Purdue students participate in the 2010 Air Race Classic
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Two seniors from Purdue's Department of Aviation Technology are competing in the 2010 annual all-female Air Race Classic from Friday (June 18) to June 25.
Lauren Steele, of Lapel, Ind., is the pilot and Allison Springer, of Anthem, Ariz., is the co-pilot for Purdue's team, one of 54 entries in the event. Nine of the entrants are collegiate teams.
Those interested in following Steele and Springer's experiences during the race can visit the Purdue Air Race Team Web page on Facebook, or read its blog at https://web.ics.purdue.edu/~airrace1/AirRaceTeam/Home.html
This year's race will start in Fort Myers, Fla. and end in Frederick, Md., with stops in Waycross, Ga., Tuscaloosa, Ala., Hot Springs, Ark., Cameron, Mo., Carbondale, Ill., Elkhart, Ind. and Parkersburg, W.Va. The total distance covered will be approximately 2,150 nautical miles. Pre-race events will began Friday in Fort Myers. The actual race begins Tuesday (June 22).
The Purdue ground crew consists of students Brent Sloan, a junior in professional flight technology from Fort Wayne, Ind.; Juliana Lindner, a senior in professional flight technology and management from Hanover Park, Ill.; Robert Dempster, a sophomore in professional flight technology from Plano, Texas; Leanne Bergstrom, a freshman in aviation management from Carmel, Ind.; Pascal Nguyen, a 2008 professional flight technology graduate from Germany; David Golladay; a junior in aviation technology from Whitestown, Ind.; TJ Redland, a freshman in professional flight technology from Winamac, Ind.; Kaitlin Mroz, a junior in aviation management from Avon, Ind.; John Speranza, a freshman in professional flight technology and biochemistry from Hopkinton, Mass.; Liz Graf, a sophomore in professional flight technology from Dublin, Ohio; Liz McGrath, a sophomore in professional flight technology from King of Prussia, Pa. and Chantel Steele, a sophomore in professional flight technology from Iron Mountain, Mich.
Purdue teams have competed in the Air Race Classic since 1994. Last year, the team placed fourth among college teams and 15th overall.
The Air Race Classic is the longest-running all-female airplane race in the world. Its roots date back more than 70 years when the Women's Air Derby brought pilots such as Amelia Earhart, Bobbi Trout and Ruth Elder to an air race from Santa Monica, Calif., to Cleveland.
Each Air Race Classic team flies a stock aircraft with no modifications. The teams are then assigned a handicap based on their airplane's predetermined average cruise speed.
Teams in the Air Race Classic win based on the efficiency and accuracy they exhibit in every aspect of the race. A team is rated based on its performance compared to its airplane's handicap.
Because of the nature of the scoring, it is impossible to gauge a team's performance in relation to other teams until the competition is complete. It is even possible that the team that completes the course last could actually win based on the expected performance of its plane.
For more information about the Air Race Classic, visit https://www.airraceclassic.org/
Writer: Soumitro Sen, 765-496-9711, ssen@purdue.edu