Dispatch from KCVN, Clovis, New Mexico: It’s chilly. It’s nearly noon and I’m wearing my winter flight jacket. As we walk across the tarmac to Race 53, above our heads the sky is solid overcast. It’s pale gray. Low, kissing the edge of marginal VFR, but slowly rising. Not even 100 miles from home yet, […]
Search Results for: air racing from the cockpit
Air Racing from the Cockpit: Omens
Dispatch from my kitchen table: The sun is well above the horizon. Outside it’s the most beautiful day you’ve ever seen. Cool. Not a cloud in the sky. Not a breath of wind. My bags are packed and I’m ready to go. But I’m not flying anywhere today. My plane sits at KSXU in her […]
Air Racing from the Cockpit: A chain of bad decisions
Dispatch from 1V0, Navajo Lake State Park, New Mexico: The wind howls through Race 53’s twin tails. A high-pitched whine. Ghosts shrieking. Her wings rock back and forth, straining against the tie-down straps. The sky above is an evil dark grey-green. Fast-moving ash-grey clouds scuttle across the horizon. The rain comes in waves, never stopping. Sometimes […]
Air Racing from the Cockpit: The best worst time ever
Dispatch from P14, Holbrook, Arizona: Looking down off my wing, I can see the ramp is nearly empty. Most of the race planes have already left. Gone home. I know I’m slow, but geez, couldn’t the other racers have at least waited until the last plane landed before they called it a day? I key the […]
Air Racing from the Cockpit: Expect the Unexpected
Dispatch from KTYQ, Indianapolis, Indiana: Holy crap my airspeed is good. I’m pushing the yellow arc. In level flight. The two latest speed mods are paying off in spades. I’m 600 feet up, low enough that the lush, vibrant greens of the Indiana countryside seem to be flashing by beneath my wings. High above, and to […]
Air Racing from the Cockpit: Family Jewels
Dispatch from KMHE, Mitchell, South Dakota: An airplane. High above me and slightly to the left. I nudge my 14-year-old son, Rio, with my elbow and point up through the canopy. His dark brown eyes, hawk-like when he’s flying, narrow as he studies the silhouette. “It’s white,” his voice crackles through my headset. “It’s not him.” […]
Air Racing From The Cockpit: A long flight to a short race (Part 2)
See Part 1 here. Dispatch from KEPH, Ephrata, Washington: I smell burning French toast. Yeah. There’s a hint of cinnamon mixed into the strong, pungent odor that’s filling the cockpit. This can’t be good. I scan my limited engine instruments. Nothing is out of the ordinary. My oil pressure is normal. My oil temp is good. […]
Air Racing From The Cockpit: A long flight to a short race
DAY ONE: Dispatch from north of Monument Valley: 7,200 feet MSL, speed 55 mph… It’s too hot. My plan is shot to hell. Race 53 is hanging on her prop and she can’t climb any higher. Damn! It’s all I can do to stay in the air above the rugged desert. Below, in hues of red, pink, […]
Air Racing from the Cockpit: The champs and the challenger
Dispatch from KMDH, Carbondale/Murphysboro, Illinois: Standing on my wing, I look down the long double row of airplanes. Like an old-style barn dance, the two lines of planes face each other, spinner to spinner, across a wide taxiway. We’re arranged from fastest to slowest; the fastest planes on the east, the slowest planes on the west. […]