Fifty Years Ago

Fifty years ago today, Jerrie Mock set out from Columbus, Ohio, on her flight around the world in a Cessna 180. Her goal was to be the first woman to fly an airplane around the world.

That was back in the day when the most sophisticated piece of aircraft navigation equipment for most of the world was an ADF. VORs were in use in the U.S., but were only then just being built elsewhere.

She did it solo. And she set a round-the-world speed record for light aircraft in the process. That's besides being the first woman to fly from the U.S. to Africa over the North Atlantic, the first woman to fly across the Pacific (west to east), the first woman to fly across the Pacific (in both directions), and the first woman to fly across the Pacific in a single-engined airplane (among other firsts and records).

Cessna gave her a new Cessna 206 in exchange for the 180 that she had flown around the world. After displaying for a timne at their factory in Wichita, Cessna donated it to the Smithsonian, where it is now on display in the Udvar-Hazy Center next to Dulles Airport.