Lakewood High School alumna participating in cross-country air race
Jo Brandel, 22, of Sumter is one of 121 female pilots from 35 states and five countries flying in the 42nd Air Race Classic this week. Brandel, co-pilot, and pilot Mia Hallgring are representing Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
From right: Jo Brandel of Sumter stands next to her teammate and captain Mia Hallgring, and Alice Novatnak and Abbey Baltzegar. The four women are representing Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the 42nd Air Race Classic this week.
Thousands of students wrapped up another school year after spending hundreds of hours in the classroom across the country.
This summer, one Sumter native will finish her secondary education after racking up hundreds of air miles while competing in a cross-country airplane race that showcases the aeronautical skills of female pilots.
Jo Brandel, 22, is one of 121 female pilots from 35 states and five countries flying more than 2,600 miles across the United States in the 42nd Air Race Classic this week.
The race began on Tuesday in Sweetwater, Texas, and ends in Fryeburg, Maine, on Friday.
Brandel, a Lakewood High School graduate, is flying as the co-pilot of one of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's three teams, the Riddle Racer Gold Team, representing the college's Daytona Beach campus in Florida.
"Growing up next to Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, the roar of F-16s inspired me to make the sky my home from a young age," Brandel said in a release from the college. "I have been following this dream ever since, becoming the first in my family to pursue a career in aviation."
Brandel, an aeronautical science major with a minor in business administration, started aviation school with no flying experience and now has about 300 flight hours with more than 100 hours as pilot-in-command. She is finishing her final class at Embry-Riddle this summer after walking in the May 2018 commencement ceremony.
"The Women's Air Race will be a great way to exhibit my skills in the cockpit," she said.
Brandel is co-piloting one of Embry-Riddle's Cessna 172s with pilot Mia Hallgring, a May graduate, from Little Compton, Rhode Island.
Each of Embry-Riddle's participating pilots was selected by college administrators based on his or her skills and knowledge of aviation, safety, navigation, meteorology and crew resource management, according to the release.
The Cross Country Air Race Classic can be traced back to the 1929 Women's Air Derby when Amelia Earhart and 19 other pilots raced from Santa Monica, California, to Cleveland, Ohio.