Fast wishes

Mathis Winkler

At speeds of up to 200 mph, reading the winds on the water that’s only

50 to 75 feet below, a lack of adrenaline’s the last thing Jerrel C.

Barto and Gregory V. Ruzicka have to worry about.

The two Newport Beach residents -- passionate pilots in their spare

time -- recently competed in an air race around the Hawaiian Islands that

raises money for the state’s Make-a-Wish Foundation.

The event, now in its third year, raises about $25,000 each time for

the group, which fulfills the wishes of terminally ill children.

“All in all, it’s just really exciting,” said Barto, 65, who chairs

the board of his oil production and refinery company when he’s not up in

the air. “And it’s all for a good cause.”

Over two days, about 32 pilots race around the islands. The route runs

more than 600 miles and takes about five hours, Barto said.

To make sure that no one’s cheating, every team gets a disposable

camera and has to take pictures of checkpoints along the way. The

snapshots must be taken at a certain altitude and distance or pilots lose

points.

“We’ve never been penalized,” both men said, knocking on the wooden

coffee table on the second floor of Barto’s Lido Isle home.

While Ruzicka flew a Cessna 172 SP with a pilot friend from Honolulu,

Barto’s 41-year-old son, Eric, who has lived on Maui for nine years,

joined his father in a Piper Saratoga.

It doesn’t matter what planes pilots fly, because race organizers take

horsepower advantages into considerations.

“They do handicapping to give everyone an equal chance,” Ruzicka said.

“The guy with a million-dollar plane doesn’t have a big advantage.”

There’s two ways to participate in the race, Barto said. Pilots may

enter the speed race, which honors the fastest team overall. Or there’s

the proficiency race, won by the crew that gets closest to a time and

fuel estimate it sets before takeoff.

Ruzicka came in fourth in that category this year, missing his time

goal by a minute and 54 seconds.

The Bartos ruled the race, winning both categories and taking home the

prize for best family team, as well as a “Top Gun” award.

Their fuel estimate was off by four-tenths of a gallon. Their time

calculations missed the outcome by three seconds.

“I’m still in awe of them,” said Ruzicka, 45.

But calling in from Hawaii, where he enjoyed “just another normal day

in paradise,” with beautiful, sunny skies and temperatures of about 80

degrees, Eric Barto said he and his father couldn’t take all the credit.

“It’s nice to get lucky once in a while,” he said.

Both Ruzicka and the Bartos said they were already looking forward to

next year’s race.

It’s hard to beat flying around the islands, they agreed.

“It’s more beautiful than to fly from here to Banning,” Ruzicka said.

FYI

For information on the race, call (949) 759-1080.