50 years later, 'flying housewife' Mock recalls fun of becoming first woman pilot to fly around the world

CINCINNATI — Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock, a native of Newark, Ohio, became the first female pilot to fly solo around the globe when her single-engine Cessna 180 dubbed Spirit of Columbus landed in the state's capital on April 17, 1964. She had covered more than 23,000 miles in 29-plus days, making stops in the Azores, Casablanca, Cairo and Calcutta.

“You call it an accomplishment. I just call it having fun,” Mock, 88, said by telephone from her home in Quincy, Fla.

“Scared? Let's not use the word scared,” she said, laughing. “Airplanes are meant to fly. I was completely confident in my plane; I trusted it completely. I had plenty of gas, a good engine. You just kind of used your head.”

Mock accomplished what her childhood hero, Amelia Earhart, failed to do. Experts are still debating the fate of Earhart's Lockheed Electra, which disappeared in 1937.

“Amelia Earhart was an inspiration to me, (but) she wasn't really on my mind during the flight,” said Mock, who had her share of harrowing moments.

“The flying housewife,” as she was called at the time, was a mother of three who had studied aeronautical engineering at Ohio State University and had been a pilot for years.

“Nobody was going to tell me I couldn't do it because I was a woman,” said Mock, who wore a skirt and blouse on her flight, putting on high heels when disembarking at stops. Reactions in Saudi Arabia to a female pilot emerging from the plane ranged from bemusement to disbelief, she said.

She was honored at the White House by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Mock is disappointed that a movie has never been made about her flight. But she's pleased with commemorations, including a statue that will be unveiled on Thursday at Port Columbus International Airport.

Health concerns will prevent her from traveling to Columbus for the event.

She does hope, though, that her flight can be a lesson to others.

“If you have a dream, follow through on it,” she said. “Don't let people discourage you from trying.”