got up at 430 this morning to plan our flight. We are all planned and ready to fly to Norman Oklahoma this morning!! Here in Borger it is suppose to reach 102 today which is a record here, so we are planning to leave as soon as possible. We are on our way to the airport and will keep you updated on where we are.

We just reached Norman, Oklahoma home of the Oklahoma flight school we are checking weather and deciding whether or not to go on ahead to El Dorado, Arkansas.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Day 1: KAIA to KGBD to KBGD

START YOUR ENGINES! (brumm...brummm...brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr......put put.pputtt....brrrr....)

The ladies (well, most of them) departed Alliance, Nebraska today at noon mountain time (please dis-reguard my previous mis-calculation of mountain time...I guess I'm on my own "Robin" Mountain time!) There are a few ladies that have not left...and I'm not sure if they are still going to compete or not. (some may have had maintenance issues)

Say hello to two friendly face...Lauren Dawson (left) and myself (right). Lauren and I competed in the Air Race Classic in 2007. We went out to Great Bend to cheer the KSU ladies on and also help with the timing line. We had a wonderful trip and were glad to lend our support and time to such a fun event.




And here it is...the 2011 KSU ARC Team's FIRST flyby!
The thrill, excitement, and pure craziness...all in one flyby...flying a couple hundred feet, buzzing the runway at full throttle....is just a day in the life of an air race classic pilot! And imagine....flying one direction with traffic taking off the opposite direction....a well coordinated and absolutely crazy, yet remarkably safely executed procedure. It's amazing. The ladies preformed excellently and it was fun to watch!




Lauren and Robin with the stop chair, Trish--who was kind enough to let us fly her baby to see our KSU ladies!! We cannot thank you enough for giving us this opportunity!





Here we all are...quick pic! Left to right:
Megan, Nicole, Lauren, Robin




And the ramp filled up rather quickly....




And here they are, after flying the timing line...can you see those smiles?! I think they had a blast!




OR....it could be bacause of their awesome fans...
Megan's younger brother and mom, in addition to Nicole, Megan, and Jack: 


The ladies flew a great first leg...and decided to fly leg #2 which was from Great Bend to Borger, Texas. They will stay overnight in Texas and re-assess the weather in the morning, hoping to get good weather and tail winds. Until then, goodnight everyone!

RACE DAY!

The ladies are preparing to depart any time ! Apparently Alliance, NE is on mountain time...so I did not realize that! So....there is T-Minus...oh 15 minutes until start time...! The ladies are probably getting ready to hop in their plane, fire up the engine, and sail away in these winds.

GOOD LUCK!

PS: I also worked on a few settings on the blog last night. If you would like to leave comments, I think it should be a bit more user friendly! I was having some trouble the other day, so please let me know if I need to make further changes. Thx, Robin

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Evening Update: Alliance, NE

I just got off the phone with Nicole. The ladies are safe and sound in Nebraska and had quite a long day. They began the day with a breakfast (like...6am!) then left a short while later and were in the air enroute to Topeka. They had lunch with Megan's family and then departed for Alliance. They stopped for fuel enroute and also had dinner wtih some fellow racers. I'm not sure what team number they dined with, but Nicole said the competitors they ate with (also long time competitors--of like 30+ years?!) were going to drop out since half of the race was cancelled. Too bad for them...because there are 3 prime days of racing ahead!

The ladies are ready for a good night's sleep...and preparing for their first day of racing. With the delay in the start, they are getting an idea of what it is like to "hurry up and wait" on weather. There is nothing quite like racing and the excitement of not knowing where you will end up by the end of the day. Today, they are sleeping in Nebraska...tomorrow....who knows...we shall see!

Made it to Alliance, Nebraska!

Megan and Nicole made it to Alliance, NE!

The race officially starts at NOON tomorrow (Wednesday) from Nebraska, we are hoping for good weather and winds for the first leg. Get your game face on...it's almost race time!

Departing KIOW

As Megan said on a previous post, the race has been delayed and the starting line relocated. So now, the race will start at NOON tomorrow (Wednesday) and all racers have to be in Nebraska by that time to start. (the first few legs of the race have been cancelled due to the weather up north)

So.....what does that mean for travel plans!? I just got off the phone with Megan and she said they are going to be watching the weather closely. They are preparing to depart (any minute) to go to Topeka, where they will stop and check weather again, visit family, and probably refuel. They are going to try to make it to Nebraska tonight, but will see what the weather does when they get to Topeka.

Stay tuned for further news!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Banquet









This is an image of Kathy Walton in I she has flown in over 20 races. She was sharing stories with me about previous races and telling me all about the racers. We actually met her and her partner at Women in Aviation. They were manning the booth for the Air Race Classic. Her partner has flown in 32 Air Race Classics. I am so glad I got the chance to meet these seasoned racers.










Next is a picture of our Mama Birds. They are super sweet and super helpful. We couldn't have got better mentors for this race. They were willing to share any and all information with us that pertained to the race.





Here is Janet Yoder from Wichita. She is Classic 31. She was being awarded for racing in over 25 races. Go Janet.






Here is a picture of the Pre Takeoff Banquet. We had a fabulous meal of salad, chicken, with cheesecake and chocolate cake.







Here is a picture of us with the other collegiate teams after the banquet. Minus myself. A tall girl from Indiana cut me out of the picture :( BOOOO INDIANA..... just kidding they were super nice. We ate breakfast with them on morning.

Madness on Monday

This morning we got up around 630 and went to a few briefings before the race started tomorrow. This morning it was raining, which has been happening a lot here lately, so we were glad to be inside out of the weather.

During our first briefing we were instructed on how we were going to be timed during the race, in other words how to fly by the airport. Flybys for the different airports are done around 200 to 300 AGL. Th air race has special permission to fly that low from the FAA. We are really excited to fly that low.

After that briefing we had a guest speaker then a weather update. During that morning the weather for takeoff the next day did't look good at all. We took a lunch break then took a short nap and then headed to the new racer briefing downstairs. There, a lot of new racers asked questions about the race that they weren't sure about.

Nicole's dad, step mom and papa arrived In Iowa City and took us to the airport to inspect our plane. Since it has been raining a lot and there are strong winds we wanted to make sure that our aircraft was secure. It was when we arrived which was a good thing.

After that Nicole and I did more planning for our route, not expecting to be able to fly the route tomorrow because of the weather. We would later find out that the air race decided to cancel part of the race. So instead of flying through the Dakotas, and Wyoming, we are now staring the race in Alliance, Nebraska.

The air race is giving us till 1200, moutntain time, on Wednesday get to Alliance. Since some ofthr aircraft, including us, can't make it all the way to Alliance without stopping for fuel that is why we are staring there. We will keep everyone updated on our travels tomorrow if we can even depart from Iowa City.

Also we had a very nice dinner with iour mama birds tonight at an Italian restaurant. We learned more about them all and our very fortunate to have such awesome mama birds!! So thanks for all the help!! We really appreciate it.

Check back later and we will show you why we can't fly our route tomorrow. Night everyone.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

BBQ and Stories

Yesterday after our inspection we spent the afternoon trying ot update our blog. We weren't able to figure it out so we had Robin help us. Thanks again Robin!! Obviously we have worked out the bugs and are trying our best to do it on our own.




One of the ladies who previously flew in the Air Race Classic is now writing a book about all of the interesting women pilots she has met over the years. She interview us yesterday for about an hour and she listened to our stories about how we came to love aviation. As we were being interviewed we started to gain an audience and soon even more questions were asked by other racers. We really didn't think we were that interesting, but they had a blast none the less. She said we will be in her book, so we will be looking forward to that in the next year or so.





Megan was having problems connecting to the internet on her iPad so we had a courtesy driver take us to an AT & T store in the same mall as the childrens museum. The nice women who took us to the store was originally from France, but is now living in Iowa City, Iowa married to her husband of ten years. She works in a laboratory studying cures for HPV virus (or Cervical Cancer). It has been extremely interesting listening to all of the stories from each individual we have met.




Luckily after our trip to the mall we were able to fix the iPad problem and now we have 3G network anywhere.









After our interview and our trip to the mall we went to the Hanger Barbeque and Dance. Here we ate delicious pulled pork, beans, corn bread, and some giant cookies. At the barbeque we sat with a few of the other college students we had just met. Pictured above are Embry Riddle Daytona, Embry Riddle Prescott, and Purdue. At the barbeque only a few women were dancing. One being one of our Mama Birds (the ladies who have been helping us with questions about the race). It was cute to watch.














Anyone have a guess what this is? We had no clue. We saw this as we were driving to the barbeque. Because it was sprinkling, these people were riding their low rider bicycles down the street with fiberglass covers. This was a sight to see.








Here are more pictures of the barbecue. On the left is Embry Riddle Prescott. And to the right of us is Embry Riddle Daytona.


We are both still very excited and cannot wait for the race to start. T minus 2 days.


We will post about the banquet sometime tommorow. It is Midnight and we have an All Racers Briefing to be at in the morning to go over Flyby procedures.


Sunday Update

This evening, the ladies are at an opening banquet where they will see all the competitors and possibly even some of the dedicated volunteers and board that has made this year's race possible. They have and will continue to have a few briefings over the next few days to talk about flying timing lines and overall race information.

Today they had the opportunity to have lunch with other collegiate teams and have a chance to network. Megan and Nicole have said everyone is extremely nice and enthusiastic. While the 'seasoned' racers are not giving away any secrets, the veterans are more than happy to help the first-timers feel welcome and ensure they have most of their first-time-jitter-questions answered.

TWO days until race day...the fun is about to begin!!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

The trip: KSLN to KIOW

As stated earlier today, the ladies made it safely to Iowa City, Iowa. What adventures have they encountered already? They sent Robin an email with LOTS of pictures and captions…so here we go:

They have had lots of support and encouragement from their colleagues:

Go Meg! Lots of support from friends in the residence halls. They cut out our newspaper article pictures and posted them on Megan's door.











Megan and Nicole...posing for a quick picture before departing. GO TEAM!
(NOTE: they will be called "Classic 30" druing the race. Their tail number: N810KS will not be used while they are actually competing in the race.)




 
Our wonderful maintenance crew put our names on the plane so we would know which plane is ours ... Just kidding.... Now we don’t have to fight over where to sit. Megan is practicing for her CFI in the right seat.














Our first stop on our way to Iowa City was Manhattan (MHK). We took the courtesy car and went to grab Chipolte before our leg to Iowa city or KIOW. We stopped to change and when in the bathroom: Nicole, being the blonde that she is, put her clothes in the sink while she was changing failing to notice that it was an automatic water sink. So her shorts were sopping wet. Good job Nicole!




















We are off!



The flight to Manhattan Nicole flew the plane. It was hot on our way to Manhattan and after lunch we were glad to climb up to 4,500 where is was a little cooler.

Below is a picture of a feature the G1000 has called a "Fuel Ring". We set this feature for 45 minute fuel reserve. This means that we can fly anywhere within this given ring (at our current speed, altitude, winds, etc) without running out of fuel.There are a few "rings" below. the most outer ring is when we run out of fuel...we never want to get there. The inner-dotted ring is when we hit that 45 minute reserve, and by that point, if something were to happen, we would want to start on our alternate plans to stop and get fuel.



Some awesome scenery in Iowa... Megan refers to them as "mossy lakes"




Megan is coming in for a landing on Runway 12 in Iowa City. There were several planes in the pattern when we came in. There is not a control tower at this airport, so each aircraft is responsible for keeping visual separation from each other...all part of the fun!


The trip was uneventfull, we didn't even see any other aircraft until we were about 10 miles out from Iowa City. As we got closer to Iowa the terrain started getting greener and there were a lots of hills, trees, and small ponds to observe. Megan flew from the right seat. She has only just begun flying from there so her altitude was hit and miss. Learning to fly from the right seat should be interesting.
Once we got on the ground at Iowa City, we were completly lost. Since neither of us has raced before we weren't sure what to do. But luckily there were lots of very nice volunteers to direct us in the right direction. Where we then parked the plane and both of us tied it down for the day.
While we were trying to figure out how to register and check in we were asked if we could complete our handicapp flight early. (Pretty much just 10 minutes after we landed). So Megan, being the pilot was debriefed on what she would do in the air. While both Nicole and Megan wipped most of the bugs off of the plane (sorry Mike we missed the bug free airspace)!!! Once Megan was up in the air she climbed up to 4,500 ft MSL, to simulate a density altitude of 6,000 ft. Once there she flew four different heading. 360, 90, 270, and 180. She had a check pilot in the aircraft with her to write down her ground speed so they could assign our aircraft a handicap. What this means is that we will have to fly our aircraft at an airspeed faster then our handicapp to earn more points. The handicapp flight went well and we are waiting to see wether we will have to fly again or not. If we don't our aircraft is all ready to go for the race. Our inspections are done, we are checked in, our airplane is rewashed, and we are ready to begin this awesome adventure!!!
Our Maintenance Inspection- They put paint on the nuts and bolts to make sure we do not modify the engine.


Our plan under inspection- They had trouble putting the engine cowling put back on our airplane this morning. Dont worry we double checked all the nuts and bolts and we are good to go.



We also met some of the other racers. One that we met is is Janet Yoder and her copilot Anne! They are super nice. They are Classic 29. Additionally, Janet was Robin and Niki's Mama Bird (to help them through their first race!)

While putting the plane back after inspection we needed help pushing it back into the grass. We got help from a gentleman that worked for a news station and Iowa. And again we were interviewed. It will be on the news in Iowa tonight at 6 and 10 CBS and FOX. We keep saying the cameras follow us.

After inspections, we got to go to the Iowa City Childrens Museum.
Megan at the Iowa City Childrens Museum Take Flight Exhibit. She was trying to fly the Wright Brothers Plane. She managed to land it three times, while Nicole crashed all 4 times. Don't worry, we are well qualified...our airplane doesn't maneuver quite like the Wright Brothers Plane!

Made it to Starting Line: Iowa City, Iowa

Yesterday evening, I received a call from Nicole informing me that she and Megan made it safely to Iowa City, Iowa.
They unloaded the plane, and started to get checked in...but with the possibility of a storm in the area, they skipped ahead to a quick flight with the panel to ensure that the airplane met the standards for the race. (And to ensure that there were no illegal modifications made that makes the airplane go faster than the given handicapp category they will be competing in.)

Today will consist of finishing the check-in process, going through the aircraft logbooks, and probably even a seminar or two for first time racers. All racers have to be in Iowa City by NOON today, so it will be a busy, long day for these ladies.

Megan and Nicole have some pictures they will post in the next few days and I'm sure some excitement from meeting the phenominal ladies they have the opportunity to compete with.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Nicole and Richard Picture

Nicole mentioned in her post the other day a person she wanted to take flying....here he is!!

Nicole and Richard


I'm sure Nicole will have plenty of exciting adventures to share when she returns...and takes him on that flight!

Lunch with Air Race Travelers

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting with a few individuals who were stuck waiting on weather in Wichita, KS. I couldn't help but ask where they were headed. Anticipating they were taking some awesome jet to some exciting destination...I was thrilled to hear they were going to... (drum roll please)....
Iowa City, Iowa...! THEY WERE ENROUTE TO THE AIR RACE!

These two ladies who were from Embry Riddle (the Arizona one) and both recent graduates. One of the ladies is competing in her 2nd race, while the other is a first-time racer. It was exciting to see their enthusiasm and I cannot wait to see them progress through the race. We were able to go out for lunch and my husband and little boy were able to join us. Just before leaving, my husband wished them GOOD LUCK...and to come in 2nd, right behind KSU! (hahaaa) !!

So, in case there are any other travelers coming through Wichita, KS....if I'm at work and spy your airplane...I might have to come bother you to hear about the adventures!!

GOOD LUCK AIR RACE LADIES!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Final Preparations!!!

With the help of our awesome maintenance crew, Mike Wise, the aviation department, Kurt Barnhart, Kansas State University faculty, the Burton Aviation Foundation, Robin Laws, Niki Gaskons, Kathy Sanders, Mark Friesen, Natalie Blair, and countless others Classic 30 is ready to leave for Iowa City Friday at 11:00 AM!! Our plane is washed and waxed thanks to our flight line, so a big thanks to them too!! Nicole and I are all packed and ready to take K-State 10 during our race. Wish us luck, strong tailwinds, and blue skies. We will keep everyone updated about our race as much as we can. The race begins Tuesday the 21st and we couldn't be more excited. Get ready for an awesome 10 days.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Two K-State students are going on a journey of a lifetime

Two K-State students are going on a journey of a lifetime

This is the link of the video on NBC action news.

Pre Race Planning: Updating Maps

Pre-Race Preparation. Megan sent Robin a few pictures. Here is a collaborative post including some of those images.

Nicole and I also flew on a cross country together. We went to Columbia Missouri. Here are a couple pictures from that practice flight.


Preparing to depart for Salina:





Pre-Race planning is exciting! There are sectionals (maps) to get, update, and plan the route on. Additionally, becoming familiar with the route, terrain, airspace, and obstacles along the route are some of the most exciting parts of planning....not to mention getting a sneak peak at other areas of the country that these ladies have never been to is all part of the fun.

Here are a few pictures from the process:

Here we finished updating the Dallas Ft. Worth Sectional chart





Megan updating a chart:



Nicole: Holding all the charts....



Trip Planning.....how many sectionals does one leg of the race cover!?




Entire Route....
(the sectionals are front to back...
so part of the trip is on the back side...but still......
a lot of work to plan! great job ladies!)




Updating charts...this one is one from South Dakota. The ladies went through to add any additional towers or obstacles that were built since the sectionals were published. They had to know how to read latitude/longitude and where to put the obstacle. One of the many ways they have gotten to use every bit of flight training they have had thus far.


The gentleman in the AHP shirt is Jack. Hello Jack! Thanks for helping the ladies update the sectionals!!



And here is a picture of a map that did NOT need updated...they were excited about this one! Newly published map means no updates!



The duo is hard at work updating sectionals:




Look at this smile....she sees the FINISH LINE: Mobile, Alabama
Now, imagine the smile Nicole will have on her face when she gets there :  )




The team plans to depart KSLN (Salina, KS) on Friday, June 17, 2011. Departure time is yet to be determined based on weather and winds. The team will not have to make any fuel stops from KSLN to the Starting line in Iowa City, Iowa. Their initial flight will take about 3 hours and they will cover just over 300 Nautical Miles. Stay tuned for more pictures and updates!

Pre Race Pictures

Taking a look at the destinations:




Our Awesome Wildcat!











Having fun...I mean-Working Hard
(Nicole and Megan)




In the KSU Hangar:


Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Megan and Nicole Pics

Megan and I met Freshman year at orientation. Ever since we have become really good friends. We spend countless hours studying together and are involved in many of the same clubs on campus.




Megan and I at Trunk or Treat. This is sponsored by Women in Aviation every year. We all decorate our trunks and provide a safe way for kids to trick or treat.






This was Megan and I at the Women in Aviation Conference in Florida. We were walking around at Downtown Disney at night.












In this photo we are on the flight to Reno for the Women in Aviation conference.

















Us on the Buzzlightyear ride at Disney World in Florida.














This is us at Trunk or Treat. It got moved inside because of rain.