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Embry-Riddle Duo Debuts in Air Race Classic

Embry-Riddle grads and cross-country pilots Heather Cupitt (left) and Ahsley Szasz

Dynamic Duo

Finishing 28th in this year’s Air Race Classic didn’t bother Embry-Riddle graduates Heather Cupitt and Ashley Szasz one bit. They were celebrating the fact they were the first aviators sent by the university to the cross-country race for women since it began, three years after Embry-Riddle was founded.

The Air Race Classic is the granddaughter of the Women’s Air Derby, which started in 1929 when 20 female pilots flew from Santa Monica, Calif., to the Cleveland, Ohio site of the National Air Races. After World War II, it evolved into the Powder Puff Derby and then 30 years later was replaced by the current event.

This year, 47 two-woman teams took off on June 19 from Oklahoma City, Okla., and flew to St. John, New Brunswick, in Canada, finishing on June 22. Along the way they stopped in McCook, Neb.; Denison, Iowa; Jefferson City, Mo.; Bowling Green, Ky.; Lewisburg, W.V.; Elmira, N.Y., Burlington, Vt.; and Bangor, Me.

The pilots ranged in age from the early 20s to late 80s. Of the six teams fielded by universities, Cupitt and Szasz finished in third place.

Embry-Riddle loaned the pair a Cessna 172 from its Daytona Beach campus fleet and wrote a check to cover fuel costs. During the race, the flyers divided the duties – piloting, navigating, maintaining radio contact, monitoring the weather, fueling the plane, and even cleaning bugs off after every landing.

Weather proved to be a big challenge. “We wanted to go the most direct route, but we had lots of clouds and thunderstorms and sometimes we had to divert,” Szasz says. “The race was all VFR (visual flight rules), so having weather radar on board would have helped us.”

Competing in the race taught the pair invaluable lessons. “I learned the meaning of ‘pilot in command’” Cupitt says. “At Embry-Riddle, people are always helping you. But when we were up there flying, we needed to make decisions ourselves. I learned not to rely on others to make my decisions. I trust my own judgment now after this race.”

“I learned to adjust and change plans quickly,” Szasz says.

Cupitt says it was a big responsibility “carrying the Embry-Riddle name in the race and representing our school well. Everyone seemed to know who we were.”

Both aviators earned aeronautical science degrees at the Daytona Beach campus in 2006. Cupitt is enrolled in Embry-Riddle’s M.S. degree program in aeronautics and serving with the Army Reserves. Her goal is to fly helicopters. Szasz is a flight instructor at Hanscom Field, near Boston, and plans to be an airline pilot.