Jerrie Mock, the first female pilot to fly solo around the world, died in her sleep in her northern Florida home on Tuesday at age 88.
Inspired by Amelia Earhart, Mock was an Ohio housewife before she made her historic flight.
She flew 23,000 miles in 29-plus days in April 1964 in her single-engine Cessna 180 dubbed "Spirit of Columbus."
Mock was a mother of three who studied aeronautical engineering at Ohio State University and was known at the time of her flight as “the flying housewife.”
"Nobody was going to tell me I couldn't do it because I was a woman,"
Mock said, according to The Associated Press.
Mock had a tendency to downplay the achievement, according to the Newark Advocate, but her hometown of Newark, Ohio, never did. A bronze statue of Mock was erected at a museum in the city last year and a similar statue was placed at Port Columbus International Airport in April.
“There were dozens of women who could have done what I did,”
Mock said, according to The Columbus Dispatch. “All I did was have some fun. Statues are for generals, or Lincoln."
The last thing she heard from the Columbus control tower after beginning her flight was “Well, I guess that’s the last we’ll hear from her,” the Columbus Dispatch reported.
Mechanical problems, storms, and communication breakdowns challenged her along the way.
Mock’s sister, Susan Reid, told the Newark Advocate that her sister "wanted to inspire everyone — children, adults, male, female —to have a dream, to think of what you want to do and work for it. Because if you don't, how are you going to make your dream come true."
Twitter users remembered Mock.
Related Stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.