43rd annual Air Race Classic takes off in Madison County

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — Women pilots took to new heights Tuesday at McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport.

“I’m excited about flying with Cathy! She’s got a beautiful airplane,” competitor Carrie Reinhardt said. “I’m excited to see all of the women out and doing this together and just the historical significance of it.”

Fifty teams of women from across the country left McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport for the 43rd annual air race classic, an all-women’s flight race to Canada.

“We’ve been thinking of doing it for years,” competitor Cathy Hughes said. “We were both in the Air Force and known each other for a long time. We retired a few years ago and figured it might be the time to do it this year.”

One competitor’s set of wings has a special meaning.

“My grandfather purchased it new when he came out of the war, and it’s been in our family ever since,” competitor Elsa Moseley Cutting said.

Cutting’s plane is a family heirloom and has historical ties.

“He used this plane actually to prove to the FAA that general aviation could fly under the same minimums that commercial aviation could,” Cutting said.

Weather caused the race to change course, with their first stop in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, instead of flying to Georgia and Mississippi first.

But the delays didn’t change the goals.

“We have two goals for the race, and they’re to fly safely and finish,” Reinhardt said.

The race lasts three days and ends in Welland, Ontario.