HARTFORD -- They travel at about 120 knots, and Teresa Camp and Denise Robinson are used to the speed.
The private pilots are taking their love of flying to new heights this week as they embark on an epic journey. The duo will compete in the annual all women's "Air Race Classic," a race hundreds of feet above the ground that was started by Amelia Earhart.
"It was actually started by Amelia Earhart," Camp said. "It's over 2,400 nautical miles, it has nine legs in it and it takes us about four days to complete."
The Air Race Classic, or ARC, includes 55 teams and about 130 female pilots from across the country. The teams depart from Prescott, Arizona, and the a final destination is Daytona Beach, Florida.
Camp, who in real life is a wife, mother and program manager at Pratt and Whitney, said the historic race is about empowering women in aviation. "Folks who are all passionate about the same thing, which is aviation, and supporting women and their goals."
Robinson, a nurse from Avon, said, "This is about flying, having fun, being safe and moving aviation forward."
Tending to their aircraft at Hartford-Brainard Airport on Tuesday, Camp and Robinson said they call their plane -- and their team -- the "Purple Hearts." The name makes literal sense since Robinson's single-engine Piper Archer is painted purple and white.
The team will depart for Prescott on Wednesday and then ready themselves for the race, which begins on June 21. Before the race the two will stop in St. Louis to pick up fellow Purple Heart teammate Cary Fletcher, another pilot in their crew.
The duo behind Team Purple Hearts is trying to raise awareness for their charity, "Operation Homefront," which supports veterans' causes. To find out more about the Purple Hearts upcoming race click here.
