Activities

Updated June 30, 2026. 

• 2026 Air Race Classic - June 18 - 27, 2026

• Work day @ St Louis Metro-East Airport/Shafer Field - June 13, 2026

2026 Air Race Classic:

Run-up (Jun 18-23, 2026), contributed by Libby Yunger:  Chapter members Anne Mongiovi, Cathy Babis, Jenny LaForest, Jennipher Vorhees, Maria Harkins, and Libby Yunger were volunteers at the St. Louis Regional Airport (KALN; Alton, IL).  This group hung out with the race teams, and in addition, Cathy and Anne sold T-shirts, Jenny helped with lunch, and Libby helped with the Youth STEM activity sponsored by EAA Chapter 864.  While talking with the teams, Jennipher got so excited about the race that she plans to race next year.  Race pilot and Chapter Member Sarah Jelliss and her crew brought their plane over on Saturday (Race 45, The Real Housewives of KCPS).   The plane was rapidly checked out and quarantined, before a photograph of the team with the plane could be taken. 

Libby Yunger and Jenny LaForest, along with head timer Margaret Wint (Indiana Dunes 99s chapter; North Central Section Governor)  were timers for the start of the Race, beginning at KALN on Tuesday, June 23.  At the race terminus (Mount Vernon Outland Airport, KMVN), Diane Earhart was head timer; Cathy Babis was a timer.   

June 27, 2026 - contributed by Libby Yunger:  The Air Race Classic racing has completed.  The weather across the Midwest did not cooperate and of the 41 race teams that started only 22 finished.  As of Thursday evening, 21 teams who completed the race were in Mt. Vernon  and 7 teams spent the night in Prairie du Chien, WI, and had about 300 mi to go. There were bands of showers and a lot of MVFR and IFR conditions across the route during the day.  All of the racers attempting to complete the final leg from Prairie du Chien to Mt. Vernon had to stop to wait out the weather and for the IFR conditions to clear at KMVN.   I am happy to report that after a wait of several hours in Taylorville IL, Race 45, piloted by Chapter member Sarah Jelliss with copilot Becca Treis and Teammate Natalie Bianchino.  arrived in KMVN before the race deadline, becoming the 22nd (and last) plane to finish.  Congratulations Sarah, Becca, and Natalie!

The photos below were taken by GSL 99 Cathy Babis, who was a timer at the race terminus at KMVN.   These photos were taken right after Sarah and her crew landed at about 3:20 pm.  They had left Prairie du Chien around 8 am.  If racers land at an airport that is not an official stop on the race, it adds to their time on that leg. With no chance to win, many of the racers withdrew from the race due to the en route weather.  However, in the morning, Sarah and her crew were about 300 miles from the finish and less than 100 miles from KMVN when they were forced to wait out the weather.  Had I been an air racer, which I was not, and in my first race, I think I would have made the same decision to finish the race.  Not only is that an achievement, but, believe me, someday it will make a great story for the grandkids or whoever the little ones are in their families.

Work day @ St Louis Metro-East Airport/Shafer Field, June 14, 2026:

Contributed by Martha Norman; photos contributed by Beth Dumont:  Chapter members Libby Yunger and Beth Dumont participated in a work day at Shafer Field aka St. Louis Metro Airport (IL48) on June 14, 2026.  Beth Dumont has established a non-profit non-equity flying club at Shafer Field aka St. Louis Metro Airport (IL48).  See the website for Open Hangar Collective for more information.   The day included airport maintenance, an airplane wash, dinner, and a run of the movie Top Gun.  The weather was perfect, everyone was busy and had a good time…not to mention…a lot got done.