First woman to fly solo around the world

Year

1964

By

Jerrie Mock

Place

Columbus, Franklin County ZIP 43215 · Columbus · Franklin County

In the early 1960s no woman had flown alone around the world. Jerrie Mock, born in Newark, Ohio on November 22, 1925 and living in Columbus, decided to try in a Cessna 180 she called the Spirit of Columbus.

She took off from Columbus on March 19, 1964 and landed back on April 17, after 29 days, 11 hours and 59 minutes, covering nearly 23,000 miles with 21 stopovers. On the way she became the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific from west to east.

Another pilot, Joan Merriam Smith, was making a similar flight at the same time in an informal race, and Mock finished first. The Federal Aviation Agency awarded her its Gold Medal for Exceptional Service in 1964.

Her airplane is kept at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. She was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2022 and died in 2014, at 88, in Quincy, Florida.

• 1925-11-22: Jerrie Mock is born in Newark, Ohio. (Newark, OH) source
• 1964-03-19: She departs Columbus in the Spirit of Columbus. (Columbus, OH) source
• 1964-04-17: She returns after 29 days 11 hours 59 minutes and 21 stops. (Columbus, OH) source
• 1964: The FAA awards her its Gold Medal for Exceptional Service. source
• 2014: Mock dies in Quincy, Florida, at age 88. (Quincy, FL) source
• 2022: She is inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame. source

• First woman to fly solo around the world.
• First woman to fly solo across the Pacific from west to east.

First woman solo around the world.

• Wikipedia: Jerrie Mock

• Wikipedia: Jerrie Mock