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Pioneering Pilot Honored For Round-the-World Flight

Air Facts Journal
Jerrie Mock in the "Spirit of columbus"

Recounting her history-making adventure 50 years later, Jerrie Mock plays it down as a fun way to see the world. The Bexley resident was dubbed "the flying housewife" when she became the first female pilot to fly solo around the globe in her single-engine Cessna named Spirit of Columbus in 1964.  She covered more than 23,000 miles in 29-plus days while stopping in places such as Casablanca, Cairo and Calcutta.  Her trip came 27 years after her hero Amelia Earhart's mysterious disappearance in the Pacific.  Mock studied aeronautical engineering at Ohio State, and logged many firsts as a female pilot.  She won several speed races in the years following her famous flight.  Now 88 and living in Quincy, Fla., Mock says what others call a major accomplishment she calls "fun." A commemoration is planned Thursday at Port Columbus. A statue of Mock is scheduled to be dedicated in her hometown of Newark, Ohio in September.