Air Race Classic Team 38 Includes Piston Aviation CFI in Annual Cross-Country Odyssey

By Carmelo Turdo

The 2025 Air Race Classic is set to run next Tuesday through Friday, and teams from across the country are currently gathering at the starting point - H.L. "Sonny" Callahan Airport in Fairhope, AL. From there, the route stretches northwest to Felts Field in Spokane, WA with intermediate navigation points at airports along the way. Teams will complete their pre-race requirements by Saturday and begin a series of formal briefings on Sunday and Monday. 

The Air Race Classic is an all-female aviation event that continues the tradition of the Golden Age air races using current flight standards to promote opportunities for women pilots. It is not the wind in your hair speed dash of yesteryear, but a true test of flight planning, navigation and in-flight decision-making as teams plot their course to each waypoint. The teams compete against the speed handicap for their actual aircraft, with the results depending more on precision and adaptability than sheer speed.

Samy-Rae Strausbaugh, a CFII/MEI at St. Louis-based Piston Aviation, will be flying with Elizabeth Menozzi in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk as Team 38, Penguin Power. They are already in Fairhope preparing for their upcoming cross-country flight adventure. This will be her second consecutive Air Race Classic, and she is ready to apply her aerial navigation and crew resource management skills to the task. Piston Aviation is a major sponsor of Team 38, and Strausbaugh can be seen often instructing her students in Piston's Tomark Viper fleet training aircraft based at Creve Coeur Airport. 

The Aero Experience met with Samy-Rae Strausbaugh at the Piston Aviation Studio prior to her departure to Fairhope. Our first question was about the origin of the team's name. The answer harkens back to her teammate's experience during flight training.

"It has a meaning for my race partner, Elizabeth Menozzi," she explained. "While we learn to fly, we're always told everything is done with our feet. And so her instructor kept telling her to have 'happy feet,' which made us think of penguins. So, we came up with the name, Penguin Power." Menozzi is actually flying in from Washington state and will return to her home airport after the conclusion of the race in Spokane.

A CFII/MEI with over 1500 flight hours, Samy-Rae Strausbaugh is not only an accomplished instructor with a commercial air carrier career within grasp, but she is also active in the Ninety-Nines, the international organization of women pilots from 44 countries headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK. She looks forward to sharing her experience flying the Air Race Classic in various forums upon her return.

"It is an all-women's sports group, and as a female pilot, it's really nice to have this comradery with so many other people who have done this race not only before me but currently as well," she added. The Air Race Classic is one of the more visible events highlighting female aviators at the national level. 

Flying at any skill level is challenging, and safety is paramount. Samy-Rae Strausbaugh knows that first-hand in her role as a flight instructor. But there is another aspect to being an aviator that is also important - you must enjoy the experience and share that joy with others.

"For us, it's really important fly safe. But we both just want to have fun with it. We want to learn what we can learn and make it an experience for our life."

The Aero Experience thanks Samy-Rae Strausbaugh for meeting with us before taking off for the Air Race Classic, and we wish her and Elizabeth Menozzi a safe and fun week ahead. Please support her team and track their progress starting on Tuesday.