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Forty-two teams will mark the 94th anniversary of Women’s Air Racing.
They have set the field for the 46th Air Race Classic (ARC), the annual all-women cross-country airplane race.
Forty-two teams, consisting of 100 women pilots from across the United States and worldwide, will take off at 8:00 am Tuesday, Jun 20, from Grand Forks International Airport, Grand Forks, North Dakota. It is a 2,684-statute mile competition across 12 states that ends Friday, Jun 23, at Miami Homestead General Aviation Airport in Homestead, Florida.
The oldest race of its kind in the nation, the Air Race Classic traces its roots to the 1929 Women’s Air Derby, aka the Powder Puff Derby, in which Amelia Earhart and 19 other daring female pilots raced from Santa Monica, California, to Cleveland, Ohio. This year’s ARC celebrates the 94th anniversary of that historic competition, which marked the beginning of women’s air racing in the United States. Today, the ARC is the epicenter of women’s air racing, the ultimate test of piloting skill and aviation decision-
making for female pilots of all ages and from all walks of life.
“The ARC Board of Directors and volunteers have been hard at work preparing for our 46th race,” said Air Race Classic President Lara Gaerte. “We look forward to celebrating the 94th anniversary of the Women’s Air Derby as we welcome back veteran racers and meet new competitors at our Start in Grand Forks, North Dakota.”
This year’s ARC starts at Grand Forks, North Dakota, and ends at Homestead, Florida. Intermediate stops are in Mankato, MN; Ottumwa, IA; Hastings, NE; Ponca City, OK; Sulphur Springs, TX, Jonesboro,
AR, Pell City, AL, and Cross City, FL. Teams will depart at 8:00 am Tuesday, June 20, from Grand Forks, North Dakota, taking off one after another, 30 seconds apart. From there, the field will spread out
as faster planes move to the head of the pack.
At each of the nine intermediate checkpoints, teams will execute high-speed flybys over a timing line as they race against the clock. Faster planes may cover the course in only two days; slower sections may not
arrive at the Terminus in Homestead, Florida, until moments before the arrival deadline at 5:00 pm on Friday, Jun 23.