Tuesday kicked off the 40th annual Air Race Classic, an all-women cross-country airplane race.
The race brings together 130 women pilots from around the country making up 55 teams. This year, three of those women are local pilots who have been part of Santa Barbara’s aviation community for years.
The Above All Fly Girls team includes Joan Steinberger, Terry Harris and Anna Ramirez, and makes up three generations of pilots.
Steinberger, 87, began flying in 1953. She has flown in the race 14 times before, though this year marks her first race as pilot in command. She worked for Stratman Aero Service as an aircraft mechanic for more than 25 years.
According to the team’s website, she now spends her time at the Santa Barbara Airport as a self-described “airport bum.”
Anna Ramirez, 20, is a junior studying English at UCSB and is relatively new to the aviation scene. She earned her private pilot license in December 2014.
Terry Harris, 60, co-pilot of the team and an active member of the Santa Barbara aviation community since 1987, noted how extraordinary it is having three generations of pilots with different degrees of experience brought together to participate in such a unique opportunity.
The airplane the team will be using is a 1979 Cessna 182Q, lovingly nicknamed the “Angry Potato” and donated by Above All Aviation.
The “Angry Potato” got its name from its identification number. It’s number is N411BP; in the ICAO alphabet, the alphabet used by pilots when talking over the radio, BP is “bravo papa.” A Venezuelan student, Terry explained, thought “bravo papa” sounded like “angry potato” in his language. Terry stressed that though the plane is named “Angry Potato” the Fly Girls think their plane is rather sweet, so they refer to her as “Yams.”
The Above All Fly Girls describe the importance of the race as it serves “as a competitive outlet, a chance to hone skills, and [it] is a celebration of camaraderie and female pioneering in aviation.”
The race took off Tuesday from Prescott, Ariz., and will finish Friday in Daytona Beach, Fla.
— Noozhawk intern Grace Strelich can be reached at gstrelich@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
