At age 17 Kazia Bame  started her studies to become a pilot. At age 18 she was flying solo over the mountain ranges of western Wyoming.

“Ever since I was little, it was my dream to be a pilot. It’s always been a passion of mine, Bame explained. “So I started looking for scholarships or things around the valley that I could do to get started.”

She found the scholarship with the Alpine Air Park and Steven Funk and the flight instruction came from John Kohler

Bame went through screening with the scholarship board, Koehler and Funk before receiving initial approval.

The process continued with hours of study and ground work, “where you learn all of the ins and outs and the rules before you hop in, and then, yeah, just tons of, like, flying every day, learning different maneuvers, different patterns, things like that.”

Sitting in the pilot’s seat comes after all the hours of preparation.

“It’s different for everybody, but for me, I had a good amount of hours before I soloed, and then I got up to about 50 hours before I took my check ride and passed my check ride,” she recalled.  “The check ride, if you pass, is what gives you your license.”

With the license came the first solo flight and for Bame and it included the mountain country of western Wyoming. “From the Afton airport, I flew down to Kemmerer, over to Big Piney, and then back to Afton,” she recalled of that solo flight. “So over two really big mountain ranges all by myself.”

Her thoughts with the first ride? “At first, I was very nervous, but once I got up and going, it definitely helped my confidence, and I was like, — I made it!”

Bame’s long term goals include a becoming a commercial pilot

“It costs a ton of money, and a ton of hours and you have to put in a lot of work, but I definitely want to get my instrument license and my commercial license,” she said of those future plans. “Then to be hired either for, like, an airline, or, I think, corporate would also be a really fun job.”

Looking back on her first years of as pilot she readily acknowledged that it takes study and work. “It’s not something that is easy and not something that I could have done if it wasn’t a dream and a goal and a huge passion of mine. It was tons of hours, tons of work, tons of studies, and it’s just not something that comes super easy. You have to put in everything you’ve got.” Reflecting on those early accomplishments, she said, “Yeah. I don’t even know if I fully comprehended it myself,” she said. “I’m very happy I did it, though.”

The counsel she offerrs for her generation who may be considering aviation.  “I think that the program that they already put out with the scholarship was great, and I think they should definitely keep doing it, because it helps kids who have a dream of being a pilot get that first step,” she said and added, “As for, like, the kids, I say if you want to do it, go for that first flight and see if you like it, and just go for it, put your whole heart into it.”

Bame credited the success of the Star Valley High School Scholarship program for opening up the opportunity. “I’m just very thankful for all of the people who helped me along the way; my family, and John Koehler, and my mom always being there.  She was a big part of it.”