DECATUR - When Margaret Ringenberg spotted a race competitor inside the airport lounge, she tried to make amends for flying her Cessna 182 a bit too close as they both headed for the runway.

"Dottie, I'm sorry I got in your way," Ringenburg told Dottie Anderson, adding a hug to drive home the point.

Anderson, flying in her 29th Air Race Classic, an all women's event, let her longtime friend know it was no big deal.

Ringenberg, 87, a Women's Air Force Service pilot during World War II, has flown in all but one of the cross-country races, held annually since 1977. Early Wednesday afternoon, she was one of the first pilots to stop in Decatur on the journey from Bozeman, Mont., to Mansfield, Mass.

Decatur is the third stop for the 33 teams, which must fly by or stop at specific airports in South Dakota, Iowa, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and New York. Decatur also was selected as a stop in 1993.

Ringenberg, who has her own chapter in Tom Brokaw's "The Greatest Generation," did not think women could be pilots when she was a young girl in Fort Wayne, Ind. When she applied to take flying lessons to back up a possible injured pilot as a stewardess, she discovered that women were allowed to fly.

She began flying at 19, just before the military began recruiting pilots to fly planes stateside, freeing male pilots for overseas duty.

"I was one of the first military pilots in World War II," Ringenberg said. "I've flown around the world a couple of times in races. I'm a competitor."

Ringenberg, a former race winner who finished fifth last year, is flying with Carolyn Van Newkirk of York, Pa., for the first time this year.

Van Newkirk, who has competed against Ringenberg many times, learned that the veteran is not big on modern flying techniques.

As Van Newkirk gave her some numbers related to takeoff procedures, Ringenberg waved her away, saying, "No, no, no, you got to feel it." The airplane they are flying is new to both of them. When Ringenberg began playing with various gadgets, Van Newkirk, baffled, asked her what she was doing.

"I'm listening for a certain sound," said Ringenberg, who has clocked more than 40,000 flying hours, or more than 4½ years in the air.

Jan Seiwert Bell, who lives not far from Ringenberg in Fort Wayne, listened to this tale about the legendary pilot and assessed her ability.

"She's probably forgotten more than we know," said Bell, a retired federal administrative judge competing in her fourth race.

Ruby Sheldon, 90, a retired pilot for the U.S. Geological Survey, never forgets to sign up for the race she considers an annual homecoming.

"It's seeing all your old friends and making new ones," she said.

Judy Bolkema-Tokar, Sheldon's race partner, said the race presents women as role models for girls.

"It's an opportunity to get out of the plane and hear girls say, 'Mommy, those are women flying those planes,' " Bolkema-Tokar said.

Tamra Sheffman of Miami Beach, Fla., who started flying at 40 years old, said it is exciting being a female pilot, with women making up just 5 percent of the pilot population.

Sheffman said pilots gain the competitive edge in the race, which often is determined by a difference of just seconds, by finding the best altitudes with the most favorable winds.

Her team member, Kristen Jurn, an aviation consultant and former news traffic pilot, said she enjoys the adventure and independence of flying.

The race winner is determined by a system of rating the performances of types of planes, with pilot performances measured against those ratings. Minutes spent at the stops are not counted.

"You're really competing against your own handicap," Jurn said.

Ringenberg, who has missed just one Air Race Classic, said it is a little harder for her to get in and out of planes, but flying still is essential to her.

"You get to see beautiful mountains and prairies. I enjoy it," she said. "When I get home to rest, I get depressed."

Huey Freeman can be reached at hfreeman@herald-review.com or 421-6985.