Planning is underway for the Air Race Classic’s third annual ARC Air Derby — and in a twist on tradition, the derby is open to both male and female pilots.
ARC traditionally sponsors an annual all-women, amateur, cross-country air race for pilots and airplanes that qualify under Air Race Classic race rules and procedures. In 2021 ARC added an opportunity to experience air racing to a wider audience: The ARC Air Derby, a one-day flying proficiency event.
This year, for the first time, the Air Derby is open to both male and female participants “in response to popular demand,” according to officials. Either the pilot or co-pilot must be a certificated female pilot or student pilot.
The ARC Air Derby is a VFR flight flown during daylight hours on a single day in the fall of 2023. The objectives are for each team to design a route that conforms to the ARC Air Derby Rules, estimate the time it will take them to fly that route, and then fly it as close to their estimated time as possible.
Routes may be designed and flown in the U.S. as well as other countries.
The derby will conclude with a virtual awards banquet where cash prizes will be awarded for the closest time estimates for each leg and the entire route.
Registration, which is limited to 99 teams, opens July 15, 2023, and closes Sept. 26, 2023. The derby must be completed on any day between Sept. 29, 2023, and Oct. 9, 2023.
For more information and rules, go to Derby.AirRaceClassic.org
Wonderful news! Despite GA’s image with too many in the general public, I always found it an open, welcoming venue, with an attitude of the more, the merrier – and I was supposedly a baddie, one of those airport people from “downtown.”
Cheers to ARC; look forward to updates on the competition!