Waycross Terminal Pix

Here are a few shots of the Bev and Teresa at Waycross as evening approaches.

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Ran into Kelly and Theresa in Classic 40, but they decided to keep heading down to Fort Myers. Kelly won the race last year and we remembered each other from 2 years ago when we were both Rookies. Took a walk looking for food and ran into the Classic 25 ladies. They appear to have their hubbies along. Fun.-- TAC

First Day = FUN Weather

The team reports safe arrival into Waycross, GA. Been dancing all day with some larger cloud cells but flying around, up, or under as required. Solid avionics and stormscope have kept the ladies in the air today. Tomorrow, weather should be a tad easier. At first stop they had a Taurus loaner car without air conditioning and now in Georgia they have some type of van without A.C. too?

As the team gets further South, more palm trees are popping up. The last leg to the start of the race is approximately 250 nautical miles to Ft. Meyers, FL tomorrow. No rush so Bev and Teresa will enjoy a relaxed breakfast and most likely head for the airport by 10:00H tomorrow. Classic 40 was at both Tuscaloosa and in Waycross but they are going to carry-on through tonight to Florida.

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Made it to Waycross GA. No issues. Storm scope is awesome. Helps us work around WX. Classic 25 bedded down here and so will we. TAC

All fueled up and flight plan set. Heading to KAYS if WX cooperates. Off we go! - TAC

CLASSIC 47 - RAMP READY!

Ok, I know you want to see the plane too. This is Bev Cleair's 2009 Cessna Skylane featuring upgraded avionics and a yoke mounted Garmin 496 GPS. So much is standard on this aircraft that nobody thought a cigarette lighter plug was necessary. So once in Ft. Meyers, the crew will find alternate power source to operate the portable Zaon XRX, TCAS (Traffic Collision and Avoidance Unit. Overall though the plane flies sweet and should be able to face nearly any pop-up weather problems.

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CAPE GIRARDEAU PIX

We hit the road by 0600H and made good time to Cape Girardeau by car. We got the numbers on the plane and loaded appropriately for data logger run. Bev and Teresa logged around 50 minutes. Test flight showed around 130 knots w/o tailwind. Fun part was Blue Angels dropped in for an airshow this weekend. The newly numbered Classic 47 wanted to join in but afraid it is a little to slow to keep up with the F-18's.

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Classic 25 parked on ramp. Took courtesy car to Subway and shared chicken terriyaki. - TAC

Landed in TCL. Tricky weather. Had to pick our way thru. Climbed to 9K. Then dropped to 3.5K uinder clouds for rest of flight. Nice avionics - TAC

Finished the data logging tracking for the handicap. Almost loaded up. Flight plan being filed. TAC

Bev Cleair

Did you know that Bev Cleair was voted the Midwest's Certified Flight Instructor of the YEAR for 2010? Yeah, Bev can fly just about anything and more importantly teach others to fly it too! Bev is a volunteer pilot for Wings of Hope in her spare time and is based out of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Classic 47 is actually Bev and her partner's personal aircraft that she has graciously offered up for the air race as a last minute substitute.



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Co-pilot is all packed and on the road to Cape Girardeau to prep plane with my partner. Its the start of our great adventure! -- TAC

Our Sponsor - Wings of Hope

Wings of Hope is a great charity that we have been involved with for over 10 years. Their primary mission is to refurbish donated aircraft, find a humanatarian need ANYWHERE in the world, and then base a plane and volunteer pilot to fulfill that need. This is one of the few charities you will ever encounter that converts well over 90% of its donations into usable supplies and services for the poor. Here is a link to a local article which appeared on the front page of the St. Louis Suburban Journals newspaper.

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