Women's Air Race Classic

Forty-nine teams are registered to compete in the 47th Air Race Classic (ARC). Women pilots from 
across the United States and around the world will take off Tuesday, June 18, from Southern 
Illinois Airport in Carbondale, Illinois, for a 2,628-statute mile competition across 11 states that 
ends Friday, June 21, at Northern Colorado Regional Airport in Loveland, Colorado. 

The oldest race of its kind in the nation, the Air Race Classic traces its roots to the 1929 Women's 
Air Derby, aka the Powder Puff Derby, in which Amelia Earhart and 19 other daring female pilots 
raced from Santa Monica, California, to Cleveland, Ohio. This year's ARC celebrates the 95th 
anniversary of that historic competition, which marked the beginning of women's air racing in the 
United States. Today, the ARC is the epicenter of women's air racing, the ultimate test of piloting 
skill and aviation decision-making for female pilots of all ages and from all walks of life.