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On Our Cover
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From Start to Terminus: OU Women Aviators Take to the Skies |
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From Start to Terminus:
OU Women Aviators Take to the Skies By Debra Levy Martinelli Call them the Oklahoma collegiate aviation pioneers.
In June, a team of five women from the University of Oklahoma’s Department of Aviation became the first OU collegiate participants in the legendary women-only Air Race Classic.
 The four-day, 2,400-nautical mile (the equivalent of roughly 3,000 road miles) transcontinental speed race celebrated its 80th anniversary this year with 32 teams, including seven in the collegiate division. The event began June 23 in Denver and ended June 26 in Atlantic, Iowa.
Although not always known as the Air Race Classic, the race has a long and storied history. It started in 1929 as the First Women’s Air Derby when 20 pilots – including Earhart – prohibited from competing in the all-male Bendix Cup race, established the Women’s Air Derby. The race began in Santa Monica, Calif., and ended in Cleveland, Ohio. An annual event through the 1930s, the tradition recommenced with the All Women’s Transcontinental Air Race, better known as the Powder Puff Derby, after WWII. In 1977, the Powder Puff held its final and commemorative flight. The Air Race Classic organization took over the competition the following year.
This year, the five-member OU team – three students and two non-students – flew in two university-owned Piper Warrior single-engine aircraft. Though they flew two separate aircraft and technically competed against one another, they functioned cooperatively as a single group, sharing information and workload and looking out for one another.
In command of the two aircraft were aviation management seniors and roommates Lexi Taylor from Longview, Texas and Micah Doeden from Wister, Okla. Taylor was joined by Ashley Crawford, an aviation management senior and roommate from Gainesville, Texas, and Barb McClurkin, an OU employee and veteran pilot. Doeden partnered with Kiersten Orrick, OU aviation department FAA-certified flight instructor and a program alumna.
The nine-leg journey included mandatory stops in Liberal, Kan.; Sweetwater and Lufkin, Texas; Russellville, Ark.; Grenada, Miss.; Sparta, Tenn.; Jacksonville, Ill.; and Racine, Wis. Each team was given a special call sign by which they could be identified by the air traffic control community covering the airspace over the racecourse.
Total flight time was approximately 30 hours, all of which had to be logged during daylight hours. Because of the wide variety of  aircraft in the race, each plane is assigned a handicap speed. The handicap gives pilots the leeway to play the elements – hold out for better weather or wind conditions, for example. The objective is to fly the “perfect” cross-country for that particular aircraft. The OU team beat their handicap score on all legs except one, in which they had a strong headwind.
Not only was this team the first from OU ever to participate, it was the only chance for Crawford, Doeden and Taylor to participate as collegians. “Our longest single flight before this race was about six hours with a break in between,” explains Taylor. “The Classic gave us a chance to fly as hard and long as we could. We got valuable flight time and improved our critical decision-making skills.”
Before the OU team members even left the tarmac at Max Westheimer Airport in Norman, however, they had to raise the $8,000 necessary to cover their expenses. OU, which owns the planes, donated them for the race. But the pilots still had to find a way to pay for gas, lodging and food.
They did it with donations from family and friends, local businesses, chambers of commerce, the aviation community, and individual members of the Oklahoma City chapter of The 99s, an international organization of licensed women pilots named for the 99 women who founded it in 1929. Just before departing, the team held a plane wash and a silent auction, which put it over its goal.
Then it was time to raise the wheels and take off. Throughout the event, the women blogged their progress.
 June 22: It’s the night before the race… We're hoping to get as far as Lufkin, Texas tomorrow, but that is going to be a long day even if we don't have strong headwinds. We may decide to stop in Sweetwater, instead. Depends on winds, fuel and how we're handling the fatigue of being cooped up in a small, vibrating aerospace vehicle… We seem to be sharing our workload well, and in spite of being a committee of five, our decision-making doesn't take long … All of us are nervous and excited and more than ready for the race to start.
Most of the experienced racers have been very helpful to us "first-timers" but we've been warned that come race day, we're on our own. Just listening to some of the war stories has been an education.
June 23: Today, we left Denver and we’re now in Lufkin. A lot of ground was covered today and a lot of experience gained… We started up a mile high and coasted our way down to Liberal, Kan. Then we got hot on our way to Sweetwater, Texas, and a little tossed around from the thermal… We saw a lot of interesting things, flew super low, dodged birds, and kept a lookout for the other planes on the same route, but most of them soon passed us. Ha-ha. We were sad to leave the perfect weather in Denver – it was a long, hot, sticky, sweaty, bumpy day, but the people were so nice with food and cold water at every stop for us. Lufkin took forever to get to, and when we finally did, we were the last ones to arrive. But that's not the important thing – flying your own race is the important thing. It's a "beat your handicap speed” race, folks!
June 24: We flew around 900 miles today… The most exciting part was when a plane almost hit us in the traffic pattern in Russellville, Ark. Once we landed, we had to decide whether to fly to Jacksonville or stay [in Russellville] for the night because of an approaching weather front. We decided to go, which was the right decision because it was smooth flying and we didn’t encounter any hazardous weather. While being briefed on what we would encounter at and around the airports, we were told there is a prison five miles southeast of the [Jacksonville] airport and the warden likes to shoot at the planes that fly over the property. Our flight course tracks right over it, but luckily we didn’t get shot at (at least none hit the plane!) Two more legs to go!
June 25: We got to Racine, Wis. fairly early and had the whole day to play!
June 26: Today was the last leg of our race: Racine to Atlantic, Iowa. We caught a tail wind on our last two legs, so we were  ecstatic to find that we had one on the last leg as well… It was a pretty amazing day. First, we got to taxi on grass! Second, we finished the race! We had many tactical decisions to make, headwinds to fly through, crop dusters to spot, obstacles to avoid, and a lot more. Now, we are more proficient women pilots. Sunday we find out if we placed in the race.
They didn’t place or set any speed records, but the women learned many valuable lessons and met their goals: they finished the race by the rules, logged lots of flight time, and had a blast in the process.
Doeden calls the Air Classic the most challenging and exciting flying experience she has had. “We had four days of flying low and fast and pushing our airplane’s limits and our personal limits also – both mentally and physically. We had to make lots of decisions dealing with weather. Flying in one of the slower planes, we had to make our decisions early and were usually one of the first to leave, only to have the faster planes fly by, and we would be the last to land,” she reports with a laugh. “But we think we flew a good race for our first time.”
Crawford had a practical tip for future racers. “Take as little into the plane as possible,” she recommends. “Our plane had three people plus luggage and food. It took a really long time to gain enough airspeed to take off.” However, she said a crew of three had its benefits. “We each had one job to concentrate on: One person would take the controls, another the radios, and the person in the back seat would navigate. Plus, we had another set of eyes for spotting traffic. The most important lessons, though, are fly safe, fly  the race according to your plane’s abilities, and just try to have fun.”
Orrick adds, “This experience was priceless and one I will never forget. I hope OU passes on the legacy of this race to future generations of women pilots.”
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