52 winged wonders to take part in air race

BANGALORE: "I’ve not slept for quite some time now and my stomach is full of butterflies. In the next few days my endurance will be put to test," says an excited Audrey Maben, a graduate from Jyothi Nivas College in Bangalore.
She is the youngest pilot to take part in the Air Race India 2003, set to kick off simultaneously from Bangalore, Goa and Barrackpore on November 20.
Audrey will be flying solo in her light-weight X-Air F machine, which is a 600 cc, twin-seater. The race will culminate at Nagpur on November 22.
Organised by the Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI) to celebrate the centenary of manned flight, the race will see a variety of winged wonders including microlights, powered hang-gliders, light aircraft, helicopters and medium/heavy aeroplanes jetting out to grab the prizes, which the organisers have kept under wraps.
The Bangalore leg will have 20 aircraft, while 13 will take-off from Goa and 16 from Barrackpore taking the total to 52. Those flying out of Bangalore will have to pass through Trichy, Arakkonam, Cuddapah, Raichur, Nanded, Akola before landing in Nagapur, while the Goa section has Kolhapur, Solapur, Pune, Daman, Ozar, Aurangabad, Akola.