Team selection is done, mascots chosen and aeroplanes readied, but fundraising continues at pace. This is the current status of most teams entered in the 2025 Outback Air Race (OAR).
From Show Me the Mooney, The Atmospherics and Top Gun IV, to the Beech Bums, Kiwi Express and Triple Whiskey on the Rocks, every team knows what they have to do to make OAR as successful this year as it has been in previous years.
More than 40 aircraft will take on the challenge of the 12th OAR in August this year, with the target of raising $750,000 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
Held approximately every three years since 1996, the OAR has raised more than $4 million for the RFDS and taken competing teams the width and breadth of the Australian outback.
Race Manager Stuart Payne says the 12th OAR is well-subscribed with teams and sponsors flocking to the cause.
"The overwhelming demand highlights the race's increasing profile and solidifies its place in the aviation community,” he said.
“This growth demonstrates the Outback Air Race’s broad appeal and offers sponsors the chance to reach a wide, engaged audience, while supporting a cause that truly matters to Australians."
Race spots for 2025 were booked out within one day of entries opening.
A time trial rather than a traditional speed race, OAR 2025 will start on 22 August in Yulara NT and conclude on 8 September in Carnarvon WA with the teams having covered more than 2000 nm en route.
The route, which will take 15 days and contain 10 stops, will head north from Yulara through Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Daly Waters to Katherine, before turning westward through Kununurra and Broome, south to Onslow and Exmouth, finishing in Carnarvon.
Each team provides a flight plan and race note to the race director at the beginning of each leg, complete in all details including estimated time interval for that leg.
Leg timing starts when the aircraft is closest horizontally to a pre-designated start point and end when the aircraft is closest horizontally to the finish point.
For each race leg, teams will nominate an elapsed time interval and a point is deducted for every second early or late over the check point.
But the OAR is not a hell-for-leather dash between points; it's about how well you can stick to your plan. Teams are even allowed to deviate from the route to enjoy scenic opportunities, visit relatives or any other side-track that takes their fancy.
All aircraft must cross the pre-designated feature in cruise configuration and approach the checkpoint at no more than 10nm either side of the direct track. Orbiting or reversing track to soak-up time will get a team disqualified. Although fun is a major motivator for teams, safety remains paramount.
Several days are programmed as No-Fly days, which free up the participants to enjoy the communities and give them a well-earned rest from competing.
As in previous years, the teams come from all over the country, each one powered by an aviation story that attracts them to the OAR. For some it's a call to adventure, for others its all about fundraising to enable the RFDS to keep up medical services to remote communities.
Then there are those who are in it for the companionship and socialising that go hand-in-hand with spending 15 days in company with other aviators.
It's enough to attract three teams of aviators from NZ, who will be hoping to take the coveted OAR winners' mantle back over the Tasman Sea come mid-September.
The reigning champions from 2022, Ian and Connie Warburton, The Warbos, might have something to say about that; they'll be hoping to go back-to-back in 2025.
But in the end, regardless of who gets the honours, it will once again be the Royal Flying Doctor Service that comes out the winners.