#48 has BEGUN THE RACE!

With a mighty roar and an a tad longer run-up and goose than ordinary, the purple bird and its three strong hearts took back to the skies but heading EAST this time. The plane lifted off at 8:44 Pacific made a graceful turn to the East and climbed slowly to get over the mountain range about 25 minutes out. So far we only saw Team#12 was temporarily pulled from the race for a port brake failure. The folks worked feverishly with the race officials to try and get the brake working on the field but it will require a little more time - we are wishing them the best.

Our team will likely only get in two legs today because not only are the race segments about 3 hours or more of flying time but because they are skipping into Mountain and then Central time all in one day. That is two time zones worth of daylight which makes it impossible to get to Waco. So probably the ladies will light upon Midland, Texas by the afternoon.

The team is ready for anything though. Maybe with a little tail wind push, they can make some incredible time. They will be watching the skies for weather changes and potential advantages as
well since the same weather front that can hold you back on the ground can also be the same
weather wave that you can 'surf' on the front toward a segment victory. Wish 'em luck.