Dispatch from my living room couch: I impatiently email my mechanic: “Is the engine back on the airplane yet or is it still on the crane?” The reply doesn’t come until the next day: “It is still on the crane as we mount sensors and things on the firewall.” Clearly, I won’t be flying — much […]
Changing horses mid-stream
Dispatch from KSAF, Santa Fe, New Mexico…three weeks ago: Faces solemn, my mechanics each rest a hand on one of my shoulders. One on my left and one on my right, they gently guide me across the crowded hangar floor, around Race 53, and to the north wall. There — SMACK — they smash my head […]
A clan gathering
Dispatch from M02, Dickson Municipal Airport, Dickson Tennessee: What has 26 propellers and 52 tails? A fleet of Ercoupes! This summer marked the 41st annual gathering of the twin-tailed birds of the Ercoupe Owners Club (EOC). Its fly-in convention, which is hosted in a different location each year, touched down this year in central Tennessee west […]
Air Racing from the Cockpit: Disputing the results
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 […]