Overall winners of the
2007 GCAR Rally - Jocelyn Lecluse and Janet Chesterfield with their
trophy. Both are from Maple Leaf Chapter. Congratulations,
ladies.
The Gold Cup Air Rally is a
Ninety-Nines* rally. Briefly, how the Rally works is – for each leg,
an envelope with the route questions and pictures is given to the
participants just prior to starting their aircraft’s engine. Those
questions are answered in flight and are handed in for scoring upon
arrival at the designated airport. This is done for each leg. At
the final destination we have the Rally awards banquet and announce
the Gold Cup winner. Preparation for a flight is each pilot’s
responsibility. All rallies are day VFR only.
This year’s final destination was Denver CO, to coincide with the
99s International Conference (Sept.12-16). The rally departure was
set for Sept.9th so we’d arrive in plenty of time to enjoy Colorado
and the Conference.
Leamington was the start point for the
Rally, so Sharron Lutman, Mo Egan and I flew to Leamington
Ontario (CLM2) from Rockcliffe (CYRO) in my Mooney on
Sept.8th.
Day 1 (Sept. 9)
- We awoke to light rain and fog, but the forecast was to be VFR by
15Z. The weather gradually improved. We were able to depart CLM2 at
20:00Z for a 30-minute flight to Detroit Metro (KDET)
to clear customs. The next stop would be Muncie (KMIE) Indiana.
We arrived at dusk after a 1.5 hour flight, fuelled up, found a
hotel and went for dinner.
Day 2 (Sept. 10) - The next morning, we woke up to rain again but by about 14:00
hours we all had departed Muncie, headed to Quincy Illinois (KUIN).
At Quincy, the wind was blowing strong, with precipitation.
I cancelled the spot landing plans at Amelia Earhart Airport where we had hoped to fly to next,
as well as the dinner and hotel reservations in Atchison, Kansas.
Day 3 (Sept. 11) – A gorgeous day at last, we were all up early and eager to get to
Amelia Earhart Airport (K59), our next destination
approximately 30 nm NW of Kansas City. The flight was around 2.0
hrs. The spot landing was all setup for our arrival. It was through
the fantastic help of local Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)
guys and Kansas 99s that made it all happen. Together they organized
and marked our spot landings at K59, and put on a great spread of
food for lunch. The 99s then drove us to the Amelia Earhart (AE)
Birthplace Museum** and to the Forest of Friendship (FoF)** in
Atchison for a quick tour. We then pressed on to Goodland Kansas
(KGLD), a 2.5 hour flight.
Day 4 (Sept. 12)- More sunshine. Back at the FBO, everyone pulled out their VNCs and
sectionals, checking out the Class B airspace ahead of us in Denver.
It was a 1.5 hour flight to Rocky Mountain Metro (KBJC),
formerly Denver Jeffco. We arrived on the day we planned after all.
The airport elevation at Metro is 5,673 feet. Everyone
remembered to keep the mixture leaned for landing at this elevation.
The Denver 99s met us - it was a quite impressive line-up of 10
Canadian aircraft with 24 Ninety-Nines.
Day 5 (Sept. 13) – It turned out to be a perfect day for flying to the highest
elevated airport in North America –Lake Co/Leadville (KLXV)
Colorado. With an airport elevation of 9,927 ft. and
circuit altitude of 10,927 ft., I had concerns about oxygen and
density altitude. Luckily, I met two 99s who were volunteering
shuttle rides from the Denver Air FBO to our hotel. One 99 was an
instructor, and the other flies there in her turbo Comanche every
month to visit her son! They gave me invaluable information on the
best route and confirmed that extra oxygen was not required (FAR
91). It was an enjoyable flight over the rocks following Wilkerson
Pass to Central Colorado Regional, bypassing the wilderness parks,
and then up the valley into Lake Co Airport / Leadville. 
After
landing, we chatted to the manager as he completed our
Certificate of Pilotage, recognizing the significance of the
feat of flying to Leadville. We took some pictures, filed and
departed back to KBJC. I’m glad it was only 19 degrees Celsius and
density altitude of 11,900 feet! The runway is 6,899 feet long. I
kept the plane level to build up speed. Over the departure end,
there was a valley which provided needed lift. My Mooney’s
three-bladed prop helped a lot.
Upon arrival back at Rock Mountain
Metro, the ATIS reported the usual winds, temps, density altitude,
then in the remarks “and the east tarmac is being reserved for the
Ninety-Nines”.
That evening was our Rally Finale dinner
and the announcement of the winners:
The Gold Cup went to
Jocelyn Lecluse and Janet Chesterfield in rally plane #5 (Cirrus
SR20).
Second place went to Margo
McCutcheon, Gwen Hems, Sylvia Murphy, and Asti Livingston in plane
#7 (Baron B55).
Third place went to Mary
Norman, Corinne Shalley, and Anna Nosko in plane #3 (amphibian C185)
– they also won the spot landing by floating right onto the mark.
All participants receive crests and gold
medals. The Rally was officially over. It was a blast!
Friday evening, we all met up at the 99s Conference’s Amelia
Earhart (AE) Banquet and cheered Laureen (plane#2) who received an
Amelia Earhart Scholarship** for an IFR rating.
Saturday, the majority of us rally folks were planning to head
back to Ontario. I departed Metro at 16:00 hrs. heading north to
Mount Rushmore. The monument is 7,724 ft. Orbiting was
permitted at 7,700 ft AGL vertically and ½ mile horizontally. It is
an amazing structure.
Tailwinds prevailed Sunday for the
entire route back to Rockcliffe (CYRO). The round trip for the
Rally totalled 3,315 nm.
Sharron and I were in charge of the rally route and questions.
This year’s winners will be the route gurus in 2008. It was
challenging and loads of fun. The downside was that we could not
compete for the Gold Cup. Wait ‘till next year!
Above, Mt. Rushmore from 7,700 AGL
Other GCAR07 aircraft and participants not previously named:
Plane #1: C172N Noriko
Date, Ingrid Rinaldi
Plane #2: C172RG Laureen Nelson Boutet, Wendy Gluhushkin
Plane #4: Mooney M20E Susan Begg, Sharron Lutman, Mo Egan
Plane #6: C172 Marilyn Dickson, Jean Franklin Hatcher
Plane #8 Anne Starret, Jill Dermot
The other Canadian planes that flew into
Denver were flown by Suzanne Wiltshire, Adele Fogle, Anna Pangrassi
and Jan Brown from the Toronto area. Canadian 99s and friends who
flew in commercially included Joy Parker Blackwood (Toronto),
Dorothy and Bob Berthelet (Ottawa); Kitty Houghton (CA); and Sonja
Wilford (Kamloops).
*International Org. of Women Pilots
**Details about the AE Museum, FoF and AE Scholarships can be
found at
http://ninety-nines.org/.
