Purdue pilots sky high for air race

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Two Purdue students are taking to the skies in a race that dates back to the days of Amelia Earhart.

Aviation students Juliana Lindner and Lauren Steele are flying a Piper Warrior against teams from six other colleges in the all-female Air Race Classic.

Famed female aviator Amelia Earhart competed in this race when it was known as the Women's Air Derby.

The 2009 race starts Tuesday, June 23 in Denver, Colorado, covers nine states and more than 2,500 miles, and is scheduled to finish in Atlantic, Iowa.

Lindner, a senior from Hanover Park, Illinois was part of the Purdue team which finished third in the 2008 race. She serves as the 2009 captain.

"Basically every team has a different type of airplane and they're all handicapped with different speeds, so it's a race against yourself. It's however much you beat your handicap by is your score and the highest score wins,"  Lindner said.

Steele, a junior from Lapel, Indiana, is the co-pilot.

"As the co-pilot during the race I'm looking at the charts and the maps because we'll be flying lower to the ground than normally we would be, so looking out for towers and doing radio calls,"  Steele said.

Lindner said the small plane the Purdue team flies has a handicapped speed of 106 miles per hour, but she hoped to average more like 120 mph.

The team also has a ground crew which will keep track of the plane from West Lafayette.

The ground crew coordinator for 2009 is David Ferrel, a senior from Frankfort.