SPOT....GPS Tracking

Ok...I reluctantly took Tom's SPOT from him so we could be tracked across the country.   A SPOT is a GPS tracking device will show you every place we go on our trip.  All you have to do is click on the link below and if the SPOT is turned on you will see where we have been. 

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0iyrIr2LWkYgKW6y8jILlydZ6X7yqVTn7

The circle at the end of the course today is Danville.  They vectored us around the storm and we landed from the West instead of the East which was our original direction.

We are less likely to check out Mexico, CA or Las Vegas if Tom is following the SPOT!!!   :o) 

Too much fun for one day....I will post again tomorrow!!!!

Welcome Raceway Fans....

We are currently in Danville, VA right near the NC border.  We got as far as Richmond, VA and had to seriously take a look at the weather.  There was a storm coming from the west but there was a narrow section of our flight path if we filed IFR (Instructment....meaning flying in the clouds) we could get through without running into any thunderstorms.  So at 3pm we filed IFR at Richmond and headed to Danville.  It took longer than expected because of the storms around Danville but we safety landed without any problems. 

Here is a picture of our pretty plane parked and loaded in front of the mail hanger at PTW. 

Here is a packed airplane...sorry no room from passengers!!!

This is the weather @ PTW....


The plan tomorrow is to head toward Oklahoma City!!! 

So Much For Planning.....

We got a weather briefing for IFR this morning into Batavia and there is heavy thunderstorm activity in that area and Batavia is closed until June 15th. So the very nice weather briefer gave us a southernly route to try to get through the storms coming in from the west. So here is plan 2,3,&4. Limerick to Salisbury, MD MD to Danville, VA VA to Crossville, TN TN to Mountain View, AR AR to Wiley Post, OK (Home of the 99s) OK to Hereford, TX ***back to the original route from there. We hope to depart Limerick by 11am.

Ready to Go.....

We will finish this afternoon off by packing the plane.  Our plan is to depart Limerick between 7-7:30am tomorrow morning.  If you follow the charts that I previously posted we will make our first stop for fuel in OH and then the plan is to try to get to Springfield, MO by Monday evening. 

We are hoping to get to Hereford, TX on Tuesday morning and continue to Gallup, NM by Tuesday afternoon.  Because of the high heat in the afternoon we don't think we will be able to take off from Gallup until early in the morning on Wednesday and then it will be a couple of hours into Lake Havasu.  For all of you who are not aviation minded a perfectly good plan can be changed due to weather so we will be following the weather across the country very closely. 

I am also working on getting a SPOT GPS device tested between here and OH.  If it works I will post the link so you can follow us on Google Maps.  It is very cool but I have never used one and need to get it set up properly. 

I think I will add this to some of our posts.....

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions...)

These are some of the questions that my non-aviation friends have been asking.  You know who you are!!

1. Do you pack a parachute on this trip?   No we don't parachute out of a perfectly good airplane. 
2. Do you take a sleeping bag in case there is no hotel rooms along race route?  There is no room for a sleeping bag.  There is one spot on the race route in Saute St Marie, MI that the nearest hotel is 20 miles from the airport.  There are campsites within 1 mile that are only $14 per night and no reservations are required.  To the friend that asked this question...you will get a call from me if we are stuck in the airport or plane because there are no hotel rooms somewhere along the route.
3. Does the plane have air conditioning?  No and the air vents to get cool air from the outside will be shut so we can make the plane fly faster. 
4. Does the airplane have a bathroom?  No this 4 seat airplane does not have facilities.  

Time Tables....

We have been asked a lot about how long will it take you to get to AZ or how long is each leg of the race.  These time tables are general estimates without factoring in winds aloft.  The race will not take 21.5 hrs because we are not flying at normal cruise speed but these should give you an idea of our time in the air. 

We are not flying in a commercial airplane.  :o)

Flight to AZ	Est. Time (hrs)
Heritage Field (Limerick, PA)  to Sporty's (Batavia, OH)	4
Sporty's to Downtown Airport (Springfield, MO)	4
Downtown (Springfield, MO) to Hereford, TX	4.5
Hereford, TX to Gallop, NM	3
Gallop, NM to Lake Havasu, AZ	2.5
Total Est. Time	18

Race Flight Plan	Est. Time (hrs)
Lake Havasu, AZ to Gallop, NM	2.5
Gallop, NM to Hereford, TX	3
Hereford, TX to Goodland, KS	2.5
Goodland, KS to David City, NE (Timing line only)	2
David City, NE to Columbus, NE	**15 mins.
David City, NE to Watertown, SD	2
Watertown, SD to Ashland, WI	2.5
Ashland, WI to Sault Ste Marie, MI	2.5
Sault Ste Marie, MI to Benton Harbor, MI	2.5
Benton Harbor, MI to Batavia, OH	2
Total Est. Time	21.5

Classic Racer # 25......

The race numbers have been applied to the plane.  For those non-racers this is always on of those tasks that need to be accomplish but we always dread. The numbers were ordered from Higher Graphics in Tampa, FL.  Steve and Karen from Higher Graphics are the best.  These vinyl numbers are specifically made for aircraft so they don't damage the paint, they stay on during the race and they can be removed once we are finished racing.  

Here is a picture of our master application technician.  He is the best in the business!!!!

Thank you Ron!!!!!  XXXXOOOOO

Here is a picture of Tom's airplane in the main hanger at Heritage Field (PTW). 

This is a picture of Ethel, myself and Tom showing off the newly applied numbers.

 

Finally....Ethel and I had spend over an hour flying 86XP prior to the number application and watched the storms off in the distance.  Here is a picture of rainbow that formed south of the runway.  The picture doesn't do it justice but it was very cool to see. 





The Man, The Myth, The Legend....Tom Smith

At some point we needed to introduce those of you who don't know Tom Smith the owner of 86XP.  Tom is the crazy man who handed over his spare keys to the plane and said....Girls have fun on the ARC.  We got him to stand still for a couple of minutes to get his picture taken. 

Just so you understand Tom a little bit his neon yellow shirt reads..."Warning...You can go blind from my pure awesomeness".  I have to say Ethel and I tend to agree!!!!

We leave on June 11th if our plans go as expected.  I am waiting for our race numbers to arrive so they can be applied in the next week.  We are also trying to get some time in the plane so I can program both GPSs, practice timing lines and strategize.