6/14/2009 9:56:00 PM
Achievers: ERAU pilot team to
participate in transcontinental race
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Les Stukenberg/The Daily Courier
Jenna Albrecht, from left, and Kim Turrell as lead flight team, Kristen McTee and Alice Usher are the backup team, representing Embry-Riddle in the 33rd annual Air Race Classic, an all-woman transcontinental race, June 23-26, beginning in Denver. |
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PRESCOTT - Jenna Albrecht, a May graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said her longest solo flight stretched from Prescott to Durango, Colo.
Albrecht, 22, of Prescott will take part in what she regards as a once-in-a-lifetime flight June 23 to 26 in the 33rd annual Air Race Classic. She will fly a Cessna 172 representing Embry-Riddle in the all-women race that begins in her hometown of Denver and concludes 2,714 miles away in Atlantic, Iowa.
"It's going to give me a lot of experience," Albrecht said. "We will be experiencing weather and meeting pilots from across the country."
Albrecht and flight instructor Kim Turrell, 28, of Prescott Valley will vie with 33 other two-women teams ranging in age from 17 to 90.
Embry-Riddle senior Kristen McTee, 21, will be the backup pilot in case something happens to Albrecht, and flight instructor Alice Usher, 24, will participate if Turrell is unavailable.
The teams will stop in Liberal, Kan., Sweetwater and Lufkin, Texas, Russellville, Ark., Grenada, Miss., Sparta, Tenn., Jacksonville, Ill., and Racine, Wis., according to a press release.
"We will have the ability to switch up (as pilots) if we need to," Turrell said. But as the instructor, she said she will provide headings, as well as guidance in altitude and weather.
The plane can reach speeds of 90 to 110 knots, Turrell said. Each knot is equal to 1 mph.
Turrell said management at Embry-Riddle's Flight Line made participation in the Air Race Classic possible by recommending another flight team on campus to supplement the Golden Eagles.
She said she submitted a resume and letter stating why she wanted to enter the race.
An interview committee representing the flight school interviewed 12 candidates, said Bill Thompson, director of external relations at Embry-Riddle. The committee selected Albrecht and Turrell based on their piloting skills, "competitive spirit" and their knowledge of aviation, safety, navigation, meteorology and crew resource management.
The two women did not know each other before the committee paired them.
Meanwhile, a maintenance crew at the flight school is preparing the plane for the race.
They placed white covers over the wheels to streamline the flight, said Nacho Reyes, day shift supervisor for the maintenance department at the flight school.
Reyes said Albrecht and Turrell are consummate professionals.
"Once they are inside the plane, they are strictly professional," Reyes said. "No joking around."
Editor's note: If you have a suggestion of a local person to feature in Achievers, call 445-3333, ext. 2041, or send an e-mail to khedler@prescottaz.com.
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Posted: Friday, July 24, 2009
Article comment by:
Mardell Haskins
As a former Air Race Classic winner I would like to point out that the weather provider to an air race team is a very key member of the team and without good acturate weather a team cannot win. My teammate Esther Grupenhagen's comment about our weatherman was "When the weatherman wins, we win! A Air Race Classic team cannot win unless their weatherman is a winner and give them good weather information and adivce. With the advent of the GPS and other high tech instruments no one gets lost anymore and everyone flies much more precise. The WEATHER IS THE ONLY VARIBLE, THEREFORE MUCH MORE IMPORTANT.
You cannot dismiss Laura's effort, it was becaue of her accurate information that the team won. Mardell Haskins 1990 and 1991 Air Race Classic Winner.
Posted: Monday, June 15, 2009
Article comment by:
Is it really that difficult to check facts?
"Each knot is equal to 1 mph." Um, no...a knot is actually approx. 1.15 mph. 100 knots = approx. 115mph. C'mon folks get it right, especially when it takes literally five seconds to punch it up on a certain search engine!
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