Down for night in Beatrice, Nebraska

Once the ladies took off out of Oklahoma, the winds seemed calmer on the ground but the turbulence increased as the teams pushed Northeast. Even the fastest teams which had surfed the southerly winds earlier in the day were all holed up in the same place - Beatrice, Nebraska (KBIE).

Now nothing wrong with the second leg of the race being uneventful and completed - it is just that there is a heavy weather front that is blocking VFR travel up to Minnesota. The real worry is other than a short window in the morning, the front may continue to build and put a big roadblock for many of the racers tomorrow.

While that is the risk of this type of racing, it can be frustrating to have everything working and you are ready to go - but you CAN'T. The team will hold overnight with the others and try to get out as early as they can to beat the clouds.

Meanwhile the plane seems to be running perfectly. The mystery with the fuel burn is basically each stop is under-fueling or over-fueling the tanks which is throwing off the calculations. Sometimes the team will load the plane with LESS fuel to reduce the weight and thus fly faster, if they know they have enough reserves and possibly a tailwind to help them along. The ladies are safe and the plane is happy - all in all a PERFECT way to start a race.

-ed

This is the problem enveloping Beatrice, NE

Local news films Purple Hearts re-fueling - Alva, OK

Team held up in Beatrix, NE  - hopefully a VFR window tomorrow