Credit: Epic Flight Academy
Judy Rice dreamed of flying since she was a little girl and saw a hot air balloon overhead. Receiving no encouragement, because she was a girl, and “girls don’t fly,” she deferred those dreams for many years. She became an ESE teacher and taught for 18 years. Finally, at age 40, after her 10-year-old son Ben inquired as to why she had never become a pilot, she went for it.
She was on a schoolteacher’s budget and a single mom, so her son joined her for flight lessons. As she studied the books, she taught Ben, who is today a helicopter pilot. She earned her private pilot license, instrument rating, commercial, advanced ground instructor, multi-engine, Citation type-rating, and most importantly, CFI (certified flight instructor). Multi-engine was hard because she’s little, just 100 pounds. Smashing that rudder when you lose an engine is not easy, plus she was short. But it shows anyone with determination can do it.
Judy became involved in aviation with everything she had. A former president of the National Coalition for Aviation and Space Education (NCASE), she left her teaching position to focus on developing aviation and aerospace courses and curriculums for the National 4-H Aerospace Curriculum Project. She has been recognized with awards such as the Experimental Aircraft Association's Outstanding Ground Volunteer Award and the Minnesota Governor's Award for Excellence in Aerospace Education. Judy even owned her own airplane, a bright red 1971 Grumman AA-1A she dubbed, “Chuck.”
Determined to inspire as many aspiring pilots as possible, Judy put together an audacious plan to fly around the world. She intended to use technology to connect with students as she circumnavigated the globe on an education mission. First, she undertook the daunting task of establishing a non-profit organization: Think Global Flight (TGF).
Then, she and her navigator, flew a Cirrus SR22T 7,000 miles around the country to generate interest in the upcoming global flight. Judy spoke at schools, met with potential sponsors, and got everyone on board for the big trip. They flew from May 2014 to August 2014. During this national flight, TGF Winds Aloft curricula was beta tested throughout the United States, assuring worldwide success. This curriculum was recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and U.S. Department of Education (DOE) for its real-world applications in growing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) awareness.
TGF’s advisory council consisted of 11 industry leaders from across the globe, including NASA astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin, who ultimately accompanied her in 2015 for the global flight in a Cessna Citation Mustang CE-510. During the mission, Judy and her team engaged more than 20,000 students in 25 countries.
They developed students’ career awareness in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) through numerous events. Primary students, led by an educator or parent, generally followed the flight through technology, thus bringing the world of geography to life. These students were exposed to real-time cultures by joining Judy in her travels through social media, her website blog, or live broadcasts. They were in constant communication.
Middle school, high school, and college students participated in the Winds Aloft Contest. This student-led program empowered and excited all the participating students in their learning through researching, analyzing, and forecasting winds aloft and flight parameters from one of Think Global Flight’s routes of their choosing. Students interacted throughout the flight, comparing their predictions with actual winds aloft and much more. Judy was thrilled to see how engaged they were.
Students were also excited to see a female in a predominantly male career field making this journey. Judy always endeavored to be a career mentor in the hope of enriching the lives of diverse youth through educational and career mentoring initiatives. The global flight caught students’ attention, and their interaction reassured her she was onto something.
Judy and her team departed Burbank, California on June 13, 2015 and returned to Burbank after their successful circumnavigation on August 15, 2015. They experienced 24 countries and made 12 refueling stops. Of course, along the way, they shared many adventures as they headed east and flew over the North Atlantic Ocean. This would be a flight for the record books.
Embarking from the U.S., Judy met with students at every opportunity. She flew through Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, documenting every facet of the trip and sharing through social media and blog posts. The technology was difficult to access for some of the students, but Judy was able to respond to their posts every night before getting some sleep. The trip was tiring, but she didn’t want to fall behind in her communications with students. They were the whole reason for the trip. Most of the students talked to her from their schools where they had access to computers, and she was thrilled to see her vision become a reality.
Circumnavigating the globe was a daunting challenge on its own, but it included another highlight. Judy Rice set a world speed record from Greenland to Iceland.
The speed record was a huge amount of work – before, during, and after. Plus, it required a lot of paperwork. She left Greenland and flew just over 500 nautical miles to Iceland. She had researched a number of speed records from and to various points and had to pick an area that did not have a speed record that was greater than the airplane could do. The airplane maxed at 500 knots, and the record-setting window was about a fifteen-minute span.
Eventually, Judy received the official news. At 350 mph, which is 304.15 knots, or .46 Mach, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and National Aeronautic Association (NAA) awarded her the Speed Over a Recognized Course Record from Kangerlussuaq, Greenland to Reykjavik, Iceland.
Circumnavigation and world records aside, Judy was a teacher at heart. She spent the last six years of her aviation career as the private pilot ground school instructor at Epic Flight Academy in New Smyrna Beach, Florida where she taught hundreds of students from around the globe. Her colleagues held her in the highest regard for her ability to help all students succeed, and her students worshipped her for her kindness and patience.
In addition to teaching more than 1,400 pilots at Epic, Judy also wrote a series of aviation articles and was featured in numerous teaching videos. These have been viewed thousands of times by aspiring pilots around the world. “Captain Judy,” as her students lovingly called her, impacted countless aspiring aviators.
After a stroke in 2023, Judy knew it was time to retire from Epic and fold her wings. At her retirement party, Epic Flight Academy honored her by naming the library after her. The Captain Judy Rice Library is just down the hall from the Bessie Coleman Classroom where Judy taught for six years.
Diagnosed with cancer in 2024, Judy was not finished. Under adverse conditions, she penned her memoir, Around the World with Captain Judy Rice: A Pilot’s Memoir. She remained a role model to the very end. Judy passed away on July 19, 2024.
For someone who came to flying relatively later in life, Judy Rice certainly made her mark. Hundreds of her students have gone on to become flight instructors, and her legacy will continue to be felt by many who never had the pleasure of knowing her. She generously gave of her knowledge, and despite her many honors and accolades, her students’ success meant even more to her.
