And so it begins

Happy New year!

Flying Dutchess & Soaring Eagle
wishing you a Happy New Year!

Better late than never; Happy New Year everyone! I hope that everyone had a wonderful and fabulous holiday season and was able to start 2015 refreshed and energized. Team Flying Dutchess & Soaring Eagle had a flying start to the new year with starting the application process for the Air Race Classic 2015. 

Registration for ARC 2015 began noon January 2 2015 and will end noon April 1 2015.  The application process started with reading the Racer Registration Kit thoroughly and thereafter filling out the application pages online. It is very exciting to start on this journey and to follow in the footsteps of so many amazing pilots before us.

Great examples: Air Race Classic Racers 

Left: Lynne Hsia,
Team photo ARC 1984 

A wonderful example of an ARC racer is Lynne Hsia, secretary of the Antelope Valley Ninety Nines ( http://antelopevalley99s.wix.com/av99s ). Lynne is a very active member of our chapter and is an inspirational aviatrix with great experience as a pilot. In 1984 Lynne participated in the Air Race Classic flying a Beech Bonanza F33-A. Lynne was so nice as to share her official program booklet and we will be meeting up to hear more about her race experiences.

Rivals flying together, Nancy Bradshaw
and Mercedes Eulitt, ARC 2015

Lynne Flew with race number #25, and this year another member on the Antelope Valley Ninety Nines will be flying with that same Race number: Mercedes Eulitt. 

Mercedes will be our competition! But nonetheless she is willing to share her experience in racing with us. It shows how we all like to help each other out to be the best we can and more importantly, to fly safe. The race is about the wonderful experience of flying and making new friends, less about winning. Mercedes has participated in the ARC before and has over 2000 flying hours. The photo to the right was taken this morning, January 17 2015, it was a very nice day to fly. 

During the Bakersfield Ninety Nines holiday party we've gotten a lot of good advise from more former racers and future competitors. The overall theme: preparation is key!

A lot of work ahead

In the coming months we will have our hands full in preparing for the race. In the first place we will have to complete the registration process and receive our race number. Secondly we will have to plan the legs we will be flying in the race. Not only that, we will also have to plan the cross country flight that will get us to the start line and the flights that will get us home from the finish line. In a first rough estimate, we will fly a total of 5800 NM! This will require thorough flight planning.

Other tasks ahead are finding sponsors and trying to find media that would be interested in publishing about our adventures. If anybody has some tips or advise for sponsors, fundraising and media, we'd love to hear about it. We also plan to keep everyone updated through the wonders of social media, maybe even inspiring others to also take to the skies!

Keep an eye out for our updates and stay tuned

~ Flying Dutchess

New Team, New Team Name, Even More Motivated!

Not giving up.

Last year I wanted to race the Air Race Classic, an all women air race. Unfortunately I wasn't able to realize it this year, but I decided to not give up. I contacted the awesome people that had donated to help me race and asked them if they would like their donation back, or if they would be willing to let me keep it in order to race in 2015. The responses were amazingly positive, and it gave my no choice but to try and race next year in  the Air Race Classic 2015!

The team members.

J.J. Shapiro

This time I partnered with J.J. Shapiro, Vice Chairwoman of the Bakersfield chapter of The Ninety-Nines Inc. International Organization of Women Pilots. In 2006, after expressing a desire to learn to fly, J.J.'s husband dared her that she would never complete ground school. This stay-at-home mother of three and grandmother, accepted the challenge and prevailed. Not only was J.J. the only woman to complete ground school, but she was one of three that went on to receive her private pilot license. J.J. is the only member of her ground school class of 20 that still flies today!

1941 Ercoupe, shiny!! 

J.J. has been a private pilot since 2007. As a pilot she has had countless flying adventures and accomplishments. Two months after receiving her "ticket" she discovered a lump in her breast and was later diagnosed with breast cancer. Cancer did not curb J.J.'s passion for life and aviation. During this trying time she received her tailwheel endorsement and did acrobatic training. For eight years, J.J. has flown various aircraft and has accumulated over 800 hours. She has flown in Hawaii, soared over the Golden Gate Bridge, been a pilot for organ transport flights, and has experienced low altitude flying as a pipeline observer. Her latest flying adventure is being the proud owner of a 1941 Ercoupe. Her airplane has been restored to mint condition and is a rare beauty that still flies in the skies today. When she's not at her hanger or flying high, this fabulous aviatrix is proud to spend time with her family and be called "Grandmama!"

Nancy Bradshaw

As for myself, my name is Nancy Bradshaw. I am also vice chair women for my 99s chapter, the Antelope Valley 99s. I earned my private pilot certificate on the 4th of July 2013, my instrument rating February 15th 2014 and I just recently earned my commercial certificate Single Engine Land October 22nd 2014. I have 270 flying hours at the moment and I'm currently working on my tailwheel endorsement. A few of my flying adventures include crossing the ocean to fly to Catalina Island, and mountain flying to Big Bear and Mammoth.

 When I'm not flying I work as a discipline engineer at Edwards Air Force Base. I work in the structures group in flight test of the F35 JSF Lightning II. It has been amazing to work in such an inspiring environment. In my first year on base, 2009, I saw the space shuttle land and it is just amazing to see the B2 bomber disappear on  the horizon when driving to work. In addition to being a pilot and engineer, I'm a proud momma of two fur-kids, my dogs Mojo and Dropje.

The team: Flying Dutchess & Soaring Eagle.

Flying Dutchess & Soaring Eagle

Together we form the team: "Flying Dutchess & Soaring Eagle". 

Our team name references to our backgrounds. I am Dutch, hence "Flying Dutchess". I moved to Southern California in august 2009 to work on the F35. "Soaring Eagle" refers to J.J.'s native American heritage. We are both proud of our backgrounds and wanted the team name to reflect that. It just so happens that it makes for a really cool team name!

The Race.

The Air Race Classic is the epicenter of women's air racing. Pilots range in age from 17 to 90 years and come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Race teams, consisting of at least two women pilots, must fly VFR during daylight hours only and are given four days to make flybys at each en route timing point and then land at the terminus. The race route is about 2,100 miles in length.

Air Race Classic Route 2015 

Each plane is flown in race configuration to determine it's handicap speed - and the challenge for each  race team is to achieve actual ground speeds as far over the handicap speed as possible. The pilots strategize to play the elements, holding out for better weather, winds, etc. it is all about flying the perfect cross country. The last arrival at the terminus could be the winner!

To find more information on the race visit the website: http://airraceclassic.org

Starting the adventure, follow us!

We are more determined than ever to make this adventure happen. We have a whole lot of drive, motivation and determination. We still need to gather part of the funds to race and we are in need of an airplane. Unfortunately the Ercoupe doesn't have the required amount of horse power to compete. At this point we are exploring the options of renting and aircraft, looking for sponsors and means of fund raising. 

We will document our journey during, and leading up to the race in the various means of social media. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and we will keep you up to date with our progress on our blog. 

Thanks for reading our blog and stay tuned, Blue Skies!

~ Flying Dutchess & Soaring Eagle