First-ever Blakesburg Bendix challenges pilots

For the first time ever, the Blakesburg Bendix and Air King Charity Challenge was held in Nebraska and Iowa in late August 2022.

The Blakesburg Bendix honors the Bendix Trophy, a point-to-point race from Burbank, California, to Cleveland, Ohio, founded in 1931 by industrialist Vincent Bendix as part of the National Air Races.

For the Blakesburg Bendix, pilots estimated how long it would take them to fly from Hastings Municipal Airport (KHSI) in Nebraska, making stops at Crete Municipal Airport (KCEK) in Nebraska, Red Oak Municipal Airport (KRDK) in Iowa, and Greenfield Municipal Airport (KGFZ) in Iowa, with Blakesburg, Iowa’s Antique Airfield the end of the race during the 2022 Antique Airplane Association Fly-In.

Blakesburg Bendix Pilots

• #1, flying a 1937 Waco ZKS-7, Justin Harders from Nebraska
• #2, flying a 1936 Waco YKS-6, Justin Morriss from Nebraska
• #11, flying a 1936 Monocoupe 90AW, Justin Niemyjski from Wisconsin
• #17, flying a 1931 Waco QCF-2, Ric Woldow from Illinois (Chad Pobanz owns the airplane)
• #40, flying the Howard DGA-6 “Mister Mulligan,” Doug Rozendaal from Iowa
• #69, flying a 1943 Howard DGA-15P, Dave Bole from Washington

And the winners are…

The top three winners of the Air King Charity Challenge were awarded a cash prize to donate to their favorite non-profit aviation organization, according to Brent Taylor, president of the Antique Airplane Association.

• First Place, Justin Harders in #1: Total time off estimate: 3 minutes, 58 seconds. Justin chose to award his $1,500 prize to Nebraska Antique Airplane Preservation Inc. of Albion, Nebraska.
• Second Place was Doug Rozendaal in #40: Total time off estimate: 5 minutes, 2 seconds. Doug chose to award his $600 prize to the Air Power Museum at Antique Airfield in Blakesburg.
• Third Place was Dave Bole in #69: Total time off estimate: 7 minutes. Dave chose to award his $400 prize to TeenFlight in Puyallup, Washington.

The Nebraska chapter of the Antique Airplane Association has agreed to once again host the Blakesburg Bendix in 2023, and the benefactor of the Air King Charity Challenge has confirmed his intention to sponsor the event once again, Taylor noted.