FAA Intern Participates in Pioneering Race
An FAA intern gained some bonus experience this summer as a pilot in the women’s Air Race Classic, and her colleagues jumped at the opportunity to support her with weather updates along the way.
By Daniel Glover, FAA
As part of the Minority Serving Institutions Intern Program, Grace Heron is working in the FAA division that manages air traffic flow initiatives nationwide. But she is also a pilot, and when word spread that she would be part of the University of North Dakota’s team in the Air Race Classic, her colleagues were quick to offer support to Heron and her team in the four-day, 2,400-mile race of women aviators.
“I hope it’s something that more women are able to get into,” said Elizabeth Assink, Heron’s intern sponsor. “This was a great opportunity for Grace to learn the flight services that the FAA offers as an active user of them.”
Heron is studying commercial aviation, aviation safety and sociology at UND, with an eye toward being a commercial airline pilot. Since 2013, the university has fielded a four-member team — pilot, co-pilot, navigator and ground coordinator — for the Air Race Classic. Heron served as the navigator during this year’s race, but also flew the Piper Archer to the starting point and back to North Dakota after the race ended.
The goal of the annual Air Race Classic is to encourage more women to become aviators. It began in 1929 as the Women’s Air Derby and eventually evolved into the Powder Puff Derby until 1977. Participants range in age from 17 to 90, and the route includes multiple timing points. The teams fly under visual flight rules and during daylight hours. This year’s race started June 21 in Lakeland, Fla., and ended June 24 in Terre Haute, Ind.
This year, UND’s Frozen Force team, as well as two teams from Liberty University, did not join the race as competitors, but flew the route as part of the Air Race Classic’s effort to create a new race category for more advanced aircraft.
During the race, Frankie Velazquez Mercado, an aviation weather expert in the Flight Service directorate, monitored the progress of UND’s “Frozen Force” crew and used the 1800wxbrief website to supplement the university’s own support of the team.
“I knew where their starting points were and their goals for the day, and in the morning, I gathered all the weather information and put together a standard weather briefing,” Velazquez Mercado said.
As the navigator, Heron also tracked fuel and oil usage, monitored flight data, and briefed the crew before each approach to a timing point.
“It was a learning curve, having those designated roles, using crew resource management and really defining who was in charge of what prior to us getting into the plane,” she said.
The weather on the first day of the race in the South was clear but hot.
“We were going through a heat wave, which is difficult when you’re sitting in an airplane [without air-conditioning] for six hours, flying relatively low for a good portion of it,” Heron said. The team had to buy more oil as the airplane burned through it at an unexpected rate.
The second day was more challenging, as the race course took the team toward frontal thunderstorms.
“Every few hours I would check their status … and then provide an updated briefing package,” Velazquez Mercado said. The briefing included go/no-go windows of 1–2 hours for deciding whether to proceed to the next stop.
“At that time we were using all available resources just to make sure that we could leave, we’d be able to get to our destination … be able to stay there, either secure our airplane or quickly depart the area,” Heron added.
They departed their airport early the next morning to get ahead of more expected weather, which cleared by mid-day. Frozen Force finished the course with a short flight on June 24.
“For the most part, the winds were probably the most crucial part of weather briefings during the race,” Heron said. “We were just trying to make sure we were flying at the right altitude and trying to minimize the headwind as much as possible.”
The FAA also benefited from the partnership. “We see a lot more opportunities for providing support during events,” including airshows, said Mercado. “… There is an opportunity for us to explore new ways of delivering [weather] briefings.”
Assink said the collaboration during the race was a win-win.
“This special opportunity for Grace to integrate the race into her internship and learn about Flight Service not only benefited her and her team, it was an opportunity for the FAA to show support for women in aviation.”
