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Florida Tech Softball Player Mckenzie Krutsinger Co-Pilots Way To Victory In Cross-Country Plane Race

By  //  July 7, 2017

2,600 mile four day race had 46 teams

ABOVE VIDEO: In a competition that took place on June 20 2017, Florida Tech softball player Mckenzie Krutsinger took to the sky in Frederick, MD with her partner Dee Bond for the 41st Annual Air Race Classic (ARC).

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – In a competition that took place on June 20, Florida Tech softball player Mckenzie Krutsinger took to the sky in Frederick, MD with her partner Dee Bond for the 41st Annual Air Race Classic.

In the 2,600 mile four day race through the sky, team Kiwi Express took a first place finish out of 46 competitors in this year’s race.

Starting in 1929 as the Women’s Air Derby and later known as the All Women’s Transcontinental Air Race (AWTAR), the ARC formed after the discontinuation of the AWTAR in 1977.

The race consists of a route length spanning approximately 2,400 miles that must be completed over a four-day stretch during daylight hours.

The objective of each pilot is to reach the terminus with a speed that surpasses the assigned handicap speed. The team with the largest differential in speed is crowned the winner of the competition.

Due to the set guidelines, each contestant has the ability to navigate accordingly based upon the elements, striving for the “perfect” cross-country.

In a competition that took place on June 20, Florida Tech softball player Mckenzie Krutsinger took to the sky in Frederick, MD with her partner Dee Bond for the 41st Annual Air Race Classic.

In order to be crowned winner, all contestants must reach the terminus to allow the judges to calculate the speed differentials each aircraft exceeds over its handicap speed.

Participating in the only women’s air race across the United States, the Kiwi Express ascended into the sky out of the Frederick Municipal Airport in its Skyline 182R aircraft.

On board the craft was pilot Bond and co-pilot Krutsinger, who set pace for the first flyby in Millersburg, OH.

VIDEO: Florida Institute of Technology Student, Alumna Participate in 2,600-Mile Air RaceRelated Story:
VIDEO: Florida Institute of Technology Student, Alumna Participate in 2,600-Mile Air Race

As the course unraveled, the pilots crossed over Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, and Texas before landing in New Mexico at the Santa Fe Municipal Airport.

In this year’s race, the Kiwi Express completed the course with a speed of 168.22 miles per hour, crowning itself as the 2017 ARC winner.

The team bested its handicap speed of 161.487 by 6.635 mph to finish above the second place team of Embry-Riddle’s Aeronautical University Prescott, who bettered their handicap by only 2.110 mph.

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