“Gentlemen, start your engines!”
The crowd cheered as Mitchell Municipal Airport reverberated with the sound of 50 piston power plants rumbling to life. Dozens of slick homebuilt airplanes with flashy paint jobs and neatly applied race numbers taxied in a long line to the runway. “Race 38, cleared for takeoff,” boomed the loudspeaker, and a sleek Lancair roared down the runway, leapt from the pavement and banked steeply toward the starting line. Glasairs, RVs and Long-EZs followed in quick succession. Enthralled spectators shouted and whistled, and statuesque bikini models waved checkered flags as plane after plane streaked low across the airport and disappeared over the eastern horizon.
