Saint Louis University Aviation Team Set to Compete in Air Race Classic
Maggie Rotermund
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ST. LOUIS - A team of pilots from Saint Louis University will compete June 23-26 in the Air Race Classic, an annual all-woman, daylight-only race held each June.
The SLU team includes Jocelyn Ciotti and Sydney Nimeric, who both graduated in May with degrees in aeronautics, along with rising sophomore Bella Castro. Ciotti and Nimerick are now flight instructors with SLU’s Flight School within the Parks Department of Aviation Science in the School of Science and Engineering.
Nimerick said the race, which has been held for nearly 100 years and featured SLU student Mary Elizabeth von Mach in 1927, was on her radar since her freshman year at SLU.
“The pieces all came together for us this year to be able to compete,” she said.
Race teams have up to four days to fly a defined point-to-point course of approximately 2,500 miles, following a timing line at each location. There are nine predefined airports that each team must fly to, although they are not required to land.
The teams can pick how to fly their route, choosing how many days to use to fly the route over four days, factoring in weather, strategy and airplane endurance.
The trio, all pilots, did not begin flying together as a team until earlier this month.
“There were a lot of emails and coordinating, but we are just really starting to get on the plane and practice together now,” Nimerick said.
The trio will take turns piloting, navigating and being the radio person.
The route begins at the St. Louis Regional Airport in Alton, Illinois, on June 23. Pilots must land at the Mount Vernon Outland Airport in Mount Vernon, Illinois, on June 26.
Pilots can take off after sunrise and must land before sunset. The route includes stops in Spartanburg, South Carolina; Douglas, Georgia; Tanner, Alabama; McComb, Mississippi; Russellville, Arkansas; St. Joseph, Missouri; and Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin.
In addition to spending the weeks leading up to the race making practice runs of the route, the team must also figure out how to pack and unpack for the trip.
“We can only have 200 extra pounds on board with us and a full fuel tank,” Ciotti said. “We will have to pack light!”
The luggage limitations will allow the team to carry extra beverages to stay cool during their flights in a warm cockpit with limited airflow.
All three women chose SLU for its exceptional aviation program. They each got their pilot’s license in high school, but Nimerick said she has known she wanted to be a pilot since she was a third-grader in Singapore.
“This is always what I’ve wanted to do,” she said.
Castro came to SLU following an aviation camp in her home state of Minnesota, knowing she wanted to stay in the Midwest and fly. Ciotti said she appreciated that she could pursue all her interests at SLU while a member of the University Honors Program.
“I loved all my classes, but I knew I didn’t want to do just STEM,” she said. “Being in the honors program allowed me to explore the humanities and reflect on who I wanted to be.”
About the School of Science and Engineering
Saint Louis University formed the School of Science and Engineering in 2022 to better meet the future needs of its students and faculty. The school brings together select departments from the College of Arts and Sciences — chemistry, computer science, earth and atmospheric sciences, and physics — with the former Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology. To learn more about the School of Science and Engineering, visit slu.edu/science-and-engineering.
About Saint Louis University
Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic research institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers more than 13,300 students a rigorous, transformative education that challenges and prepares them to make the world a better place. As a nationally recognized leader in research and innovation, SLU is an R1 research university, advancing groundbreaking, life-changing discoveries that promote the greater good.