AIR RACE CLASSIC PARTICIPANTS LAND AT CAPE

Cape Girardeau Zonta Club members sold Amelia Earhart commemorative postcards with special cancellation by the Cape Girardeau post office for pilots in the Air Race Classic. Earhart was a member of the first Zonta Club, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

Denise Waters of New York cleaned bugs from her airplane to cut wind resistance. "Every nano-second helps," she said.

Shortly after 9:15 Thursday morning, a single engine aircraft raced past the control tower of the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, circled around and landed to the cheers and waves of few spectators on the ground.

Between 9:25 and 9:30, another five planes landed. By 10, the concrete area next to the hangar was completely full with over 20 airplanes waiting to be fueled so their pilots could get them on their way.

The pilots, all of whom are women, landed in Cape Girardeau at the end of the fifth leg of the 22nd annual Air Race Classic. The 2,385-mile race, which began Tuesday in Santa Fe, N.M., is scheduled to end today in Batavia, Ohio.

Cape Girardeau was selected as one of the stops in this year's running of the race because of its connection to the Powder Puff Derby, an all-women's air race that was the predecessor to the Air Race Classic.

The Powder Puff Derby stopped in Cape Girardeau in 1966, bringing much needed attention to the city's airport which was lacking navigational equipment. Shortly after the Derby, an airport bond issue was passed by the voters of Cape Girardeau to provide the equipment.

Cape Girardeau resident Marge Bauerle, who flew in the Powder Puff Derby in 1963 and 1971, said that the race would benefit the airport.

"It helps us with take off and landing counts, which help determine how much federal funding the airport receives," Bauerle said.

Bauerle, who served as the stop chairman in Cape Girardeau, added that the airport would earn additional revenue through the sale of fuel to the 40 pilots who were required by race rules to land in the city.

But for the pilots, the race was not about revenues, either for them or for the cities. The $5,000 in prize money for the winner of the race is barely enough to cover the expenses that the average team incurs in running the race.

They flew not for the money, but for the love of flying and the desire to win.

"All the pilots are friends," Bauerle said, "but they are very, very competitive."

The winner of the race is not necessarily the first team to arrive in Batavia. Scores are figured on the basis of the speed of the airplanes from one point to the next. Planes are also given handicap points based on the make, model and year of the plane, thus allowing slower planes to compete with faster ones.

Lois Fiegenbaum, with whom Bauerle flew in 1963, wasn't sure how her team was doing this year. She thought their score thus far was good, but didn't think it was good enough to win.

"Nobody's talking. I don't know why. We can't go back and do it over," said Fiegenbaum, who lives in Berryman, near Potosi.

Fiegenbaum and her partner, Margaret Ringenberg of Grabill, Ind., were up on Thursday morning at 4 a.m. and were at the airport in St. Joseph by 5:00. They waited until the weather cooperated at about 7:45 to take off.

"I've wanted to fly since I was five years old. I started in 1962," she said, adding only that she was older than five at the time.

The oldest pilot in the race was Pauline Glasson of Corpus Christi, Texas. Glasson, who is well into her 80s, has flown in all 22 Air Race Classics. When her plane developed engine trouble early in the race, Glasson made arrangements with another team to complete the race as a passenger.

For pilot Chris Bently of Littleton, Colo., the most difficult part of the race is the heat they encounter while flying for four to five hours a day. With the vents of the airplane closed to cut down on the drag and the sun beating in on them through the windows, the temperatures inside the plane climb well into the 80s.

After landing last year's winner, Sophia Payton of Clearwater Beach, Fla., spent much of her time checking her plane and getting it prepared for the next leg of the race, even wiping bugs off the wings to cut down on the wind resistance.

"Every little thing counts," she said.

Payton decided to fly last year as a way of celebrating turning 70. It was her first race since 1984, though she has been flying since 1944.

"We have a lot of fun," she said.