in the middle of the space race.
When Jerrie Mock arrived home, she received a hero’s welcome, and her story appeared on the front page of the local newspapers. She received numerous awards and recognition from high officials, even President Johnson! So why and how had Jerrie Mock been forgotten? Why didn’t she have a prominent place in the history books? Why hadn’t anyone ever heard of her?
I couldn’t get Jerrie Mock’s story out of my head, so I picked up the phone and gave her a call. “Airplanes were made to be flown,” she said matter-of-factly. “You just got to use common sense, point it in the right direction, and be sure you have plenty of gasoline. The hardest part was planning; the flying was easy.” I told her she was brave and daring. She laughed. “I was just having a little fun in my plane,” she said. I tried to convince her that it was much more than that. I told her I would be honored to write her biography for young readers. I loved her story, an inspirational tale about believing in childhood dreams. It’s something I talk about when I give author visits in schools. What’s life without dreams and what’s better than making dreams come true?
While researching her story, I set out to find the airplane she had flown. I went to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, an air-and-space museum in Virginia. My husband, Ed, and I searched for quite some time before we spotted the small red-and-white plane high above our heads, tethered to the ceiling. I had hoped to have a look inside the plane in order to see all the custom-made gas tanks and other adjustments that had been made for the long-distance flight, but that simply wasn’t possible.
When I visited Jerrie, she sat in her recliner with a stack of books piled high on the table. At age eighty-eight, she spoke of her lifelong love of reading. As a young girl, she had read Nancy Drew mysteries, and, to that day, she still loved a good suspenseful story. Clearly a genius and a mathematical whiz, she pointed to her head while speaking about flying in races, and how she had made calculations to get an advantage over the competition. Her eyes sparkled as she recalled stories from long ago with amazing detail and passion. When I clearly had no idea who had been an enemy of Christopher Columbus, she pointed her finger at me and said, “Read your history books!” Jerrie still had an interest in history and geography, and she kept up with the news and current events. She asked about popular books kids were reading today, and she told me she hoped the younger generation knew the importance of reading books and of having a dream. During our visit, she referred to her book, Three-Eight Charlie, and asked me to include passages from this book she had penned in 1970. Her gift of writing was as brilliant as her gift for flying.
Soon after completing her flight she was quoted as saying, “I hope . . . that somewhere here and there my just doing something that hadn’t been done will encourage someone else who wants to do something very much and hadn’t quite had the heart to try it.” With these words, and her life story to back them up, Jerrie Mock reminds us that even ordinary people can do extraordinary things. So work hard, put your heart into it, and follow your dreams!
CIRCUMNAVIGATING THE GLOBE
FLIGHT ONE
MARCH 19, 1964
NO ONE would ever have believed that Jerrie Mock had a big day ahead of her. The thirty-eight-year-old woman straightened the house, packed a suitcase, and ran some errands. According to the Columbus Dispatch, “The petite Bexley housewife and mother went matter-of-factly about her business on the day before, and, like any woman about to take a trip, she had an appointment at the beauty parlor.”1 The next day she would leave to fly around the world. In 1964, there were very few female pilots, and even fewer who dared to fly alone for such a long distance. As Jerrie Mock planned her flight, she discovered that, if she succeeded, she would be the first woman to circle the globe, solo.
When the big day arrived, she finished packing her cramped little airplane, a Cessna 180 she had lovingly nicknamed Charlie. Three of the four seats had been removed, replaced with aluminum gas tanks, converting the single-engine airplane into a long-distance marathon flier. She squeezed a typewriter onto the pile of maps, a variety of snacks, her suitcase, an oxygen tank, and a bulky life raft. Jerrie planned to write all about her journey and send her reports back to the local newspaper.
THE CUSTOM-MADE FUEL TANK DESIGNED BY DAVE BLANTON BEFORE INSTALLATION INTO CHARLIE
Courtesy of Phoenix Graphix
DIAGRAM OF 1953 CESSNA 180
Jerrie’s husband, Russ, and their two teenaged sons helped her fill the plane with emergency equipment and supplies. Their three-year-old daughter, Valerie, stayed at home with a neighbor because a big crowd was expected. Throngs of people swarmed around the tiny plane at the airport in Columbus, Ohio, in hopes of witnessing history. One reporter shoved the microphone at Jerrie and said, “Mrs. Mock, aren’t you a little afraid? After all, no woman has ever done this.”2
“Mrs. Mock, what do you think happened to Amelia Earhart? Do you think she’s still alive somewhere?”3
Jerrie thought of her childhood hero, Amelia Earhart. Amelia had flown in races and set records. But there was one record she had wanted more than any other—to fly around the middle of the globe, the equator. On May 21, 1937, Amelia Earhart made her second attempt at the world record. Near the end of her trip, on July 2, 1937, she flew out of a small airport in Lae, Papua New Guinea. Earhart disappeared, never to be seen again. What had happened to the pilot is still a mystery to this day.
Jerrie needed to concentrate and keep things such as fear and disappearances out of her mind. She couldn’t be bothered with all the questions. She had a plane to fly. Jerrie mentally went through her checklists. After all, she had a job ahead of her, and the reporters made her more nervous than the idea of flying over deserts and oceans. They persisted with their questions. Jerrie gave short answers as she stood by her plane in front of Lane Aviation, posing for one photo after another. She trembled with fright, suddenly realizing the enormity of what she was about to attempt. She smiled bravely, and kept her fear hidden. After all, people were counting on her.
The Columbus Evening Dispatch, her local newspaper, had promised its readers that she would “keep a careful record of her flight and her personal impressions.”4 A former Air Force pilot, Brigadier General Dick Lassiter, had met with Jerrie many times, helping her plot the best course to take around the globe, country by country. Major Art Weiner, also with the United States Air Force, had spent countless hours preparing navigation maps, checking weather forecasts, and making flight plans. And, last but not least, her family supported Jerrie in her quest to follow her childhood dream.
JERRIE POINTS OUT THE ROUTE SHE PLANS TO FLY, AS HER HUSBAND, RUSSELL, AND THREE CHILDREN, VALERIE, GARY, AND ROGER, LOOK ON
Reprinted with permission from the Columbus Dispatch
Jerrie took comfort standing beside her eleven-year-old airplane while the photographers’ flashbulbs popped. She wore a white shirt and a blue knit skirt under her blue coat, with high heels on her feet and pearls around her neck. Charlie sported a brand new red-and-white paint job with the words Spirit of Columbus emblazoned on its nose. She knew the single-engine Cessna was the best plane for such a flight. Charlie was tried and true, capable
