Toward the Start: To Emporia

        Countdown has begun before we fly over 500 miles to arrive in Iowa City, the start point of the air race. We hope for a strong tail wind, one like the kind we had yesterday of 50 knots at 3000 feet from the southwest. Wouldn't that be great? For now, we estimate we can land in Emporia, Kansas, to re-fuel before proceeding to Iowa City. Mary looked around online to find that the aviation fuel prices seemed the best at Emporia. Today we might have had a good flight into Emporia, as shown by the winds aloft in the chart below. (Each bar on the flag represents ten knots of wind; half a bar represents five knots; the point of the bar shows the direction of the winds) The winds north of Kickapoo, though from the north, do not have much strength. North of Emporia, though, the winds increase to thirty knots headwinds. Not bad, but no good, either. Let's cross our fingers that the winds will switch for us on Friday.

        Today, from Kickapoo all the way to Iowa City, the winds came from the northwest at thirty to thirty-five knots. Cross your fingers for a tail wind!