But you no longer have to go to flight school to get certified to fly. "A lot of universities offer an aviation program degree," said Bordner, 23, who joined cargo airline Ameriflight in September 2017 after serving as an intern at UPS Airlines. She currently flies an EMB-120 Brasilia as a first officer out of Kalispell, Mont.
Aviation degrees include a bachelor of science in professional aviation flight technology (PAFT), aviation management or unmanned Systems (drones). Many are four-year programs, but there are also two-year associates' degrees, Bordner said.
In terms of where one would use such degrees, the sky's literally the limit.
"You could go on to fly for airlines, do corporate flying, certified flight instructor, medical flights, charter flights or Part 135 (commuter, corporate or on-demand) operations, Bordner said.
Looking at the roster of student pilots in the Air Classic, you might think women are a big part of the flying world, but you'd be wrong.
"Women were only 6 percent of the entire aviation department at Indiana State," said Bordner, mentioning that that school's entry into the Air Classic came as a result of a woman professor, Melanie Abel's, promotion of it.
Bordner believes the Air Classic helps raise the profile of women pilots. But while she and her fellow team members got to split the $3,000 second prize two years ago, they stll had to fund-raise to come up with thousands of dollars for hotel and food costs, entry fees and supplies (ISU paid for their fuel).
Collegiate teams, as long as they are in the competition class, are eligible to win the same prizes as other teams. In addition, their school also gets trophies and plaques.
But the students gain something even more valuable: training. The year her team placed, "PSA Airlines (a regional headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, and one of the sponsors of the Air Race Classic) gave us all-expense paid ATP CTP (The Airline Transport Pilot Certification Training Program) in their simulators," she said.
Each girl also got a Bose A20 aviation headset, which retails for over $1,000.
