UPDATE FROM BEE

We apologize for not communicating sooner but we rise very, very early to be among the first off. We must plan not to be flying past the mandatory time down which is grounds for disqualification. With temperature in the high range (Sweetwater 110), and thermals bouncing us around, we were exhausted at the end of each flying day.

If you’re looking for “Firsts”, we were the first to land at Atlantic, IA, the terminus of the race. We had 2 other “Firsts”, first to land at Jacksonville, IL and Racine, WS. Of course that is not to say we won the race because there is much calculation by the committee to determine the winner as well as the 9 leg winners. Handicaps play a large role in these calculations. We flew through 9 states, over 19 hours, 2700+ miles in 2 ½ days. We had hoped to be able to fly the race at higher altitudes but had to fly low to stay away from heavy headwinds. With the climbing ability of the Diamond Star we would have had an advantage. We will not know the outcome of the scores until the finale on Sunday. Keep your fingers crossed.

Bee Haydu