The 2025 Air Race Classic is now in the history books.
The all-woman race traces its roots back to the 1929 Women’s Air Derby when a handful of notable aviatrixes of the time, including Amelia Earhart, Bobby Trout, Louise Thaden, and Pancho Barnes, took off from Clover Field in Santa Monica, California, heading for Cleveland. These women flew solo in single-engine aircraft.
The ARC race teams consist of at least two women pilots. They don’t have to be professional pilots to compete, although many are. You will also find teams made up of students, business owners, educators, and healthcare professionals. The route of the annual race changes every year but consists of eight to nine timing points. Racers have four days to complete the course.
The competitors fly as teams in either the Competition Class or Collegiate Class. This year some 64 teams in 41 piston-powered aircraft took off from H.L. Sonny Callahan Airport (KCQF) in Fairhope, Alabama, on June 17 and headed northwest, navigating a route that included nine airports before reaching the terminus at Spokane Felts Field (KSFF) in Washington state on June 20. The route covered approximately 2,426 miles and nine states.
When the racers stopped at the airports along the route they were often met by the media. Small-town newspapers and not-so-small-town media groups flocked to interview the women.
Air race fans were able to keep track of their team using an interactive map on the Air Race Classic website.
Winning this race is not so much about speed as it is about skill, as each team’s airplane is equipped with a unique handicap. The team that beats its handicap by the greatest margin is the winner.
The rules of the race require at least one of the teammates to be instrument rated, but the flying has to be done in VFR conditions in the daytime. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, the racers have to be ready to change their plans—a vital skill for all pilots.
ARC 2025 winners
Competition Class—Top Finishers:
1st—Team 41 “Skybound Scotts”—Lauren Scott and Rebecca Carroll
2nd—Team 12 “Freakin’ Awesome”—Lin Caywood and Susan Beall
3rd—Team 16 “Is This Heaven?”—Minnetta Gardinier and Brenda Frye
4th – Team 13 “The “Skunks”—Annabelle Kellogg and Gretchen Jahn
5th—Team 9 “Sight Seein'”—Teresa Camp and Denise Robinson
Intercollegiate Class—Top Finishers:
1st—Team 22 “Frozen”—Lind, Charlotte Fuller, and Caroline Kelley—University of North Dakota
2nd—Team 36 “Liberty Belles I”—Megan Cotter, Ashley Asselin, and Isabella Hauri—Liberty University
3rd—Team 63 “War Eagle Women”—Campbell Glasgow, Emily Bruko, and Maggie Peacock —Auburn University
