{"id":4777,"date":"2026-06-20T09:03:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T09:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777"},"modified":"2026-06-20T09:03:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T09:03:24","slug":"2-central-florida-pilots-to-fly-2700-miles-in-national-womens-air-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777","title":{"rendered":"2 Central Florida pilots to fly 2,700 miles in national women\u2019s air race"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

In 1929, 20 female pilots,\u00a0<\/span>including Amelia Earhart, set off to fly\u00a0from Santa Monica, California, to Cleveland, Ohio, in the first\u00a0<\/span>Women\u2019s Air Derby.\u00a0Nearly 100 years later, female pilots from across the nation are carrying the torch and continuing the tradition with the 49th Air Race Classic.<\/p>\n

Read more Today in History: June 20, race-related rioting erupts in Detroit<\/a><\/p>\n

This month, Central Florida pilots Doralisa \u201cChady\u201d Sherrod, 67, and Jemayla Nelsonwood, 28, will fly about 2,700 miles, making stops in 11 states to demonstrate their aviation abilities. The race starts at the St. Louis Regional Airport and ends four days later at the Mt. Vernon Outland Airport, both in Illinois.<\/p>\n

Sherrod said she\u2019s eager to meet the more than 100 fellow female aviators competing in the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited about meeting new people, flying longer than I\u2019ve ever flown at one time and flying fast,\u201d she said. \u201cThis event is really to promote women in aviation and promote camaraderie around the world with women in aviation. It\u2019s great to introduce the world to women who fly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nelsonwood, a flight instructor who\u2019s training to fly with Alaska Airlines, met Sherrod while volunteering at Sun \u2018n Fun Aerospace Expo in Lakeland. They talked about the idea of competing in the women\u2019s air race as a dream they could work together in achieving.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere still aren\u2019t a lot of females in aviation. Meeting each other and hitting it off was cool because neither of us knew a ton of females in aviation,\u201d Nelsonwood said. \u201cI feel like we both learn from each other, help each other and are both willing to work together and listen to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

To start the four-day race on June 23, 46 teams will take off from Alton, Illinois, in 30-second intervals, making the \u201csky come alive with a symphony of piston engines roaring, painting a picture of determination and grit,\u201d according to the event organizer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t just a race; it\u2019s a celebration of women\u2019s prowess in the skies and a testament to the indomitable spirit of aviation,\u201d said Donna Harris, president of the Air Race Classic, in a news release.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Pilots will stop at nine pre-determined airports in between the start and finish line with stops in Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

The race isn\u2019t about competing head-to-head to see who has the fastest plane; it\u2019s about trying to beat the unique handicap speed given to each plane before the race. The handicap is determined by a volunteer gathering data in the air and a committee that calculates the maximum airspeed of each craft. The race is won by the team that beats their handicap speed by the greatest margin.<\/p>\n

Read more Commentary: School nurses help drive the future of America\u2019s health<\/a><\/p>\n

Pilots will strategize to work with the elements, finding more favorable winds and weather to test skill, ingenuity and flight planning. At each stop, the planes will make low-altitude, high-speed flybys for the on-ground team to log their times.<\/p>\n

Pilots must also navigate during daytime hours only, presenting an additional challenge.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to think and plan. You have to know the weather and the airports and the area. It\u2019s just sunrise to sunset that we can fly, so we have to make sure we\u2019re at an airport by sunset,\u201d Nelsonwood said. \u201cIt plays into so much execution of flight planning, not just who can fly the airplane the fastest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair of pilots will use the orange- and brown-accented 1979 Grumman Tiger owned by Sherrod and her husband for this challenge. Sherrod\u2019s passion for aviation has been passed down by her family, including her mother and stepdad, both of whom were pilots.<\/p>\n

During this race, she hopes to continue exploring her passion for aviation and improving her flying skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not in it to win it, I\u2019m in it to experience it. It will work on our knowledge of weather, knowledge of the airplane and ability to fly the airplane at those speeds safely,\u201d Sherrod said. \u201cIt\u2019s great because we get to meet all these women pilots and make connections that last a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow along with the teams starting June 23 at airraceclassic2026.maprogress.com.<\/p>\n

Find me\u00a0@PConnPie on Instagram\u00a0or send me an email:\u00a0pconnolly@orlandosentinel.com. Stay up to date with our latest travel, arts and events coverage by subscribing to our newsletters at\u00a0orlandosentinel.com\/newsletters.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Commentary: Sojourner\u2019s truth<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Doralisa Sherrod and Jemayla Nelsonwood will team up to compete in the all-female Air Race Classic, a national event with teams from across the nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"\n2 Central Florida pilots to fly 2,700 miles in national women\u2019s air race - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2 Central Florida pilots to fly 2,700 miles in national women\u2019s air race - Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Doralisa Sherrod and Jemayla Nelsonwood will team up to compete in the all-female Air Race Classic, a national event with teams from across the nation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-20T09:03:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4777#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4777\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\"},\"headline\":\"2 Central Florida pilots to fly 2,700 miles in national women\u2019s air race\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T09:03:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4777\"},\"wordCount\":760,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4777#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/62ba36aee219b5d9199ae3013ae55edf.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Entertainment\",\"Things To Do\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4777#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4777\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4777\",\"name\":\"2 Central Florida pilots to fly 2,700 miles in national women\u2019s air race - Orlando Relocation Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4777#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4777#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/62ba36aee219b5d9199ae3013ae55edf.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T09:03:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4777#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4777\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4777#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/62ba36aee219b5d9199ae3013ae55edf.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/62ba36aee219b5d9199ae3013ae55edf.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4777#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2 Central Florida pilots to fly 2,700 miles in national women\u2019s air race\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Orlando Relocation Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2 Central Florida pilots to fly 2,700 miles in national women\u2019s air race - Orlando Relocation Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"2 Central Florida pilots to fly 2,700 miles in national women\u2019s air race - Orlando Relocation Report","og_description":"Doralisa Sherrod and Jemayla Nelsonwood will team up to compete in the all-female Air Race Classic, a national event with teams from across the nation.","og_url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777","og_site_name":"Orlando Relocation Report","article_published_time":"2026-06-20T09:03:24+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8"},"headline":"2 Central Florida pilots to fly 2,700 miles in national women\u2019s air race","datePublished":"2026-06-20T09:03:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777"},"wordCount":760,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/62ba36aee219b5d9199ae3013ae55edf.webp","articleSection":["Entertainment","Things To Do"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777","url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777","name":"2 Central Florida pilots to fly 2,700 miles in national women\u2019s air race - Orlando Relocation Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/62ba36aee219b5d9199ae3013ae55edf.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-20T09:03:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/62ba36aee219b5d9199ae3013ae55edf.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/62ba36aee219b5d9199ae3013ae55edf.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4777#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"2 Central Florida pilots to fly 2,700 miles in national women\u2019s air race"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/","name":"Orlando Relocation Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}