The 43rd Air Race Classic is coming to North Bay later this week.

Jack Garland Airport is one of nine intermediate stops on the annual all-female cross-country airplane race.

Forty-nine teams of 109 female pilots will take off from Jackson, Tennessee tomorrow (Tuesday) and fly the 2,538 mile circuit to Welland, Ontario on Friday, June 21st.

Officials say the teams are expected in North Bay on Thursday and Friday.

At each of the stops teams will execute high-speed flybys over a timing line as they race against the clock.

Racers come from 32 states and one province, and were born in, or are citizens of the U.S., Canada, Britain, Fiji, France, Indonesia, Norway and South Korea.

Officials say this is oldest race of its kind in the nation.

They say the Air Race Classic traces its roots to the 1929 Women’s Air Derby, aka the Powder Puff Derby, in which Amelia Earhart and 19 other daring female pilots raced from Santa Monica, California, to Cleveland, Ohio.

This year’s ARC celebrates the 90th anniversary of that historic competition, which marked the beginning of women’s air racing in the United States.

Today, the ARC is the epicenter of women’s air racing, the ultimate test of piloting skill and aviation decision-making for female pilots of all ages and from all walks of life.

“The ARC Board of Directors and volunteers have been hard at work preparing for our 43rd race,” said Air Race Classic President Lara Gaerte. “We look forward to celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Women’s Air Derby as we welcome back veteran racers and meet new competitors at our Start in Jackson, Tennessee.”

Racers this year hail from 32 states and 1 province, and were born in or are citizens of the U.S., Canada, Britain, Fiji, France, Indonesia, Norway and South Korea.

For more information online:
www.airraceclassic.org/

To follow the teams progress online:
airraceclassic2019.maprogress.com/

 

(Photo courtesy airraceclassic.org)

Filed under: 43rd Air Race Classic, Jack Garland Airport North Bay