Great NW Air Race

We had the windows open as we slowly followed the biplane down the taxiway. There was no hurry now,we were awaiting the departure of the scheduled airline. Our timing was good, the fastest plane stops for less than a minute before the turboprop full of paying passengers rolls out to the runway. Then it is on. The fastest classes depart at 15 to 30 second intervals. We creep forward steadily , till at last the biplane turns into the wind and accelerates away. He is much faster so I am waved out a mere 15 seconds later. I climb to 1000 agl and accelerate toward the start line. It is only a few minutes on this heading until we reach the confluence of the Wenatchee River & Columbia, our next Checkpoint. Gil, my Co-pilot, calls the turn and I pivot the Cherokee to the right as we follow the gorge of he Colombia northward. Chelan is on our left as we climb gradually just enough to clear the bluff ahead by the merest of margins. 200 ft is good enough for me, then everything gets light as I nose over on the far side losing a few hundred feet before the turn at Anderson Field, Brewster. The Southeast leg to Mansfield takes us over a few dry valleys and ranches. Below I spot a few developed lots among a maze of roads & graded right of ways for future roads. All part of a grand scheme of a bustling community of homes and dreams that never sold or came true. A few had pioneered , only to have a vast sprawl of roads without homes surrounding them. The next ridge was cleared by a few hundred feet and the altitude maintained. This kept us 1000 agl over the turn at Mansfield. I made one of my mistakes next. Crossing the next ridge I saw a small town at the base of the next rise , and assumed it to be Quincy. It wasn't. I was far short, but I had let down and now the climb cost me. over one more ridge , past a cell tower, and there it was, Quincy. But where is the airport? Gil spots something ,He thinks it is the field, but I can't see it. I keep flying on another few precious miles before I realize I have to be past it. Banking hard right I steady on the final heading hoping the Grumman who had been a mere two minutes behind as we called in to Quincy had not past me.The gauges were all good.EGT steady just ROP. RPM at max cruise 75%. There the edge of the gorge again, now I can descend another few hundred feet and pick up a few more mph. The 5 mile call. the Grumman calls in too. We are neck and neck. I know he is straining to see me. Gil and I are frantically looking to the plane we know is very close and only two hundred feet above. We sped on,tugging the throttle out a touch to be sure i am getting all the throttle the POH allows.(It is a shared airplane, I might consider running at full T/O rpm if I owned it outright.) A red roof, we are aiming for a red roof and there it is! keep it smooth & steady center the ball, everything slick.Without a single noticeable difference it is over. The red roof has vanished beneath us and I am cooling of the engine. Slowing to pattern speed. The Grumman beat me by seconds, but he is not in my class. The waiting is as exiting as the race itself, then they announce , " The winner of the GOLD in FAC3FX, Dave Rice, in a PA28-180, at 136.95 mph. My first air race , my first win. My co-pilot Gil was a great help. We had chow and chatted with the other racers before we made our return over the rocks to the green side of the hill.












sgl over the turn at Mansfield