Winging It: Aviation Graduate Completes Air Race Classic

Waiting out a thunderstorm and enduring the occasional frustrated pilot, Meredith Frederick and Jann Bowne completed an amazing journey this summer as they flew the 2010 Air Race Classic.

Frederick, who graduated this spring with a degree in aviation, is working on her master’s degree in atmospheric science at Ohio State and logging flight hours to earn her commercial license.

To add to her flight hours, aviation lecturer Robyn Litvay told Frederick about air racing. Eventually Frederick registered with Bowne, a fellow member of the Scioto Valley Ninety-Nines, an organization for women pilots, for the 2010 Air Race Classic.

The Air Race Classic is a 2,000-nautical-mile race with both competition and exhibition classes. With over 50 racers, Frederick and Bowne took off from Fort Myers, Fla., in Bowne’s Cessna 182 Skylane and ended the race in Frederick, Md., with stops in Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and West Virginia. The racers had four days to complete the journey, and all flying had to be done in daytime Visual Flight Rules (VFR) conditions, which stipulate that the pilot must be able to easily see outside the cockpit to avoid obstacles and other aircraft.

Even though Frederick and Bowne were not competing, they finished two legs of the race every day.

All racers had to follow standard rules that required pilots to execute fly-by maneuvers at various checkpoints in order to log race times as well as attend all briefings to ensure maximum safety during the race.

“The timers were on the ground, and pilots needed to execute a low-altitude, full-throttle pass at a specified point to record the time. After that, planes needed to circle to land. To complicate matters, a plane was never arriving at an airport alone; there were usually 10 to 15 pilots with varying performance levels trying to execute the same procedures,” says Frederick.

While these fly-bys often included tense pilots and busy airspace, Frederick found them the most fun.

“They were very difficult and stressful, but how often do you carry FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) waivers to let you scream down a runway like a crazy person?” says Frederick. “Landings after fly-bys were very challenging, but it was a great feeling when you finally parked the airplane and were able to think to yourself, ‘Wow. I can’t believe I just did that.’”

To learn more about the race and Frederick’s adventures, read her blog, bowneairgroup.blogspot.com/.