ROCK SPRINGS — The Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport was busier than usual Wednesday and Thursday as pilots competing in the 48th Annual Air Race Classic used the airport as a stop on their trek from Fairhope, Alabama to Spokane, Washington.
The race features teams of women pilots flying the route and traces its roots to the 1929 Women’s Air Derby, where Amelia Earhart and 19 other women pilots raced from Santa Monica, California to Cleveland, Ohio.
By early Thursday afternoon, all of the pilots had stopped at the airport, some of whom planned to stay the night in Rock Springs. The race takes place over four days and pilots can choose to tackle the route in one day or fly the route in four. Aircraft must land before sunset and must reach Spokane, Washington by the end of the day Friday.
Esther Kotyk, a pilot representing Kent State University with her copilot Kelsey Buyansky as the Flying Flashes Gold team, said the race is based on times for aircraft traveling at their handicap speed, a speed which pilots are tasked with exceeding as much as possible. The format allows different types of aircraft to participate in the race, so long as they don’t have turbocharged or supercharged piston engines.
Kotyk’s team is one of two fielded by Kent State University’s College of Aeronautics and Engineering, the other being the Flying Flashes Navy team. Both teams fly Cessna Skyhawk 172S aircraft as the university aims for its fourth straight Air Race Classic intercollegiate victory.
For Kotyk and Buyansky, they had already been in the air for more than five hours when they arrived at the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport just before noon, having started at 5:30 a.m. Kotyk said the race presents different challenges for pilots as they fly along the route, saying the higher elevation around the Rock Springs leg of the race is one of the challenges she and her copilot had to contend with. However, that challenge is part of the allure of the race for Kytok, as it has allowed her to experience unique challenges.
“With this type of race, you have to be flexible,” she said.
Kotyk said she’s a first-generation U.S. citizen as her parents emigrated to the country from Ukraine and takes pride in being a pilot, saying it is something that her parents never imagined their daughter becoming.
Airport Director Devon Brubaker said it has taken him seven years to have the airport included as a stop on the Air Race Classic. He enjoys events like the Air Race Classic or the Flying Legends Victory Tour because they change up the routine at the airport and allow residents to be exposed to aviation. Brubaker said children watching aircraft competing in the Air Race Classic may become inspired to consider a career in aviation or even compete in a future Air Race Classic.
“They’re so much fun,” he said.
