Today, Jennifer Henderson is an engineering project pilot for the 787 with the Boeing Company, but her passion for aviation began during her childhood in southern Maryland. She grew up next to a naval base watching planes take off and land, and when her father took her to air shows, she knew that she wanted to be a military pilot. After high school, she became a cooperative education student working for the Naval Air Warfare Center, where she eventually became a full-time flight test engineer.
Jennifer ultimately wanted to be a rated pilot, so she enlisted in the Air Force Reserve to earn her pilot’s wings, and she later obtained her Master’s degree in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University. But looking back at her original goal to become an aerospace engineer, she says the key to achieving that specific degree was her decision to become a cooperative education student. And now she’s a big part of the “big picture” for flight testing at Boeing.
Watch the video above for Jennifer’s crucial advice in how to get started on your own path to becoming a test flight pilot.
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