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Free online course helps pilots launch their aviation careers — General Aviation News - General Aviation News

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When she was a little girl, U.S. Air Force Reserve Capt. Kristin Bodie used to lay in the grass with her grandmother on their farm in rural Saluda, South Carolina, and watch the fighter jets from nearby Shaw Air Force Base fly overhead, wondering where they were going and what it would be like to fly through the clouds.

Her journey to become an Air Force pilot took years, and she flew all around the world to reach her goal. Now, she’s taken the lessons she’s learned and developed an online course to help others find their aviation career path more easily.

Capt. Kristin “Nikki” Bodie, 77th Air Refueling Squadron KC-46A Pegasus pilot, poses on the flight line at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. (U.S. Air Force photo by Carolyn Herrick)

Called Affordable Paths for Launching Your Aviation Career, the free course includes 15 lessons, including information about the various scholarships available and best practices for creating a winning application, in-depth explanations of military assistance programs for enlisted personnel, and information about other tools and resources that are available to both aspiring and current pilots.

‘Girls don’t fly planes’

Bodie, who is a KC-46A Pegasus pilot at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina and an Airbus 320 first officer for American Airlines, said her love of watching airplanes spurred a strong desire to fly them.

“Every time I mentioned becoming a pilot, teachers in school would say, ‘Girls don’t do that,’” Bodie said. “I didn’t know of any female pilots, so I believed them — until I got to college and a good friend took flight lessons and asked if I wanted to go on a flight.”

Bodie, who was attending Clemson University, immediately fell in love with being in the air.

Determined to become a professional pilot, she enrolled in a program at Embry-Riddle. Upon completion of her Master of Business Administration in aviation management and obtaining her flight ratings, Bodie landed her first flying job doing aerial surveys in a Cessna 172. As a brand-new pilot, she was in charge of all aspects of each mission, from coordination to logistics, refueling and maintenance.

“That taught me a lot about myself as a person and pilot,” she said. “I was out there traveling the country by myself with nothing but my suitcase and this tiny little airplane. It put me out of my comfort zone and made me more confident.”

After eight months, Bodie began flying mapping missions in the King Air 200s, working seven days followed by seven days off. Looking to fill her time off, Bodie discovered Wings of Hope, a humanitarian organization that flies to remote locations to provide lifesaving care interventions to people who have never have a chance to see a doctor.

This mission was close to her heart for personal reasons.

“When I was around 8 years old, I watched my cousin Loren struggle through leukemia, so it meant a lot to me to fly these missions,” Bodie said. “When my cousin died, it was so impactful. My entire life, I knew I needed to give back.”

As the only young woman volunteering, Bodie said she had to work hard to build her credibility.

“I would clean the hangar, mop, and trade apple dumplings and pecan pie to learn,” she said.

There, she learned to weld, do engine overhauls, change gears, fabrication, upholstery and more. After a few months, she began flying children with terminal illnesses and disabilities around the country for treatment.

Bodie became more and more involved with Wings of Hope, eventually becoming a board member and assisting on a global level. She also started volunteering in the organization’s SOAR into STEM program, partnering with Boeing to bring high-risk youth into the hangar to mentor them.

“We would talk about the military and show them how to join and get college paid for, to help get them out of situations they’re in and into something fulfilling,” she said.

“Pretty much from the minute I first flew at Clemson in 2009, I wanted to join the military,” she continued. “For years, I tried to email my package to all the units I was interested in and was not getting any response.”

By 2015, Bodie was finished with her MBA, fully rated, and working for Republic Airlines as a first officer flying the Embraer 170. Through all those years, that nagging feeling that she would serve in the military never left.

Standing out among her peers with higher education and 3,000 flying hours, she was selected for Officer Training School and Undergraduate Pilot Training after a recruiter suggested Bodie put in an unsponsored package. Several squadrons called to interview her, and she joined the 916th Air Refueling Wing at Seymour Johnson AFB, as a KC-135R Stratotanker pilot.

“It was a backward way of doing things and a very hard way to get into the Reserve,” said Bodie, who jokes that she had to fly all the way around the world to get to her goal of serving in the military.

Driven by a desire to help others streamline the process of obtaining a pilot’s certificate, Bodie connected with BogiDope, an aviation career consulting resource, and became its first female coach. For a year, Bodie researched and compiled all the best resources into the free e-course.

“If it helps one person win a scholarship or figure a path they didn’t know about, the entire year working on it and years building up to are worth it,” she said.

Bodie’s free e-course can be accessed here.

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