About Think Global Flight

Our volunteers were critical in supporting Think Global Flight’s mission of inspiring our next generation.  The success of Captain Judy and crew circumnavigating the globe while piloting a Citation Mustang, engaged more than 20,000 students in 35 countries. 

The students’ Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (S.T.E.A.M). and career awareness was developed through numerous events.  Primary students, led by an educator or parent, generally followed Captain Judy’s flight, thus bringing the world of geography to life.  These students were exposed to real-time cultures by joining Captain Judy in her travels through social media, the web site blog, or LIVE broadcasts.  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 with Rice throughout her flight, comparing their predictions with actual winds aloft and much more.

Augmenting Think Global Flight’s educational message is the additional, very significant message conveyed by Captain Rice’s gender as a female in a predominantly male career field.  Rice is a model career mentor, enriching the lives of diverse youth through educational and career mentoring initiatives.

Among those expressing their support were Astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin and Voyager pilot Dick Rutan.  Buzz Aldrin accompanied the Crew on most of their journey.  Dr. Aldrin expressed his support by saying, “Back when I was privileged to be a part of the Apollo program no one had ever heard of S.T.E.A.M.  This is the precise focus of Think Global Flight and why I strongly support Captain Judy and the flight.  I witnessed the differences Captain Judy created on this historic flight.”

Captain Rice created the non-profit organization to serve as a global, inaugural experience for students’ exploration of career options and pathways in the aviation and aerospace industries.  The project 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, Art, and Mathematics (S.T.E.A.M.) awareness.

Our Volunteers

Edwin Sahakian, John Friedman, Buzz Aldrin, Capt Judy Rice

Edwin Sahakian, John Friedman, Buzz Aldrin, Captain Judy Rice

FLIGHT CREW

Navigator Fred Nauer

Navigator Fred Nauer 
Captain Edwin Sahakian
Captain John Friedman

LOGISTIC CREW

Gary Marschheuser, Ground Crew Chief
Rich Mamrosh National Weather Service

EDUCATION CREW

Neme Alperstein
Lisa Bacon
Lori Bradner
Janet Ivey
Diana LaSueur
Pamela Leestma
Lonnie Schorer
Keith Minerva

 

“Air Journey is excited to use our considerable experience to assist the Think Global effort to fly around the world,”

“AOPA is proud to support Think Global Flight as they travel around the world using general aviation to inspire students to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. By exposing young people to flying and motivating them to succeed in school, this program is a great way to spark the passion for aviation that will help the next generation of pilots and aviation professionals live their dreams.”

“Children love to dream. When children dream, they become passionate learners so they can achieve their dreams. We need passionate, highly educated children that will have the capability to shape the future of this planet. ThinkGlobalFlight.org is one of those needed catalysts to bring enthusiasm and passion to our students. Spidertracks, the premier real-time flight tracking service provider is proud to be associated with ThinkGlobalFlight.org. Utilizing our patented “spider”, a tracking device installed in the aircraft that sends out location information to a website using the Iridium satellite network will allow children of all ages to follow and monitor this around-the-world flight of adventure and provide the emergency alert capability to keep our wonderful pilot safe.”

“Cirrus Aircraft is on board with the Think Global Flight team to help promote education and aviation around the world.”

“Fly and Fun Flight School in Madrid, Spain became involved with Think Global Flight for promoting aviation and education, as both belong to mankind. We share the same passion to spark young´s people interest in STEM, and promote their teamwork and leadership abilities through aviation and education…Our future is theirs!”

“Fly To Learn, Powered by X-Plane, is a proud sponsor of Captain Judy and Think Global Flight. Think Global Flight captures the adventure of flying, while Fly To Learn provides real world application to STEM education. Through our partnerships, we will build future engineers one student at a time.”

“Gulf Coast Avionics is a proud sponsor of Think Global Flight as we believe in real-world application to S.T.E.M education. The Student Command Centers are a flexible learning tool any educator and student would enjoy participating as they join the crew on their flight of adventures.” 

“iFlightPlanner is excited and proud to support the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics professionals of tomorrow with ThinkGlobal Flight. We can think of no better way to share our passion for the skills that have made iFlightPlanner a reality than through an educational awareness flight around the world!”

“Jeppesen is pleased to support the mission of ThinkGlobal in promoting the important elements of STEM Education while highlighting the significant opportunities offered throughout the aviation and aerospace industries. As a company that strives to create solutions that make operations better, safer and more efficient, Jeppesen is proud to also provide learning-based curriculum and charting material for the Command Centers as well as critical mission data needed to perform the global flight in 2013. Their success is the industry’s success.”

“Ken Cook Co, supports Captain Judy and ThinkGlobal Flight in their important mission to spread the news about aviation education to young people around the world.”

“The Abingdon Co. is proud to support Think Global Flight and their mission to promote education in science, technology, engineering, and math. As a company which strives to introduce more youth to the aerospace and aviation industries, we recognize how important the objectives are of ThinkGlobalFlight. We wish them all the best on their around the world flight and will assist in any way we can.”