At the starting line of the 2007 U.S. Air Races .

The legendary "Powder-Puff Derby" — the Women's Transcontinental Air Race of the 1930s, highlighted by contestants like Amelia Earhart and Jackie Cochran — gradually evolved over the decades into the gender-neutral "U.S. Air Race." Today, it is the longest-distance air race in America, and the nation's ultimate cross-country test of general aviation pilot skills.

Every summer, the race starts from a different city in the U.S., racing a roundabout route to a point in Wisconsin near Oshkosh, with victors arriving in glory at the world's largest fly-in:  EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh. In 2007, Wichita was the starting point.

After being waved off by Wichita's Mayor, for the 300-mile round-robin Wichita 300 cross-country air race, the aviators ran their timed routes around the state, and returned -- to rest up for the big 1,800-mile cross-country race.

Next morning, for the pilot's magazine In Flight USA, I interviewed some of the race bosses and crews, before they gathered on Wichita's Jabara Airport ramp in the dawn's early light, for final preflight inspections.

Every kind of light plane imaginable, from Skylane to Lancair, from Cherokee to Baron, participates in this "handicapped" race, where higher-performance airplanes have their scores adjusted downward -- thus making this a true test of pilot skill, navigating against the unpredictable winds and weather, and delicately managing engine conditions -- while racing full-throttle across the country.

A sleek Piper Comanche, "Race 1", the starting plane (right), begins the long tour by revving up at the end of the runway, awaiting the checkered-flag wave-off from elder Wichita aviator Rip Gooch, to start the 1,800-mile Marion P. Jayne cross-country race.

The destination:   Steven's Point, Wisconsin, for a final local race, and on to Oshkosh for a celebration at the world's biggest fly-in.

In the summer morning air, thinned by heat and humidity, race planes at maximum power struggled into the air loaded with fuel for the long journey.

A third of the way down the Jabara runway, the veteran crew of Race 41, a Wichita-built Cessna Skymaster, rotates in front of my camera, lifting off for the long journey into challenging weather, and uncertain results.

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