Grant Strunk/McCook Daily Gazette

Denise Waters, right, of New York City, gets a hug from Anne Edmonson of Tygh Valley, Ore., while Edmonson's co-pilot, Charlene Olsen of La Veta, Colo., goes through a post-landing checklist in today's McCook stop of the Air Race Classic. Waters and crewmate Ruth Maestre of Cleveland, Ohio, were the first crew to arrive for the annual all-women race's first stop, shortly after 10 a.m. The ramp was a busy place as the planes started arriving. Annette Kasselman of Imperial, below right, a member of the 99's women's flying fraternity, times an arrival. After fueling up and enjoying snacks and welcome bags from the City of McCook, the racers took off for Denison, Iowa, on the way to Canada. Forty-nine racers were expected to take part, but four had dropped out by the time the field arrived in McCook this morning.

More information is available at http://airraceclassic.com/