RACINE - David Mann pressed his binoculars to his orange-tinted aviator sunglasses for a split second, then picked up his walkie-talkie. "In sight," he said.

A few minutes later, a rented Cessna 182 propeller plane landed in front of Mann at John H. Batten International Airport. Volunteer timekeeper Jill Gould recorded the official time: 9:18:54 a.m. Eastern. A few minutes later, a separate small plane landed and then taxied by the timekeepers' tent, with a sign saying "thank you" in red capital letters visible through the window.

The planes belonged to fliers competing in the all-female Air Race Classic, a transcontinental race in which Racine is the second-to-last of nine stops. Racers began landing at Batten on Thursday morning, and have until Friday to get to the final stop in Atlantic, Iowa.

This year's race totals 2,359 nautical miles, and teams are judged by their flying efficiency and accuracy relative to their planes' horsepower, according to an Air Race Classic press release. The race began in Denver on Tuesday.

80-year-old Marie Carastro of Montgomery, Ala. has been flying since 1957. She enjoyed the view of the lake coming in, but has never been to Racine. "Right now I don't know what is Racine. I'll have to look," she said.

Carastro and her daughter, with team Classic 10, sat in the waiting room after landing the Cessna 182, pondering whether the winds and weather were cause to stay overnight in Racine or forge ahead to Atlantic.

Carastro first flew in what was known as the Powder Puff Derby back in 1960, before it shut down. The Powder Puff Derby began in 1929 when Amelia Earhart and 19 other female pilots flew from Santa Monica, Calif., to Cleveland. The Air Race Classic arrived in 1977 in its place, and is now the last long-distance race in the country, said Marolyn Wilson, president of the Air Race Classic. There are pilots as old as 88, and teams from college as well, Wilson said.

This is the first time in the Classic's history that Racine has been a destination, Wilson said. Batten fit conveniently on the map this year when organizers were deciding on the route from Denver to Atlantic, Iowa, she added.

As of Thursday evening, 28 of the 32 racing teams had touched down in Racine, said Mann, the airport manager. All but two of the teams planned to stay in Racine overnight, though some pilots were completely new to the area.

En route from Jacksonville, Ill., Thursday morning, one team of three fliers ran into plane trouble 84 miles from Batten. The engine made a rough sound and the four-seater began to slow, said Irene Lev, 29, one of the members of the Classic 31 team. The group made it to Racine just fine, but the plane needed some work before Lev or her teammates could head to Iowa.

Lev and teammate Athina Holmes, 43, decided that staying in the area Thursday night may be more interesting than going to Iowa. They hadn't been to Racine before, but they'd heard of a flight museum nearby and a concert in the area.

"At least here there's something," Lev said.