DATE LOCATION NOTES (Full report follows)
22 Jun 05 Shreveport , Walnut Ridge, Tullahuma Day 7 - BVO to DTN; DTN to ARG; ARG to THA
Bartlesville , Oklahoma to Shreveport , Louisiana (BVO to DTN)
As we arrived at the airport at 8:00 AM, Denise Waters was giving a briefing on take off procedures since there was so many of us here. It is a beautiful day and after filing a flight plan, and picking up the brown bag lunch the local 99s chapter so thoughtfully provided, we cleaned off the bugs, loaded the plane, and took off in sequence for our fly-by to continue to Shreveport , Louisiana (DTN).
Winds are calm on this leg, but it is quite hazy. We have lots of visibility, just hot and hazy.
Finding DTN turned out to be challenging due to the haze. Sonia was flying this leg and Tamra was handling the radios. Tamra called out our 10 mile position for fly-by to land and also the 5 mile position as required, but the airport was hard to see. Even the tower controller asked us to state our position. We had a small discussion: Sonia thought it was to the left and Tamra thought it was to the right. As we were talking to the controller Sonia saw the airport to the left and immediately made the turn to do the fly-by to the timing line.
We had several pleasant surprises as we entered the restaurant. First of all we were greeted by Hugh, a friend of Walt Orth in Miami . Seems Walt used to live in this area and had emailed his friend that we were coming through. (Hugh even had on his Wings Over Miami Shirt.) Then we were greeted by our 99s friend Lisa Cotham, who was working in the tower for this event. Then we found out that all racers were being treated for lunch by one of the local pilots.
Shreveport , Louisiana to Walnut Ridge , Arkansas (DTN to ARG)
Tamra flew this leg. Winds were calm. It was HOT, bumpy, hazy, and uneventful. Walnut Ridge was hard to find also due to haze. There was a golf course right next to the runway. There were golfers teeing off as we landed and also lots of hay stacks on the side of the runway (an interesting combination). There were also lots of old big jets and wing frames just waiting for someone to come and use them for parts.
We met a young girl, maybe 12 years old, who had a copy of the local paper with a story about the air race and came to the airport to meet the racers. She asked us to sign it for her, which of course we did, and then we gave her a copy of the race program book. She was very happy!!!
We saw a cute Mickey Mouse print welcoming people to ARG, drawn by the fuel lady. Of course, they made a copy for us.
Walnut Ridge , Arkansas to Tullahoma , Tennessee (ARG to THA)
Sonia flew this last leg of the day. Our last stop of the day was delightful. As we announced "Classic 40 is 10 miles out," we received the response Classic 40 we are waiting for you to take you to the cook-out. We were the last of 8 race teams to arrive there for the night. We were treated to great hamburgers and hot dogs (and for Sonia, adult beverages!) in one of the hangers in which they kept a variety of beautiful antique airplanes. We sat down to eat with our hosts and the other racers and we saw a beautiful sunset.
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