Dispatch from KDMH, Carbondale, Illinois: The carefully arranged chairs in the giant hangar are in disarray, hurriedly pushed and pulled to either side, parted like the Red Sea to make room to bring Les Burrill’s wounded bird— Race 11 — in out of the baking sun. A small cluster of racers gathers around the green and […]
Top of the Leader Board
Dispatch from KTRL, Terrell, Texas: I want to win. There. I said it. Yes, I know we’re here for charity. And, yes, I know this is supposed to be just for fun. But, damn it, I really, really want to win. I know that sounds shallow and selfish, but in my defense, I spent the entire […]
Smithereens
Dispatch from the Texas/Oklahoma border: I’m jamming with Mick Jagger at 7,500 feet, “Gimme Shelter” streaming from my iPod into my Bluetooth headset. The sun is now high enough it’s out of my eyes, the ride is smooth, and a wicked tailwind is propelling me over the ground 50 miles per hour faster than I’m flying. […]
Air racing: An unexpected open house
Dispatch from KABI, Abilene, Texas: I’m perched on the left wingwalk, leaning into the open cockpit. My shirttails keep coming untucked, and I’m praying that the waistline of my pants is high enough that I won’t be mistaken for a plumber, instead of an air racer. I point to the instrument panel, “This one tells me […]
Air Racing from the Cockpit: Sportsmanship
Dispatch from KGYI, North Texas Regional Airport: Am I still gaining on them? The Cessna 152 is 200 feet above me, about half a mile ahead, and slightly off to the left. I’m low over the lake, climbing slowly, a pillowy soft grey overcast above. My ground speed, frankly, sucks. I’m bucking a 22-knot headwind on the […]
A new nemesis
Dispatch from 2,500 feet above Georgia: I’m so bored I could puke. This is an air race, but watching paint dry would be more exciting. I’m about 150 miles into the Sunshine Express 400, a cross country “race” across South Carolina, Georgia, and down the Florida peninsula. I hate cross country races. It’s all about precision […]
Triathlon
Dispatch from KSPA, Spartanburg, South Carolina: I pull the wicked-looking black helmet over my head and cinch the chinstrap down tight. Next comes the neck guard, a thick foam collar that encircles my neck below the helmet. I step down into the cockpit and settle in, pulling the dual shoulder straps across my chest and snapping […]
Lots of sun, lots more fun
We’re lined up two abreast on Lakeland-Linder Regional Airport’s big Runway 27, slightly staggered like fighters on an aircraft carrier’s deck. Ahead of us a flight of two massive T-28 Trojans in Navy colors thunder down the runway. The T-28s lift into pale morning sky and the tower radios that it’s our turn to takeoff. […]
A new season and a ‘new’ airplane
Dispatch from above the numbers, Runway 20m KSAF, Santa Fe, New Mexico: There’s a strong crosswind from my left. Race 53’s nose is crabbed into the wind like an antique weather vane, but I’m lined up dead center on the runway. Approach speed nailed at 80 miles per hour, I’m dropping down out of the […]