Team 8 and Team 30 arrived to Frederick, MD on Thursday June 24th. Team 41 waited in Parkersburg that evening. They arrived safely Friday June 25 in the morning. Now that the race is over, a little time for fun. Friday evening was the Meltdown party. Saturday we sign our score sheets, volunteer to work with local girl scouts, and see the documentary “Breaking Through the Clouds”, followed by a VIP reception!! We do not have much down time but we are looking forward to all of the events. Sunday is the big day. We will find out who has won all of the different awards. Stay tuned for more updates.

All the racers were off to Waycross, GA and we all made it there in great timing. When we arrived in Waycross there were many people there to greet us. We had little kids and even adults asking for our autographs. It was a really cool experience. We felt like royalty. In the FBO we paid for fuel and they had BBQ sandwiches waiting for us. Along with sandwiches they had popcorn, soda, chips, and other goodies. Thank you Waycross for the your hospitality, it was greatly appreciated.

After refueling the airplanes and our bellies we were off to Tuscaloosa. In Tuscaloosa we ran into a lot of traffic and it was a slow arrival and departure. We landed safe and decided we would go one more leg to Hot Springs, AR. At Tuscaloosa they had water and snacks waiting for us. Thanks to the volunteers at Tuscaloosa for your support. We really appreciate everything.

Next leg Hot Springs. We all made it in safely and choose to remain over night. We are all getting dinner and rest for another full day tomorrow. See each team’s individual page for their experiences on this first day of racing. Way to go girls. Keep up the good work and Go Salukis!

Celebrating 50 Years of SIUC Aviation

Today’s agenda included Air Racer Breakfast at 6am follow by an all contestant weather briefing. The aircraft were to be started at 8am in groups of 5. First stop Waycross, GA. We are going to miss Fort Myers but we are all ready to race.

Thanks to Gary Duncan the Director of Aviation for the Lee County Port Authority! He is a fellow saluki that made a special trip to each of the SIU aircraft today to wish us luck. Now that is Saluki pride. The best part was when we all put our hands in and yelled goooo salukis!

Tomorrow, June 22, 2010, 51 race teams will be departing Fort Myers to begin the 2010 Air Race Classic. Among those 51 teams we have three SIUC Teams. We are all very excited about the race to start. The last two days we have sat through different briefings and feel really good about the race. ou can follow each team individually on their team update page. We greatly appreciate all of your support and look forward to soaring over the Eastern Portion of the United States. We are off to get a good night sleep. We have a racers breakfast at 6am, a weather briefing at 6:30, and the teams start their engines in groups of five starting at 8am. Check back tomorrow for more great stories.

We would like to give a big shout out to our Mamma Birds Team 11, 12, and18. Good Luck and thanks for all of your support you have given us great advice this week and we hope to make you proud.

Sabrina & Heather

Ashley & Katie

Erin & Christine

Visit our individual team update pages for more pictures! We are writing about our journey during the Air Race Classic.

We left Waycross, GA early this morning for Fort Myers, FL. We made it safely and were greeted like royalty. Today we met some really great women and were inspired by Ruby the oldest racer here. She is 92 years old and still racing. We look forward to meeting the rest of the racers tomorrow. Today we completed our registration process and passed all of our aircraft inspections. We thought we were done with everything and ready to race. Unfortunately this evening we learned that two of the SIUC teams need to redo our handicap rides because the logger failed. Air Race Classic teams 8 and 30 will be up early to fly our handicap ride again. We are looking forward to the flight because we heard we get to fly over the Gulf. Finally we get to actually have the ADIZ as a factor, no more teaching about the subject. We actually get to deal with the real thing!! The teams are all excited. We have many great events coming up before the race. Let the count down begin for the race. We cannot believe it is almost race time. We launch Tuesday morning!

The SIUC Air Race Classic Teams departed this afternoon at 3pm from Southern Illinois Airport to head to the start of the Air Race Classic. We are grateful for all the support from our family, friends, and the SIUC Staff. Without you we would not be able to participate in this amazing race. Thanks to everyone who helped us depart a day earlier than expected. Our first stop was Tuscaloosa, AL. We arrived safely and were quickly back in the air heading to Waycross, GA. We arrived safely at 10pm. We were greeted by a local couple that was hanging out at the airport. Thanks to their generosity we were able to get to our hotel. We appreciate the Byrd family from Waycross, GA. Thanks again Jackie and Dan!!  Tomorrow we will be off to Fort Myers, FL. We are all very excited and look forward to this great adventure. Well it is time to get some sleep.  Please check back for more updates from all of the teams and again we appreciate your support!!

 TO READ EACH TEAMS UPDATES ALONG THE RACE CLICK ON THE TEAM UPDATE PAGE OR PICK THE TEAM YOU WOULD LIKE TO FOLLOW BELOW:

Ashley & Katie

Just Keep Scanning

Soarin’ Salukis

Celebrating 50 years of SIUC Aviation