What a fantastic trip this has been. Beautiful scenery, wonderful team mate, amazing pilots, and generous greeters at every stop! A special thanks to our husbands, family members, Wings of Hope helpers, Dotty, and Dan & Mary Russell for all their assistance in making this happen.--BJC

Hot Footin' it at altitude

These are shots from the Carbondale to Indiana leg. The team put some serious numbers up as they caught a crazy fast tailwind. They made it in before the weather turned foul as you know. So along the way they caught a picture of another racer below, along with some photographic evidence of their NEED for SPEED. The 496 shows 160 knots of ground speed and at one point, the stack avionics recorded and AMAZING 181 knots. That is better than 200 miles per hour in a plane that books at around 160miles per hour top speed. Thank goodness the wind was with them or it would have been a far different story. Yes I know the Oreo shot was blurry but it explains why Bev and Teresa were getting giddy in mid flight! The team is holding for the night with the plane in Parkersburg and the crew sleeping in Ohio. Parting is such sweet sorrow - until Friday morning, then it is BACK TO WORK. Let's cheer Classic 47 on to the end tomorrow. Exciting!

*BLOGMASTER*

During our preflight Bev discovered the left wing tip light bar was lost. We believe it's inside the wing. I guess flying fast is a little rough on old "Meme" (our c-182).

The last run was great with some turbulence, but the visibility was wonderful & other planes were not a factor. After one rough bump we lost the screw out of the visor slider on Bev's side. We found the screw and spring but not the nylon washer. We put it back together.

We are staying @ the new Microtel Inn in Marietta, OH, which is just across the river from Parkersburg, WV. We're going to take a walk by the river.

We put a load of laundry in so we can be fresh in our pink flight suits for the big finish tomorrow. Marietta was the first Ohio town established sometime before the civil war.

We expect fog in the morning so we may not get off until 9am, but that means more spectators at the finish line! We are doing great!
--TAC

We made it to Parkersburg and I flew both timing lines. Whoo hoo! I'm still shaking with the adrenaline! Bev is an awesome teacher!--TAC

We're starting to get ready to go, but we're letting people get ahead of us so we won't be on top of each other. The are several Bonanzas in our group who will be faster. Our TCAS is still inop so I'll be talking a lot more on the radios to help stay clear of the other traffic. May have to stop in PKB to chk WX at Frederick. --TAC

Pix from Hot Springs, AR to Cameron, MO

Here is the sunrise out of Hot Springs along with the typical oil check before each flight. The crew had a fairly fast flight at 2 hours and 7 minutes to Cameron, Missouri. As noted in earlier posts, they had to use their taxi light for the timed fly-by since the landing light was not working.

Once on the ground, Bev and Teresa were treated to a welcoming party from the local folks. It was wonderful. They even had massages along with non-alcoholic refreshments and the nicest line crew ever. Jason and company fixed up the TCAS cable and then scrounged up a landing light from a Bonanza to get the crew back in the air in record time. Check back for some in-flight photos after 3pm central.

*BLOGMASTER*

A bunch of us went to Olive Garden for lunch. We all had soup and salad. We'll check weather when we get back and expect to launch at 2pm if the forecast confirms the thunderstorms are past PKB. --TAC

HOLDING IN INDIANA FOR WX

Hello:

Just received a batch of pix from the last day's travel. I will process those and have them up in the early afternoon. I know these shots will be out of sequence, but given the team's report of a low ceiling this morning, I thought it would be interesting to see what they are dealing with currently.

So here are the arrival log which all the racers sign at each leg when they stay over night. In the morning you can see Classic 47 getting ready but still waiting on the weather. The FBO put out a nice banner, and the waiting area starts to become busy as many teams hold for weather with intention of trying to finish the last two legs in one flight. More later - thanks for your patience!!

*BLOGMASTER*

Going for it? PREDICTION

Ok folks, like everyday we have to give you a guesstimate of what the pilots thinking are for the remaining two legs of the race. The big one will be weather of course. But assuming the storm front from last night has cleared adequately, Bev and Teresa will be airborne by around 09:00H Eastern from Elkhart Indiana.

The remaining two legs are the SHORTEST of the entire race, so it does not take Kreskin to predict that the ladies will go for both legs in one run. Especially after reviewing the flight log, only on the Cameron leg did Classic 47 exceed 2 hours of flight time. So if the crew continues to push the plane along and picks up some favorable tailwinds, the flight to West Virginia should be around 1.5 hours.

Assuming the crew will fly-by and make a speedy dash for the finish line in Maryland, then expect Classic 47 to be on the ground in about 1 hour and 20 minutes after the West Virginia leg for a total flight time of just under 3 hours.

It is very doable but not necessary. Remember the team has the luxury of time now. They have completed the most challenging legs of the race. All they have to do is complete these final short legs with a FULL TWO DAYS to choose the BEST weather and conditions to finish out the race. More updates as soon as they arrive. Almost done!

*BLOGMASTER*

We are delayed at Elkhart because the ceilings are at 1000 ft. Some teams are still choosing to take off, but we are concerned about running into the front as well as other obstacles (towers & mountains!) We may leave around noon. --TAC

Called Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Jimmy but it was so late we couldn't meet up. We were so tired after dinner we went directly to bed.

Got up before sunrise. Ate our leftover fruit and granola bars. Got to the airport and the clouds were too low to launch. The airport manager was working like a mad dog since early morning and had refueled all the planes and pulled them out of the hangars ready to go. Amazing. He said he got 2 hrs sleep. The last plane #58(46) got in at 8:20pm last night. We were worried.

It's so much cooler today. We wiped the bugs off and polished the wings. The battery charger charged up over night, but the TCAS still won't turn on. I decided to rewire it. The manufacturer had spliced it, so maybe they reversed polarity. However that didn't work either. I checked the fuse visually and it appears intact. I'll need a volt meter to trouble shoot it. - TAC

Russell Pictures from KMDH

A HUGE shout out to Dan and Mary Russell for sending over their snaps at KMDH and for all of their support during the race. Their enthusiasm and help today was fantastic. They also brought along Larry, who is Bev's other half. Larry is responsible for all the plane decals and did a great job and like Classic 47 - is REALLY FAST!

This sequence of shots is what a typical final approach to landing and then to a full fuel stop. Dan's close-up shot of the plane is very nice and you can get a sense that the crew's work never ends until their heads hit the pillow. It is hot, long, and ALL FUN. Great work team.

*BLOGMASTER*