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Taking to the skies is part of who Alan Crawford is. He has been flying for the past 45 years, starting when he was just a ‘youngster’, he served in the Texas Air National Guard following college and spent ten years in the 181st TAW as an instructor and check pilot. Since 1981, Alan has been with Southwest Airlines, and is still a Captain there.

In his free time, he races. It all began in 2008, when he participated in the Air Venture Cup, a race to Oshkosh, Wisconsin at the beginning of their week-long air show. He got involved with the Sport Air Racing League (SARL), which hosts races all over the country. Alan says, “SARL is kinda like NASCAR…it is a points system-with the overall points at the end of the season to determine the champion.”

This year, after more than 15 races in his Lancair Legacy, named “The Spirit of America”, Crawford was the overall points winner at the end of the season. He was named Grand Champion, 2011 National Champion (Gold) of the Experimental Class and First Place of the Experimental ‘Sports Class’.

Alan says, “It has been a fun and rewarding year.”

But the year of adventures was not quite over for Alan, and as it turned out, they were just beginning for his wife Sherri.

Following the end of the 2011 SARL Season, Alan was invited to race in the Great Bahamas Air Race, or GBAR, during the first week in December.

The race required a two person crew, pilot and co-pilot/navigator, and Sherri became the Alan’s co-pilot. While she had accompanied Alan on several races on the SARL circuit, she had never flown in the actual race. This time, however, she was the navigator-reading the map, identifying turn points and kept Alan on track. She did all this as the two flew along at a stealthy 300-miles-per-hour.

The race started in Long Island, and the two got there by flying out of Llano in ‘The Spirit of America’. While the two had made that trip many times by plane, it was the first time to make to make the over water flight in a single engine airplane as opposed to their twin engine Baron.

Once the race began, it took the couple from Long Island through different routes to Bahamas, flying over several ‘Out Islands’ using Light Houses and other geographic points as turn points.

After three very hard days of racing, Alan and Sherri won First Place in the GBAR.

What is in store for 2012?

As 2011 National Champion, Alan has received permission to sponsor and host the first Hill Country 150 Air Race out of the Llano Airport the weekend of April 20. More details to follow on that race.

In addition to the Hill Country 150 Air Race in Llano, Alan is planning on flying in the 2012 Reno Air Races, first flying to Reno to attend the Reno Rookie Racing School in June for training and certification and then in September for the race.