Big Muddy Air Race

The air race was about 2 hours away.  We fueled up at the Maury County Regional Airport (MRC) where the fuel is significantly less expensive than at home.

flight

We saw the old Danville Railroad Bridge.  The vertical lift span was floated down the river on barges and is apparently still in operation in Bridgeport, Alabama.  There is a ferry service to carry the relatively small number of people who wish to cross the river there.

old_danville_bridge

Pilot/co-pilot briefing before the big race.

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This is the race course along with the actual GPS course we flew (in yellow).  I am pleased to confirm that we did not cut any corners.  The first few turns happened pretty quick while I was still figuring out my workflow (how to keep track of what radio frequency to use, what waypoint and what we should be looking for on the ground, etc).

courseWe were the only competitors in the Sportsman class, so naturally we placed 1st with a respectable average speed of 135mph.

Posing in front of the fastest airplane in the race.  It averaged 258 mph with a normally-aspirated 180hp engine and a fixed-pitch propeller.  I later learned that it holds the record for the fastest coast-to-coast flight for airplanes under 2205lbs (8 hours, 5 minutes).

P1030970We also really liked the Q200 which went 205mph on a 100hp engine.

P1030981After ~6 hours of flying over a couple days a lots of excitement, we were pretty tired when we finally got home.

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