I was flooded with emotions as I suddenly realized we were flying away from our team. This was my first cross country trip in a small airplane; for the next four days I would fly with a pilot in a Cessna 182 from Iowa, Wyoming, Oklahoma to Alabama. As a part of the “chaser” plane, I was en route to Rawlins Municipal Airport/Harvey Field in Wyoming while the team was taxiing down the runway at Heartland Aviation in Alliance, Nebraska.

The 35th Annual Air Race Classic (ARC) had officially started after a day’s delay. Due to the change, four route stops were cut out – almost 1,500 miles and Rawlins was one of them. We had scheduled an afternoon event there so we were on our way, but the team was on their way to Mobile, Alabama. We would catch up with them in several days at the terminus.

Their mission was to win; ours to educate young ladies about aviation and the history of the race.

We arrived at the airport that afternoon with plenty of time to prepare for our presentation. The fixed base operator manager and assistant greeted us very kindly. We walked inside of the facility and I was saddened to see a line of ARC books, postcards and hats stacked ready for the racers. A tremendous amount of preparation goes into planning for the air race – we’re talking years! These route stops have to be prepared for over 100 pilots and 50 planes arriving at any given time. The managers expressed their disappointment in the change but who can control the weather? I signed their guest book and took a postcard and hat as a souvenir.

Fast Forward

Lo and behold our surprise a couple of months before the start of the 37th Annual Air Race Classic, we were thrown a curve ball! Three of the four stops which had been omitted two years prior were added to this year’s race and Rawlins Municipal Airport was one of them! I thought back to that day and wondered what they did with all those hats… You see, the hat I picked up two years ago is the only hat I ever wear. It quickly became my favorite workout hat because it is made specifically for women.

This year’s ARC start was in Pasco, WA. The morning of June 19th, after a final briefing, we headed out to the airport. And once again, there were weather delays. I was set up near the runway with cameras… I was suddenly caught in a moment of deja vu. We waited… then we waited some more. The situation did not look good. Would Rawlins be cut out again?
Six hours later, the board announced the “official” start would be in Mountain Home, ID. There would be no official line up of the teams. As soon as they flew over the timing line in Mountain Home, the race would begin. Whew! Rawlins was spared.

Fayetteville

The sun beamed down on me four days later, the last day of the race. I stood on the ramp at Drake Field in Fayetteville, AR and waited for each team to arrive. This year I was very fortunate to have been asked to handle the public relations for all of the teams. As each landed, I took their pictures and video.

I stayed and talked to most as they unloaded their luggage and as time allotted. As one team was rumbling through several of their bags, one of the ladies took out a hat exactly like mine! The managers had kept those hats for two years and finally had the opportunity to hand them out to the racers. I shrieked out in delight as I quickly explained the situation and how I had the opportunity to visit the FBO that year. The pilot looked at me and handed me the hat. It made my day and reminded me how genuine these ladies really are.

The icing on the cake is when I received this letter in an email:

Dear Air Race Classic,

Even though we just had one fly by this evening (#30) all the volunteers had a blast bench racing and chowing down on burgers. We have several older pilots that don’t fly anymore that told me that today brought a special kind of a spark that they thought was long gone. Proof positive that you can ground a pilot and they can slowly forget the fun they used to have, but it only takes a few moments to rekindle the spark. Today we had four members of the 99’s helping that are in their late 80’s. Our timer that brought his motor coach out was especially excited today! He is on chemo so is not feeling great but you could just tell by looking at him that he was back to being the little boy again. I just wanted to thank all of the ARC members for the opportunity to participate! You have made several aviation enthusiasts in Rawlins very happy.

Rick Caldwell
Rawlins Stop Chair

Learn more about the air race at airraceclassic.org. Till next time.

Jasmine Gordon