We have graciously and generously been awarded a $25,000 matching grant from the Ray Foundation, a private aviation foundation. The purpose of the grant, and subsequent matching funds, is to develop and operate our ARC educational programs. The funds will focus on curriculum, teaching materials, training aids, student handbooks, and the like.

One of the ways we achieve our mission is by providing role models and educational activities for both young and old alike at hosted youth events at the Start and Terminus of each year’s race for elementary through high school students. We introduce the participants to the world of aviation using the application of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These youth events also provide an opportunity to explore professional possibilities related to the field of aviation. Racers ranging in age from 16 to 90 volunteer at these youth events to give the youth an opportunity to learn from experienced racers. It also gives the racers a chance to give back to the aviation community by encouraging women of all ages to reach their dreams.

The Start and Terminus host committees, with the guidance and support of the Air Race Classic, organize one-day events for local youth groups. Some of the activities at these events include meeting the racers; simulation of airport maneuvers; ground school; air traffic control; weather; navigation; and airplane inspection, with many of the racers leading the activities. One of the popular activities has been to “adopt” a racer and follow her progress during the competition.

In 2020, when COVID prevented the Air Race from meeting in person, the ARC Board of Directors created a Virtual Race Camp week for youth. We had participants from all over the United States, as well as other countries, such as Canada and India. During this week, we touched on the history of the Air Race Classic; pre-flight of an airplane; weather; navigation; radio communications; mechanics; and aviation careers. We would like to re-design this virtual race camp for future races with separate monthly online gatherings that build up to the actual race. The participants would be able to “adopt” a racer or team and follow them to the finish line. As a culmination, the ARC website would have a moving map where the participants would be able to follow the racers during the race, teaching the students another valuable tool, GPS technology. Any participants near the race route would be invited to visit an en route stop and share a part of the racer’s experience. If the adopted team won a prize, the youth participant would also “win” a prize! With the success of the first virtual race camp behind us, we also desire to expand the classes to offer an advanced “camp” for attendees, either in-person or online, who might be interested in a future in aviation. We would offer additional topics, such as leaning and handicapping techniques, and, ideally, offer introduction flights for the participants.

Another important educational outreach is through our collegiate division. The Air Race Classic makes a special effort to include collegiate women pilots in the race. Our first collegiate team participated in the 1994 race; now we regularly have 15-20 teams representing more than a dozen universities in the United States and Canada. In addition, our Collegiate Coordinator works to encourage universities to grant college credit for race participation. Previous collegiate racers have listed participation in the Air Race Classic on their career applications as they advance to regional and commercial airline jobs.

As you probably know, technology is undergoing constant and unprecedented transformations, and research is an integral part of keeping up with changes in the aviation industry. The Board of Directors of the Air Race Classic recognizes this and strives to stay current and be more sustainable. One of these very important transformations involves technologically advanced aircraft (TAA), using updated avionics such as the Garmin G1000 all-glass avionics suite. More and more general aviation aircraft, especially the collegiate teams, use this advanced technology. To be inclusive of more aircraft, to improve our operational efficiency, and to make the ARC responsive to the changing needs of our industry and participants, we must look for ways to level the playing field so that aircraft of various ages with a variety of avionics can compete equally.

The race requires that airplanes be operated at maximum power during handicap flights, as well as the entire race, and many TAA aircraft are not permitted to fly at full throttle for long periods of time. If an aircraft cannot fly at maximum power for the entire race, it has been prohibited from participating in the competition class of the race. As a result, some universities are not permitting their students to participate fully in the ARC, limiting the experience they gain during the race. One university has withdrawn from participation in the race until we find a way to allow their students to fully participate and others have expressed concerns, as well. We desire to stay current with modern data gathering avionics by developing algorithms that can not only enable young collegiate racers to participate, gaining valuable experience, but will be very useful in teaching our advanced youth programs in the areas of handicapping and scoring the race. We can use these tools and the data gathered to teach our youth using the STEM disciplines, each of which are crucial in aviation.

To accomplish this, test flights using different TAA airplanes with both fixed-speed and constant-speed propellers need to be flown. Although we have been able to fly two flights in one of these aircraft that was on loan to us briefly, we have been severely limited by the inability to borrow other aircraft for these flights. As a result, it has become necessary to rent airplanes to gather the necessary data, resulting in additional fees.

Financial needs to improve and enlarge our educational outreach consist of updating and printing activity booklets to use at the youth events; purchasing tracking devices so the racers can be tracked during the race; gathering data on the TAA aircraft; and creating videos showing different aspects of the race, such as leaning techniques and handicapping, which could be used in the advanced classes. The advanced classes would also offer introductory flights.