Features

Karen Workman insists she’s not an extraordinary woman. “I don’t wear a cape,” she laughs, “I don’t own a tiara and I don’t have magic bracelets.” Although once you discover Karen is an air race pilot, you imagine she has some kind of extraordinary super powers in her long curly hair and friendly smile. Maybe she does. More likely, Karen is an ordinary woman who followed her dream and created an adventure of a lifetime.

Four years ago Karen heard about an airplane race for women. Curious, she discovered the race has its roots in the 1929 First Women’s Air Derby in which legends like Amelia Earhart flew. Over time it evolved into the Air Race Classic, a 2,400 mile race across the country. Two women make up a team and race stock airplanes handicapped to have an equal chance no matter what their horsepower. The winners are not necessarily those with the fastest plane, but the team with the most savvy, best handle on figuring out the weather and a bit of luck.

“The race challenged me to do something totally outside my comfort zone,” says Karen. “It took three years for me to find the courage to throw my name in the hat.” But once she did, Karen moved ahead full throttle and never looked back.

First, Karen needed a race partner. The Air Race Classic organization connected her with Judy Snow of Wareham, Massachusetts, a woman with similar interests. Karen brought ten years of aviation experience to the team; Judy brought a four passenger airplane they could use, a 120 mph Cherokee 140.

Though they wouldn’t meet in person for several months, both women knew they would make a great team. They named their team the “Screamin’ Snowflakes” and immediately began planning their adventure and searching for sponsors to offset the $6,000 in expenses. Their goal for the race, they decided, was not to win but to expand their skills, make new friends and finish safely.

In mid-June the race was just a week away and Karen hopped aboard a commercial jet and flew to Massachusetts to meet Judy. Then they packed Judy’s Cherokee and headed westward toward Gallatin Field Airport in Bozeman, Montana, where the race was to begin.

Cross-country flying with a girlfriend, says Karen, is like a fun road trip. The two chatted and laughed as they honed their team flying skills in the four days it took them to fly to Gallatin Field. Once there, they took part in pre-race activities, readied their airplane and applied a large decal of the number six to its nose. The Screamin’ Snowflakes and Classic Six were ready to go. Thirty-three airplanes lined up ready to race on Monday morning, June 24. They would compete at full speed across unknown territory, land, refuel and, if weather and daylight allowed, take off for the next airport on the route. The teams had to land at eight airports in four days, spend about 20 hours cramped in an airplane not much larger than a compact car and know that they couldn’t land to stretch their legs – or make a personal pit stop – without the risk of being disqualified. Karen and Judy knew their flying skills and characters would be put to the test in the days ahead. The Screamin’ Snowflakes were nervous but they were raring to go.

Unlike car racing where vehicles race in a pack, air racers spread out to find a cruising altitude and may not see another airplane in the sky until they land. “It doesn’t seem so much like ‘racing’ when there aren’t any competitors near you.” Karen remarks. And even though they were cruising at full power, the land appeared to move slowly below them as they flew over the vast countryside. The Screamin’ Snowflakes settled into a routine as they monitored the weather, speed and fuel consumption and navigated across the sky.

Weather was their biggest challenge. Race rules only allowed racers to fly during the day and in good weather. The Screamin’ Snowflakes flew three legs on the first day. Weather allowed only one leg on day two and by the fourth day they learned that some racers were disqualified when the weather forced them to land prematurely. “The last leg of the race, Saratoga Springs, New York, to Mansfield, Massachusetts, was the shortest,” says Karen, “and it was the hardest.” Low clouds made flying a challenge but the Screamin’ Snowflakes were determined to finish the race and finish it safely. They pressed on and soon Mansfield airport was in sight. The Screamin’ Snowflakes radioed their intentions to land and touched down. At last their race was done.

In the two days that followed, Karen and Judy relaxed, shared stories and took part in post-race festivities. Women they met less than a week before felt like long-time friends because they shared a bond as a group that accomplished something remarkable together. Still, there was tension in the air as the racers wouldn’t know the race results until the final event of the race – the awards banquet. Karen and Judy knew they had finished safely but they had no idea where they placed overall. Three of the other first-time teams were disqualified so when the Screamin’ Snowflakes found out that out of 33 teams, they placed number 22, they were absolutely ecstatic. To top it off, “When we found out we won second place for our leg between Decatur and Frankfort, we yelped and jumped for joy… You’d have thought we won the whole kit and kaboodle,” Karen says proudly, “and I couldn’t have been happier if I had.”

A year has passed and Karen keeps in touch with the friends she met on her adventure. She plans to help out with the 2009 Air Race Classic that will start in Denver, Colorado, and end in Atlantic, Iowa, so she can see her friends and be there to greet them at race end. She’s looking forward to racing again in 2010 and is giving herself a full year to plan her next racing adventure.

Before she signed up for the race, Karen knew she was capable of flying across the country and trusted her experience and training would carry her safely to race end. Along her 2009 Air Race Classic journey, Karen learned she was even more capable than she thought. Does this mean that Karen has super powers? Well, maybe not. But Karen does have strength in her abilities, power in her dreams and an extraordinary story to tell about her trip of a lifetime.