Quick, what is the name of the first woman to fly solo around the world??
Amelia Earhart???
Jacqueline Cochran???
Nope!
Jackie was the first woman to break the sound barrier, and at the time of her death, held more speed, distance, and altitude records than any other pilot in aviation history. But she didn't fly around the world.
Jerrie Mock???
Who???!!??
The diminutive self described "Flying Housewife" was, on the surface, an unlikely candidate for breaking world aviation records. She was barely 5 feet tall, was a housewife and mother of three children and 38 years old when she decided to become the first woman to fly solo around the world.
What made her think she could do it?
The answer to that question lies in the story of her life leading up to that moment.
Geraldine "Jerrie" Fredritz was born in Newark, Ohio in 1925. At a young age she had her first flight and she enjoyed it so much that she declared that she was going to be a pilot when she grew up! She read voraciously about foreign lands and exotic locales, dreaming that she would fly there herself. Amelia Earhart was her idol and she listened raptly to the evening radio reports of Earhart's progress on her attempt to fly around the world.
Never a conformist, Jerrie was among the first women admitted to the aeronautical engineering program at Ohio State University. However, she left the program in 1945 when she married her husband, Russell Mock, a licensed pilot.
But her dream did not die there.
Jerrie earned her pilot's license at age 32, in 1958. She and her husband would fly their single engine Cessna during family vacations.
In 1962, bored as a suburban housewife, Jerrie decided she needed a challenge. Jokingly, Russ suggested, "Why not fly around the world?" And a dream was kindled.
All the planning and paperwork took patience and dedication, Mock said, "...the flying was easy."
Jerrie preferred wearing slacks, but donned skirts for her flight to be more culturally acceptable in the more conservative countries she would be visiting.
Jerrie needed additional training, getting her instrument rating and learning to use an oxygen mask. Her plane needed extensive modifications and additional equipment to be ready for a trip around the world.
Her Cessna was named "The Spirit of Columbus", for her hometown, but she nicknamed it "Three-Eight Charlie" for its tail numbers.
Shortly before her scheduled departure, Mock found out that another woman, named Joan Merriman Smith, was also going to attempt an around the world flight. Mock moved up her departure date, leaving 2 days after Smith. Jerrie's flight had just become a race.
She left Columbus on March 19, heading southeast towards the Bahamas.
Her flight was not without incidents:
On April 17 Governor of Ohio, and five thousand of people awaited her touch down at the Columbus Airport. She had done it!
She was awarded the Federal Aviation Agency's gold Medal for Exceptional Service by President L.B. Johnson on 4 May 1964.
Jerrie surpassed her hero Amelia Earhart's attempt to fly around the world. Not only did Mock succeed, she did under tougher conditions.
When Earhart made her attempt in 1937, she flew a brand new twin engine plane and had an experienced navigator with her. Mock's plane was an 11 year old single engine Cessna 180 whose fresh paint hid the cracks. And she flew solo.
Records that Mock broke:
She never flew The Spirit of Columbus again. It is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.
It was close to the end of her life when Jerrie achieved some fame for her daring. Two bronze statues stand in tribute to "The Flying Housewife"; one in her hometown of Newark and one at the Columbus International Airport.
SOURCES:
 |
| Amelia Earhart - 1928 Photo courtesy Library of Congress |
Nope! She died in her attempt in 1937.
Jacqueline Cochran???
 |
| Jacqueline Cochran in a P-40 Photo courtesy WikiCommons |
Nope!
Jackie was the first woman to break the sound barrier, and at the time of her death, held more speed, distance, and altitude records than any other pilot in aviation history. But she didn't fly around the world.
Jerrie Mock???
Who???!!??
 |
| Jerrie Mock UPI photo |
The diminutive self described "Flying Housewife" was, on the surface, an unlikely candidate for breaking world aviation records. She was barely 5 feet tall, was a housewife and mother of three children and 38 years old when she decided to become the first woman to fly solo around the world.
What made her think she could do it?
The answer to that question lies in the story of her life leading up to that moment.
Geraldine "Jerrie" Fredritz was born in Newark, Ohio in 1925. At a young age she had her first flight and she enjoyed it so much that she declared that she was going to be a pilot when she grew up! She read voraciously about foreign lands and exotic locales, dreaming that she would fly there herself. Amelia Earhart was her idol and she listened raptly to the evening radio reports of Earhart's progress on her attempt to fly around the world.
Never a conformist, Jerrie was among the first women admitted to the aeronautical engineering program at Ohio State University. However, she left the program in 1945 when she married her husband, Russell Mock, a licensed pilot.
But her dream did not die there.
Jerrie earned her pilot's license at age 32, in 1958. She and her husband would fly their single engine Cessna during family vacations.
In 1962, bored as a suburban housewife, Jerrie decided she needed a challenge. Jokingly, Russ suggested, "Why not fly around the world?" And a dream was kindled.
All the planning and paperwork took patience and dedication, Mock said, "...the flying was easy."
Jerrie preferred wearing slacks, but donned skirts for her flight to be more culturally acceptable in the more conservative countries she would be visiting.
Jerrie needed additional training, getting her instrument rating and learning to use an oxygen mask. Her plane needed extensive modifications and additional equipment to be ready for a trip around the world.
Her Cessna was named "The Spirit of Columbus", for her hometown, but she nicknamed it "Three-Eight Charlie" for its tail numbers.
Shortly before her scheduled departure, Mock found out that another woman, named Joan Merriman Smith, was also going to attempt an around the world flight. Mock moved up her departure date, leaving 2 days after Smith. Jerrie's flight had just become a race.
She left Columbus on March 19, heading southeast towards the Bahamas.
Her flight was not without incidents:
- On starting the plane up on the day before Jerrie's take off, oil poured out of the cowling. The brand new oil filter that had just been installed had been replaced with an old, filthy one. Jerrie suspected sabotage but refused to be intimidated.
- Her antenna wire caught fire over the Libyan desert and she had to turn the switch off.
- The plane's brakes had to be replaced.
- Her long range, HF radio wasn't working and it was discovered that a lead was disconnected and taped off. Jerrie againsuspected sabotage.
- Her plane picked up ice from a mist on the cross Atlantic leg of her journey and she had to increase altitude to rise above it.
- She mistakenly landed at a military airport in Egypt and had to be redirected to the International Airport at Cairo.
On April 17 Governor of Ohio, and five thousand of people awaited her touch down at the Columbus Airport. She had done it!
She was awarded the Federal Aviation Agency's gold Medal for Exceptional Service by President L.B. Johnson on 4 May 1964.
 |
| "President Johnson awards Mock the Federal Aviation Agency Gold Medal on May 4, 1964" |
When Earhart made her attempt in 1937, she flew a brand new twin engine plane and had an experienced navigator with her. Mock's plane was an 11 year old single engine Cessna 180 whose fresh paint hid the cracks. And she flew solo.
Records that Mock broke:
- First woman to fly solo around the world
- First woman to fly across the pacific and Atlantic Oceans
- First woman to do so in a single engine plane
- First woman to fly the Atlantic from the United States to Africa
- First woman to fly the Pacific west to east.
- Set the female speed record for around-the-world, and did in a Type C1-c aircraft
Jerrie never sought fame for her accomplishment, claiming she mostly did it "to have fun." And her feat when unnoticed in the turbulent times of the sixties. The war in Vietnam was heating up, the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing, and President Kennedy had been assassinated less than 5 months before.
After her around the world flight in 1964, she went on to set more speed records in a Cessna P106. And in 1966 she set the record for the longest nonstop flighty by a woman when she flew from Honolulu to Columbus.
After her around the world flight in 1964, she went on to set more speed records in a Cessna P106. And in 1966 she set the record for the longest nonstop flighty by a woman when she flew from Honolulu to Columbus.
She never flew The Spirit of Columbus again. It is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.
 |
| The Spirit of Columbus Photo courtesy of National Air and Space Museum |
It was close to the end of her life when Jerrie achieved some fame for her daring. Two bronze statues stand in tribute to "The Flying Housewife"; one in her hometown of Newark and one at the Columbus International Airport.
 |
| Mock's statue at Columbus Airport |
So what made Jerrie think she could do it?
It never occurred to her that she couldn't!
SOURCES:
- Andes, Jodi, "Jerry Mock: an Inspiration to Anyone", Echoes Magazine. Jan-Feb 2019, pp. 26-31.
- “Editorial - Jerrie Mock, adventurer” Columbus Dispatch, 3 Oct 2014, page 14. Aaccessed on Newsbank 9 January 2019.
- First Flight Society https://firstflight.org/paul-e-garber-first-flight-shrine-inductee-jerrie-mock
- “The Flying Housewife”, Aerospace Pioneers Federal Aviation Administration https://www.faa.gov/about/history/pioneers/media/Jerrie_Mock.pdf
- "Jacqueline Cochran" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2 March 2019, accessed 5 March 2019.
- “Jerrie Mock” Ohio History Central http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Jerrie_Mock
- “Jerrie Mock/1925-2014 Aviator to make final trip around the world” Columbus Dispatch, 2 Oct 2014, page 3B, accessed on Newsbank 9 January 2019.
- “Obituaries” Columbus Dispatch, 3 Oct 2014, page 9B accessed on Newsbank 9 January 2019.
- Pimm, Nancy Roe, The Jerried Mock Story The first Woman to Fly Solo Around the World, Ohio University Press, Athens, 2016.
- Saunder, Amy, “Where Amelia Earhart Tried, Geraldine Mock Succeeded”, AirSpaceMag.com https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/twenty-seven-years-after-amelia-earhart-tried-geraldine-mock-flew-solo-around-world-180950144/ May 2014
- Smithsonian Air and Space Museum
- https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/women-in-aviation/mock.cfm
- https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/remembering-jerrie-mock-1925-2014
- https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/celebrating-jerrie-mock-first-woman-fly-around-world
- https://airandspace.si.edu/multimedia-gallery/1196640jpg
- https://airandspace.si.edu/multimedia-gallery/3990hjpg
- https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/mock-geraldine-l-jerrie-digital-image-9
- Unknown (Associated Press) "President Johnson awards Mock the Federal Aviation Agency Gold Medal on May 4, 1964" Public Domain, accessed on Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia , accessed 5 March 2019.
- Unknown (UPI) [Public domain] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jerrie_Mock_1964c.jpg accessed on WikiCommons, 5 March 2019
Thank you for focusing on this little known piece of history. You’ve written about two of my favorite things - women’s accomplishments and aviation. 😊
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