FAIRHOPE, Ala. – Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Prescott Campus pilot/captain Claire Schindler and co-pilot Erica Diels secured a campus-best fourth-place finish overall among 54 teams and beat 16 other university teams to place third in the collegiate division of this year’s women’s Air Race Classic (ARC) that concluded June 26 in Fairhope, Ala.
Three teams from Embry-Riddle’s campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., represented the university in the four-day flight competition for female pilots that began June 22 at Stafford Regional Airport in Fredericksburg, Va.
Embry-Riddle Daytona Beach pilot Sarah Wendt and co-pilot Abigail Pasmore as the Riddle Racer Blue Team secured a fourth place in collegiate competition and sixth place overall. Also from Embry-Riddle Daytona Beach, pilot and captain Nancy Snyder and co-pilot Emmy Dillon led the Riddle Racer Gold Team to 10th place in collegiate competition and 30th finish overall.
Next year’s 40th annual ARC will be sponsored by Embry-Riddle as a “Cross-Country Collegiate Competition” starting at the university’s Prescott Campus and concluding at the Daytona Beach Campus with stops at various colleges honoring aviation programs across the U.S. and Embry-Riddle’s 90th anniversary. The last time the ARC flew between the two campuses was in 1996.
“The skills of our female pilots are top-notch, and it shows in the results of this year’s race and previous competitions,” said Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University interim president Dr. John R. Watret. “Hosting the start and terminus of the 2016 Air Race Classic at each of our residential campuses underscores our commitment to the education and training of the world’s best and most passionate female aviators while honoring our institution’s 90 years of excellence.”
The Embry-Riddle teams competed against 51 other teams from around the world, including 14 teams from 11 other universities, including this year’s collegiate winner and overall winner Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. The racers, who checked into airports in 10 cities on the 2,500-nautical-mile route, completed their journeys two days ahead of the deadline.
The women were selected for this prestigious competition by Embry-Riddle College of Aviation administrators on the basis of their piloting skills, competitive spirit and knowledge of aviation, safety, navigation, and meteorology and crew resource management. All teams flew Cessna 172 aircraft from the university’s fleet.
Embry-Riddle racers have delivered impressive performances in the Air Race Classic over the years. A Daytona Beach team has participated every year since 2007, finishing four times as the No. 1 team in the collegiate division, and has finished as high as No. 2 in the overall competition twice. Prescott has taken part every year since 2009, previously ranking as high as No. 2 in the collegiate division and No. 6 in the overall competition.
Prescott’s Schindler, from Springfield, Va., is currently working on her commercial single-engine rating while pursuing a B.S. in Aeronautical Science. Originally from Ann Arbor, Mich., Diels is a flight instructor and an Assistant Professor of Aeronautical Science at the Prescott Campus. Last year, the Prescott team finished fourth in the collegiate category and 10th overall.
As part of one of the two Daytona Beach teams, Pasmore hails from Southampton, England. She recently graduated from Embry-Riddle with a B.S. in Aeronautical Science and is a flight instructor at the Daytona Beach Campus. Originally from Jupiter, Fla., Wendt graduated from Embry-Riddle in 2011 with a B.S. in Aeronautical Science and is now completing a B.S. in Aviation Maintenance Science. She is a flight instructor at the Daytona Beach Campus.
Snyder, from Wellington, Fla., is earning a B.S. in Aeronautical Science while working as a flight instructor at the Daytona Beach Campus. Snyder was co-pilot of the team that finished first in the collegiate category and second overall in last year’s ARC. Dillon is pursuing a B.S. in Human Factors Psychology and a minor in Flight Operations. This year she was elected team captain of the Daytona Beach Eagle Flight Team. She is from Springfield, Va.
Other schools fielding teams in the Air Race Classic were Indiana State University, Jacksonville University, Kansas State University, LeTourneau University, Liberty University, Purdue University, Quincy University, Texas State Technical College, University of North Dakota, Vaughn College and Western Michigan University.
About the Air Race Classic
Originally known as the Women’s Air Derby when it was established in 1929, the annual cross-country race is sponsored by Air Race Classic Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing public awareness of general aviation, presenting and promoting the tradition of pioneering women in aviation, demonstrating women’s roles in aviation and encouraging and educating current and future women pilots. Each ARC aircraft is judged against its own handicapped cruising speed and teams must follow the route as closely as possible while improving their average speed, a format that focuses more on piloting skills and decision-making than on speed alone. For more information, go to http://airraceclassic.org.
About Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, is a nonprofit, independent institution offering more than 75 baccalaureate, master’s and Ph.D. degree programs in its colleges of Arts & Sciences, Aviation, Business, Engineering and Security & Intelligence. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., through the Worldwide Campus with more than 125 locations in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and through online programs. The university is a major research center, seeking solutions to real-world problems in partnership with the aerospace industry, other universities and government agencies. For more information, visit www.embryriddle.edu, follow us on Twitter (@EmbryRiddle) andfacebook.com/EmbryRiddleUniversity, and find expert videos at YouTube.com/EmbryRiddleUniv.
