DATE         LOCATION                                                   NOTES (Full report follows)

21 Jun 05   Lafayette, Winona, Beatrice, Bartlesville    Day 6 - Race Start - LAF to ONA; ONA to BIE; BIE to BVO

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Purdue University Airport , Lafayette , Indiana to Winona , Minnesota (LAF to ONA)

Today we were at the Airport at 6:00 AM to get our last briefing before the race begins. We are very excited although sleepy since we had to get up at 4:00 AM. Tamra said this was a first for her - getting up at 4 AM "on purpose"; however, we were so excited that the adrenaline kept us awake through the first leg. Thankfully, the students at Purdue and the local community organized a Send-off breakfast for all of us.

8:00 - Ladies Start Your Engine! - It was truly an amazing site to see all the airplanes lined up at the terminal to taxi for take-off. We all took off in sequence every 30 seconds. We were #40 so we were almost at the end of the pack. It was a very exiting moment when they called our number and cleared us for take-off. The Mayor of Lafayette actually waved off each plane with a red get started flag. It was symbolic as we were on the radio with the tower, but it was really spectacular.

Our first leg was to Winona , MN - This was changed from the original plan, which was supposed to be La Crosse , Wisconsin but due to problems with obtaining a waiver for the airport it had to be changed to Winona , MN .

Tamra flew the first leg to Winona . The flight up to Winona was beautiful and exciting as we began to pass the other slower airplanes ahead of us. It took us about 3 hours to get there. Upon arriving in Winona we had to do a low fly-by the airport so that the timers could see us and time us. After we did the fly-by we came around and landed to refuel the plane.

In Winona, we were greeted by many people from the community that were there to see us all come in. Elaine Morrow, President of the International Organization of Women Pilots (The Ninety-Nines, or "99s") was there and had lots of food for us, water, and goodie bags.

It took us almost 2 hours to get out of Winona since it is a small airport and they only had one self-serve pump and had to fuel all the planes as they were coming in but it was worth the wait because everyone on the ground was just wonderful. Thankfully, Tamra talked to one of the fuel guys and convinced him to fuel our airplane next so that we could go on. That was after we had cleaned all the bugs off the plane.

Winona , Minnesota to Beatrice , Nebraska (ONA to BIE)

Sonia flew the second leg to Beatrice , NE. It was hot and bumpy but fun nonetheless, we've never seen so much farm land. Everything was green and beautiful below us. The whole time we were flying over Nebraska It looked like we were flying over a huge golf course.

Once we arrived in Beatrice we did our fly-by for timing and then landed. It was HOT and we were both exhausted. Thankfully, the 99s were also there and they had sandwiches, snacks, fruits, and goodies for us.

We rested while the airplane was fueled. After we ate, Tamra rested a short time while Sonia went to clean the bugs off the plane and waxed the leading edges. We felt like the Karate Kid – “Wax on, Wax off.”

Beatrice , Nebraska to Bartlesville , Oklahoma (BIE to BVO)

Tamra flew the third and final leg of the day to Bartlesville , OK . More farmland on this route, lots of red barns and silos … quite picturesque. We arrived in Bartlesville only to find that approximately 24 teams had also decided to make the third leg of the day. We were 23rd on the R.O.N. list -- the Remain Over Night list. (This is only important because in the morning you take off in the order that you sign the R.O.N.) We were greeted by the local 99s with a thirst-quenching cold bottle of water and a ride to the Best Western. (We were lucky and got the last room in the hotel). There, we found Classic 21 -- Linda and Martha -- and had dinner with them across the street at Goldie's Restaurant. More luck here, as Goldie's closes at 9 PM and we got there at 8:40 so they served us.

Fuel service was quite efficient in Bartlesville . The fuel truck pulled up and took care of us immediately. Bartlesville is the home of Phillips Petroleum, now ConocoPhillips, with new headquarters in Houston . They continue some operations here. For that matter, the company jet was holding short waiting to take off after we landed. Our driver pointed out the Price Tower , a building by Frank Lloyd Wright. Impressive. They also have a Mozart festival once a year.

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