UPDATE: Liberty Belles’ two teams of female pilots complete annual Air Race Classic atop their class

UPDATE: The Liberty University School of Aeronautics’ two all-female student-pilot racing teams, Liberty Belles I and II, finished first and third, respectively, out of five planes in the Electronic Data Monitoring Aircraft (EDMA) Competition Class of last week’s 46th annual Air Race Classic, in which 44 teams of two or three women flew 2,685 miles from Grand Forks, N.D., on Tuesday to Homestead, Fla., on Friday.

“The race went really smoothly,” said Chloe Cady, who served as coach of the two teams along with Emma Hazel. “They did really well, monitoring the weather, figuring out the best time to go and when they would have the best tailwinds.”

Both Cady and Hazel are current LUSOA flight instructors who previously competed as ARC pilots.

Cady said the student-pilots enjoyed meeting the other women in the race and learning about their experiences in aviation.

“The Air Race is always a great experience for the girls to get out of the training environment,” she said. “Instead of an instructor dynamic, they work with a crew dynamic and learned better racing strategies that they can pass down for years to come.”

Ian Dutkus, the director of flight operations for the School of Aeronautics, who serves as the faculty advisor for the Liberty Belles, said the EDMA category sets a lower handicap speed for the planes.

“It is a way to manage the engines so that we are not pushing them too hard, but managing them in a normal operation range more conducive to engine health,” he said.

“The EDMA category is better for the engines, which is why we were trailblazing in that category,” Cady added.

Planes piloted by students from Ohio State, the University of North Dakota, and Minnesota State Mankato placed second, fourth, and fifth, respectively, in that category. Overall, Liberty’s two teams placed in the top half of the field of 44.

Liberty University aviators prepare for takeoff in historic all-female air race

6/15/2023

It has already been an action-packed summer for members of Liberty University’s Liberty Belles flight team as they prepare for the June 20-23 Air Race Classic, a 2,685-mile trek from North Dakota to southern Florida.

Early Thursday morning, the schedule became even busier as the two teams of three Liberty pilots both flew Cessna Skyhawk 172S planes out of Lynchburg, Va., to arrive in Grand Forks, N.D., by Friday for a weekend full of briefings, banquets, and pre-flight tests before launching on a four-day journey to Homestead, Fla.

Inspired by the Women’s Air Derby that started in 1929 and featured Amelia Earhart among its competitors, the race is celebrating its 46th year and has included female pilots as young as 17 and as old as 94. Of the 44 teams registered for this year’s event, 19 are representing collegiate programs from 15 different universities.

Liberty first participated in the race in 2012.

This year’s route offers a 23-degree change in latitude with stops or fly-bys along the way at airports in Mankato, Minn., Ottumwa, Iowa, Hastings, Neb., Sulphur Springs, Texas, Jonesboro, Ark., Pell City, Ala., and Cross City, Fla., before arriving at the terminus near Miami.

Each plane receives a handicap, and teams race against their own best time, not one another, creating a level playing field between planes of varying speeds. Teams plan their departure times and determine their flight altitudes to take advantage of the best conditions with winds in their favor to try to beat their handicap speed by the greatest margin possible.

The teams held a final pre-flight meeting on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. Ian Dutkus, the School of Aeronautics’ director of flight operations who serves as the faculty advisor for the Liberty Belles and Liberty’s NIFA team, said the two teams are fully equipped for the adventure ahead.

“They have been going over the route and familiarizing themselves with the airports,” he said, making use of Liberty’s flight simulators. “We have made sure they have the tools and training they need to be 100 percent ready to go.”

The race uses Visual Flight Rules (VFR), meaning pilots must leave after sunrise and arrive at their next destination before sunset and avoid weather that restricts their vision.

“We have to stay clear of any clouds,” said rising senior Grace Johnson, who is in her second year on the team. “As long as the lowest cloud ceiling is greater than 3,000 feet and visibility is greater than 5 miles, we are good to go.”

When planes take off from each location, they fly over an imaginary line on the airport ground that times when the clock starts for that leg of the journey, with the clock stopping when they fly over another imaginary line at the next airport.

“You fly leg by leg and try to get the fastest time for each leg,” Johnson said, noting that teams usually complete two or three legs per day. “The co-pilot will do a lot of radio calls and the back-seat teammate will help to navigate and calculate fuel. Everyone has shared responsibilities. It’s very collaborative.”

Liberty Belles I will have Savannah Hughes as its pilot and Olivia Smith as her co-pilot with Madison Calhoun providing navigational support as a back-seat teammate. Liberty Belles II will be piloted by Johnson with Abigail Fletcher serving as her co-pilot and Katrina Schlenker as their navigator. The teams are coached by flight instructors Chloe Cady and Emma Hazel, former Air Race Classic pilots for the Liberty Belles.

“Last year, I didn’t really know what to expect, how the whole race works, but it was the highlight of my year,” Johnson said. “I am excited to see more of the country, this year, and to actually be flying the plane.”

Johnson is looking forward to the camaraderie between members of her team as well as interaction with other pilots and members of the aviation community at the stops along the way.

“It’s a really sweet time, and it is rare that you get this many girls together in a plane,” Johnson said. “They’re really amazing pilots and really kind and easy to work with. It will be fun to get to know some of the other girls in the program and some other really experienced pilots from around the country, to see and talk to them and learn how they got into aviation.”

Johnson didn’t decide to pursue a career in aviation until she was driving across the country from California with her dad before her freshman year at Liberty in 2021.

“Once I got here and started meeting people in the program and taking classes, it was clear that the Lord has given me a gift in this community,” she said.

Johnson is pursuing a degree in commercial corporate aviation. She recently spent two weeks in Kenya on an LU Send missionary aviation vision trip with Africa Inland Mission (AIM) AIR.

The Liberty Belles’ coaches played integral roles in training Johnson to become a pilot, after she first began working for her certificate in Summer 2021. Cady was Johnson’s private instructor and Hazel provided her multi-engine inspection training.

“They are really amazing pilots, and I hope I’m as good as my instructors,” said Johnson, who will begin her training to become a flight instructor this fall before graduating in December.

She likes the opportunity the Air Race Classic provides her and her teammates to spread their wings.

“In the normal flying courses, it is very structured,” Johnson said. “In the Air Race, you have a little more freedom in decision-making, using crew resource management, and the ability to fly. It is a more versatile experience, preparing for instructing and dealing with unpredictable situations.”

> Track the Liberty Belles’ progress on the Air Race Classic website.