Katrina McLeod is the kind of person who is always up for a new challenge, and for the upcoming Air Race Classic, she's found a well-suited flying partner who shares her love of adventure. 

Katrina, who lives in Mobile, is an experienced Coast Guard pilot who trains others to fly the twin-engine turboprop planes they use for surveillance and search-and-rescue operations. Her teammate for a four-day, cross-country airplane race is Giovanni Gonzalez, a Naval Flight Officer in Pensacola and private flight instructor. They met by chance recently at a small airstrip in Lillian, where Giovanni was getting a small plane ready to tow an advertising banner up and down the beach.

They are among the 96 women who are registered to compete in a race that will cover nearly 2,500 miles after taking off June 17 from H.L. "Sonny" Callahan Airport in Fairhope. There are eight other airports along the route, and the finish line (or terminus, as it's officially called) is in Spokane, Washington. The competitors range in age from teens to seniors and come from many different walks of life. And like Katrina and Giovanni, they have the skills, confidence, and passion to get inside an airplane and take to the skies.

"Even though Giovanni and I haven't flown together very much, we are extremely similar personality-wise and get along great in and out of the cockpit," says Katrina. "We know what to expect from each other based on our training background, and she has in-depth experience in detailed mission and flight planning."

While Giovanni's fleet aircraft was the sophisticated jet called the E/A-18G Growler, she and Katrina will squeeze into a much cozier Piper Arrow for the upcoming race. In terms of size and performance, it's similar to the other single-engine aircraft they'll be racing against. According to regulations, they'll fly during daylight hours only in weather that's clear enough to use visual navigation rather than relying on instruments.

The winner of the race isn't necessarily the fastest plane or the first one to reach the end. Instead, it's a handicap race, which means all of the aircraft fly a test course ahead of time to calculate their optimum airspeed. Their performance in each leg of the race is then compared to that established rate. The team with the best overall completion time, based on its own established speed, takes top prize. 

Though it's the 48th Annual Air Race Classic, its history actually goes back much farther. The tradition of an all-female field of fliers dates to 1929, when the Women's Air Derby first took wing, with Amelia Earhart and other aviation pioneers among its early participants.  

"I believe it's one of the last big cross-country general aviation distance races that's left in the world," says Katrina. "The route takes days to complete, and the terrain is quite varied, so flying it in a small, single-engine piston plane is daunting, to be honest. We'll first fly through the heat of the South, next across the Great Plains, and then go up and around a portion of the Rocky Mountains. Temperatures can drop suddenly, and thunderstorms can roll in or headwinds can be significantly stronger than what was forecast, which can throw off your flight plans for the day." 

The Fairhope airport was also part of the Air Race Classic in 2015. The airport staff and the city apparently made such a good impression on race organizers that they wanted to return. This time around, Fairhope is the start of the race rather than the finish, which means more time in the spotlight and more people in the community for a longer period of time.

"It's 120 people coming into town, and they'll be staying in the hotels, visiting all the shops and eating at the restaurants, so it's an economic plus for the city as a whole," says Ethan McDonald, one of the owners of Flightline First, the airport's Fixed Base Operator, or FBO. 

He and others involved with airport operations are eager to show off the nicely equipped and furnished terminal building, which opened in October. They are also hopeful that the extra exposure will lead to more aviation-related business.

Some activities related to the race are open to the public. A barbecue on the airport grounds that's scheduled for Saturday, June 14, will give people a chance to meet and mingle with the pilots. In addition, a formal banquet will be held on Sunday, June 15. 

And at 8 a.m. Tuesday, June 17, the racers take off for the Pacific Northwest. People are welcome to come and watch from a designated area on the west side of the airport, safely away from the fenced-in runway. The planes are scheduled to take off in groups of five throughout one to two hours.

In addition, local Girl Scouts will take part in various activities on the Saturday before the race that can help them learn skills and earn badges in areas like weather, navigation, and how to read certain kinds of instrumentation. 

Such educational components are something that appeals to Katrina, who was somewhat of a late bloomer, who didn't get seriously interested in flying planes until she was well into her 20s. Today, her devotion is undeniable. Besides having an accomplished career with the Coast Guard, she is active in an international organization of women pilots called The Ninety-Nines, which started with 99 members in 1929 and now has a membership of around 8,000. Their regional chapter is called the Emerald Angels of the Gulf Coast.

"I am also involved with a group called Women in Aviation, which every year puts on an event in Pensacola called Girls in Aviation Day," she says. "The last couple of years, it's been an awesome opportunity for me to go and set up a booth and talk to 300 or 400 girls in one day. You never know the impression those interactions will make on somebody."

Like she said, you never know, but it wouldn't be a surprise if some of those girls she interacts with will someday fly in the Air Race Classic.