All-Women Pilot Race Takes Off From Lakeland: 45th Air Race Classic

LAKELAND, FL — The 45th Air Race Classic (ARC) kicked off Tuesday with 115 women pilots from across the United States and in Polk County that took off from Lakeland for a 2,549-mile competition.

The ARC is an annual all-women cross-country airplane race that includes 47 teams. It lasts four days, has multiple stops and ends in Indiana.

The pilots took off from the Lakeland Linder International Airport at 8 a.m. in planes that ranged from Cessnas to Pipers to Beechcraft. Eighteen of the 47 are collegiate teams such as Polk State College, Ohio State, Kent State and Auburn Universities.

This is Polk State's first year to have a team compete in the ARC, the college said.

Autumn Richarz and Emma Othmer make up one of the two Polk State teams. They are flying a Piper Cherokee in the competition. Their team name is Red Eagles (Team No. 38).

Richarz is majoring in aerospace sciences at Polk State, according to Polk State Flight Team. She is an instrument-rated pilot who is pursuing her commercial pilot certificate.

Emma Othmer, a certified private pilot and Polk State student, said in a Polk State College interview that her longest trip before the ARC was a two-hour flight to Georgia.

A second female team from Polk County participating in the ARC is The Lady Aces (Team No. 33). Polk State student Kaitlin Conway teamed up with Richele Floyd and Jensen Dix for the competition. The Lady Aces are flying a Cessna Centurion.

Women's air racing began in 1929 with the Women's Air Derby, Air Race Classic's website said.

Twenty pilots raced from Santa Monica to Cleveland that year. Women's air racing continued through the 1930s , and in 1947 it was then known as the Powder Puff Derby under its new official name, "All Women's Transcontinental Air Race," according to the website.

Years following, the organization experienced a decline, and in 1977, Air Race Classic took over the competition.

Decades later, in 2002, ARC said the air race was reincorporated as a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization, Air Race Classic, Inc., its website said.

If you want to follow the teams throughout the competition and learn more, visit ARC's Facebook and Twitter pages. Or Spot Track them here while they are in the air until their final stop Friday in Indiana.