Aviation Technology students compete in Air Race Classic
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The Purdue Air Race Classic pilots leave Purdues airport on their way to the starting point of the race. |
Two students in Purdue's Department of Aviation Technology will compete June 23-26 in the 33rd annual all-female Air Race Classic.
Juliana Lindner, a senior from Hanover Park, Ill., is captain of the team, and Lauren Steele, a junior from Lapel, Ind., is co-pilot. Lindner, also majoring in management, was co-pilot of the team last year.
This year's race will begin in Denver, Colo., and continue to Liberal, Kan.; Sweetwater, Texas; Lufkin, Texas; Russellville, Ark.; Grenada, Miss.; Sparta, Tenn.; Jacksonville, Ill.; Racine, Wis.; and will finish in Atlantic, Iowa. The total distance covered will be 2,359 nautical miles (2,715 statute miles). (See official map at www.airraceclassic.org.)
Purdue's team will be among 34 competing and among seven collegiate teams.
Purdue teams have competed in the Air Race Classic since 1994. Last year, the team placed third among college teams and 16th overall.
The ground crew consists of students:
- David Ferrel (ground crew coordinator), a senior majoring professional flight technology from Frankfort, Ind;
- Brent Sloan, a junior majoring in professional flight technology from Toledo, Ohio;
- David Golladay, a sophomore majoring in professional flight technology from Lebanon, Ind.;
- Kaitlin Mroz, a junior majoring in professional flight technology from Avon, Ind.;
- Katrina Dembinski, a sophomore majoring in professional flight technology from Chicago;
- Chris McCracken, a senior majoring in professional flight technology from Boston;
- Erin Cournoyer, a senior majoring in professional flight technology from Rochester, N.Y.; and
- Pascal Nguyen, a professional flight technology alumnus from Elkhart, Ind.
The Race
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 over. It is even possible that the team that completes the course last could actually win based on the expected performance of its plane.
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.