Taking Flight With Jerrie Mock
Port Columbus International Airport; Columbus, Ohio; March 19, 1964. History was about to be made as Jerrie Fredritz Mock, Υ, stood before a crowd of reporters and well-wishers, moments before taking off in her beloved Cessna 180, officially named the Spirit of Columbus. But, to Jerrie, it was known simply as “Charlie,” a specially-equipped single-engine plane destined to circumnavigate the world in the first-ever solo flight completed by a woman.
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“I was certainly nervous,” Jerrie said. “I knew the dangers. Anything could happen out there. And, I was only recently rated for instrument flight. The day I was to take off was quite cloudy. I would have preferred a bright sunny day.”
This feisty mother of four was just the kind of woman to take on such a challenge. As a child, Jerrie was fascinated by flight and by the pioneers who had gone before her. “I remember hearing about Amelia Earhart’s attempt to fly around the world when I was very young. I told my parents that one day I was going to complete the flight. I was going to make it.”
With multiple sponsors in place, a bona fide media frenzy and even another female pilot hot on Jerrie’s heels for most of the month-long journey, “Three-Eight Charlie” was poised to fly into the history books at a time when most women did not work outside the home,
not to mention dream of flying around the globe.
“I tell women all the time to name their dream, and then follow it,” said Jerrie. “Sure it can be scary and there are obstacles to face – sometimes they seem insurmountable. But, are you really going to let that stop you? We have a duty to ourselves to chase those dreams with a
vengeance, to be the women we were meant to be.”
On April 17, 1964, Jerrie was back where she started just 29 days earlier, but with her goal firmly in her grasp; her childhood dream, accomplished. When she thinks back on it, she remembers, “I was exhausted. Spent. It took weeks before it would all sink in and it was quite a whirlwind. Speeches, interviews, the White House, opportunities to visit locations all
over the world. Suddenly our lives had taken a significant turn.”
 Not surprisingly, Jerrie didn’t rest on her laurels. After her flight around the world, she went on to break multiple flight records in speed and distance. Her plane, the Spirit of Columbus, is displayed in the Smithsonian with other historic aircraft.
After thinking over the accomplishments of her life, Jerrie said with a soft chuckle, “It was quite an experience. I had a good time. I’m glad I did it.”
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