When my flight instructor, Andy Foster, notified me that he
was temporarily suspending operations at his flight school, I was in a tail
spin about how to keep flying. My Angel Pilot friend, Bo Hunter, recommended
that I join the Bay Area Aero Club at Pearland Regional Airport so I would have
access to several other instructors. I submitted my application and prepared
for the wait, but, in the meantime, Andy came to my rescue. He contacted a
fellow pilot, Linda Street-Ely, who not only flies, but races airplanes, and
asked if I might be able to pick up some right-seat (passenger) flying time
with her.
Linda contacted me immediately and invited me to fly with her and
husband, Mike Ely, also a pilot, to a Sport
Air Racing League event, the Rocket 100 Race in Taylor, TX. It was the last
race of the season and we needed to leave in two days. I jumped at the chance,
and we left Ellington AFB Friday evening in their Grumman Cheetah, a four-seat
aircraft.
Here we are in the photo at left (Mike, me and Linda). In addition to
flying, they both work in the aircraft industry—Linda for a company that
programs electronic flight charts and compiles lists of various fixed-base
operator businesses at airports across the country, and Mike as a flight
instructor for numerous types of certifications.
There were twenty planes entered in the race at the Taylor
Airport, with pilots from all over the country and one from Canada. Before the
race began, Bruce Hammer, a pilot from Louisiana, offered to let me fly with
him in his Glassair 1, a two-seat plane, which was ranked third in speed for
the planes flying that day. I thanked him profusely and “jumped ship” with the
Ely’s blessing.
Bruce is a helicopter pilot who works for a large
corporation, transporting passengers out to the oil rigs off the coast of
Louisiana. He built his airplane from a kit. It was a 3,000-hour labor of love,
and well worth the effort, as you can see in the photo.
Here we are at left ready to start the race.
All twenty
planes lined up on the runway, from fastest to slowest, launching one at a time
every thirty seconds. The course was a triangular shape and 140 miles long. Bruce took the photo below from our plane as we waited our turn to take off.
This amazing photo, taken by Jo Hunter, the official photographer for the Racing League, shows us lifting off the runway. You can see more aviation photos at her website: Futurshox.net Shortly after we made the first turn in the race, Bruce passed the controls to me. It was both a wonderful gift and an amazing surprise. I flew most of the race under his careful watch. Our average speed hovered around 260 mph with a max of 274 mph. We came in first in our class and Bruce topped off our flight with a Victory Roll! It was the most incredible day of my life!
That evening during the awards ceremony, we accepted his trophy
together. (another great photo from Jo Hunter, the League’s official
photographer). I received a mini-trophy, which was a handmade wooden pylon,
a glass mug commemorating the “2013 Rocket 100 Race”, and an inspirational book
about flying.
I can’t thank Linda and Mike Ely, Bruce Hammer, Jo Hunter, and all my
new friends in the Sport Air Racing League enough for their kindness and
generosity, and for giving me the opportunity to participate in this AMAZING
RACE.
It was the “Mother of All My Bucket List Adventures” and the
thrill of a lifetime!
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| Another great photo by Jo Hunter at Futurshox.net |
More flying (and hopefully racing) to come!
