Recent Kent State grad wins air race for second time
Chicora native Peyton Turner is flying high once again after winning the annual Air Race Classic for the second consecutive year.
The event is a cross-country race whose contestants are women of all ages, backgrounds and professions flying a variety of airplanes.
Last year, Turner, who graduated from Kent State University in May with a degree in aeronautics with a concentration in professional piloting, served as the pilot of a Cessna Skyhawk 172SP owned by Kent State.
She and her co-pilot, Laura Wilson, had the fastest time while flying between Grand Forks, N.D., and Homestead, Fla., a trip of 2,500 miles.
In 2023, the student duos competed against all the teams that entered the race.
This year, the competitors, who ranged in age from 18 to 95, were split into classes. Turner and her pilot, Alyssa Sheehan, were placed in the intercollegiate class and competed against 50 women on 22 teams.
“The older women got tired of us winning, so they got their own class,” Turner said of her take on the race’s decision to divide the women into classes.
The 2024 Air Race Classic saw the teams flying from Carbondale, Ill., to Newark-Heath Airport near Columbus, Ohio, then westward to stops in Minnesota and Oklahoma before landing at the last stop at Northern Colorado Regional Airport in Loveland.
Turner and Wilson flew the 2024 race in a Cessna 172S belonging to Kent State.
“This year was much different weatherwise,” Turner said. “We had to accept the fact that we may not finish, as we were stuck in Monee, Ill., for a full day.”
She said the duo decided not to risk flying in the thunderstorms that occurred that day, although many others in the race threw caution to the wind and took off.
“It’s a pretty awful feeling, especially when other teams decide to go and you know it’s not the safe decision,” Turner said. “It’s definitely a test of not only your flying skills, but also your mental strength.”
She was surprised and thrilled to be named winner in her class a few days later.
“We decided to make the safer decision and it ended up paying off in the end for us,” Turner said.
Turner and Wilson won the four-day race with a total of 18 hours in the sky.
“We worked very well together and worked great as a crew, but also we were really good at being patient and leaning on that training from Kent State and making the safest choices possible,” Turner said.
She is enrolled in the United Aviate Academy, which is a pathway to fly for United Airlines in the future.
Turner is building her flying hours by serving as a flight instructor at Kent State. After she attains the hours needed, she will move on to fly smaller passenger planes for one of United Airline’s regional partners before reaching her goal of flying the large airliners for United.
“This is a pretty renowned race with women in the industry, so winning this not only looks great on my resume, but I’ve also made a lot of connections with women in higher positions in the industry,” she said.
This week, Turner is running a three-day camp at Kent State with Sheehan and one other female pilot.
The 22 girls attending are in grades nine through 12.
“We are going to mentor the girls and hopefully inspire them to start their own careers in aviation soon,” Turner said.
She is grateful to have won her in her class in the final Air Race Classic in which she will participate, and also to be awarded the first-place overall Fastest Women in Aviation International Team.
“We really did not think we were going to win,” Turner said. “We were just happy to finish the race and see those (Rocky Mountains) at the end.”
