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54th ARS wins challenge

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kenneth W. Norman
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Five teams competed and burned a total of 43,986 calories within 12 hours during the 1st annual 54th Air Refueling Squadron invitational Question Mark Endurance Challenge Nov. 4 at the fitness center.

Each team's goal was to burn the most calories while keeping an elliptical machine in motion for 12 hours.

The teams were required to maintain elliptical movement with no more than a minute delay while switching members on and off the machines. The amount of calories burned was collected each time participants switched.

"The 54th ARS Question Mark Endurance Challenge raised $150 toward the Combined Federal Campaign," said Tech. Sgt. Shonna M. Calisi, 54th ARS boom operator instructor and evaluator and one of the organizers of the challenge. "The 54th ARS is looking forward to making this a CFC annual fundraiser."

The team's final scores were: The 54th ARS burned 11,096 calories, the 97th Logistics Readiness Squadron burned 9,777 calories, the 97th Operations Support Squadron burned 9,108 calories, the 97th Medical Group burned 7,122 calories and the 97th Command Post burned 6,883 calories.

The challenge was named after the Question Mark airplane.

The Question Mark, so named because the crew didn't know how long they would stay aloft, was a modified Atlantic-Fokker C-2A airplane flown by aviators of the United States Army Air Corps to experiment with aerial refueling. It was used to establish new world records in aviation for heavier-than-air sustained flight, refueled flight and distance.

According to Sergeant Calisi, The Question Mark took off from Van Nuys at 7:26 a.m. on New Year's Day 1929, carrying only 100 gallons of fuel to save takeoff weight. It landed under power at Metropolitan Airport at 2:06 p.m., 150 hours, 40 minutes, and 14 seconds after takeoff. Refueled 37 times and resupplied six others, with 12 of the 43 replenishments taking place at night, the Question Mark took on 5,660 gallons of fuel, 245 gallons of oil, and supplies of food and water for its five-man crew.