Katherine from the Mobile, Alabama Boys and Girls Club followed the Aces during the 35th Annual Air Race Classic.

The Racing Aces, Dianna Stanger and Victoria Holt, are busy making final preparations for the 36th Annual Air Race Classic (ARC) which will begin on Tuesday, June 19th in Lake Havasu, Arizona. The 2,682 statute-mile race will span over eight states including; Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Ohio.

“The course for the 2012 Air Race Classic will present exciting challenges for the team. We will be navigating through mountainous terrain, and special use airspace. We will face extreme temperatures in the desert and weather that changes by the minute in the mid-west,” said Victoria Holt. “We’ve modified our strategy a bit this year, we have a new airplane, and the entire team has a winning attitude. So….Game on!”

The Racing Aces announced earlier in the year that they will proudly sponsor scholarships available for 2013 Calhoun High School female graduates with the proceeds from the air race.

As female pilots, the Aces are well aware of the obstacles that each female pilot has had to overcome and they are working to encourage more girls with what has come to be a passion of ours: aviation! According to the Federal Aviation Administration, females comprise a mere six percent of all pilots, a percentage that has not increased in nearly a century of licensing pilots. This troubling statistic is one that we are going to personally combat during this race as we promote education in aviation to the general public along our race route.

“The opportunity to race along with fifty other teams of female pilots is an experience that lasts a lifetime. The fact that our race route changes each year gives us an opportunity to visit some locations and landscape that the Aces would have never gotten to visit,” said Dianna Stanger. “It is a very humbling and exhilarating race with new friends made each year and smiles we never forget.”

As a part of the minimal female pilot population, Victoria and Dianna are looking forward to the competition and the spirit of the Air Race Classic while educating our youth regarding all that aviation has to offer. Visit the Aces website, www.theracingaces.com to track them as they compete in the air race.

A new plane, refined tactics and a year’s experience under their belts; the female pilots are excited to take to the skies.