Dell Rourk was born, educated and learned to fly in an Aeronca Champ in and around St. Paul, Minnesota. Many years later, when her husband retired from the Army and the couple attended their first Reno air race in 1967 she wanted to be close to airplanes again. Volunteering to help with the Professional Race Pilots Association and joining the National Air-racing Group was the beginning. Volunteering to help Lyle Shelton at the races when he was in charge of Mojave Air Race Management in the mid-seventies later opened the door to Dell becoming part of the Rare Bear Air Racing Team.
Shelton’s Bearcat, and his pocketbook, had suffered severe damage in 1976 when an oil line blew during his qualifying run at Mojave. He didn’t return to air racing until 1980 at Reno. The Rourks eagerly volunteered to help where needed and were accepted as part of the crew. Along the way she wrote several articles: Air Racing History for the Sports Enclopedia of North America, Lyle Shelton’s Bearcat for the aviation newsletter The Finish Line, a short stoiy for the 1994 Reno Air Race Association’s race program about Shelton’s mayday at Mojave, and for eight years she wrote and published a monthly newsletter, Bear Facts, for the crew and supporters of Shelton’s Rare Bear Air Racing Team.
