CESSNA 180 SPIRIT OF COLUMBUS
A National Aeronautic Association press release, dated April 18, 1964, announced that Geraldine Mock had become the first woman to pilot an aircraft around the world. Previous attempts by women, including the ill-fated 1937 flight by Amelia Earhart, were unsuccessful. When success did come, it was twenty-seven years later by a woman from Columbus, Ohio, flying a 1953 Cessna 180 single-engine monoplane, the Spirit of Columbus. Mock wrote about her exceptional solo flight in Three Eight Charlie.
The Cessna 180 series and its descendants are another great success story for Cessna Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas, and general aviation. Borrowing some features, such as flaps, from the Army's L-19 Bird Dog liaison airplane and evolving directly from the postwar Model 170B four-seat design, the 180, introduced in 1952, became a rugged four-place high-wing plane with a top speed of 165 mph. Variations on the basic airframe and 225 or 230 hp engines made it a popular bush-type aircraft in most of the undeveloped parts of the world as well as in the United States. The Model 180 was also successfully marketed as a sophisticated business and personal aircraft.
In 1956, by adding a tricycle landing gear, the 180 became the Model 182 Skylane, which, with cockpit and exterior improvements, enjoyed a long initial production run as a high performance workhorse in the personal, business, and utility categories. The Cessna 185 Skywagon was introduced in 1960 with a more powerful engine for the tail dragger 180 design. Cessna built more than 6,000 of the Model 180 series aircraft and 22,000 Model 182s through 1986. It halted production of single-engine piston aircraft in the mid-1980s when a product liability crisis, a surplus of general aviation aircraft, and other economic woes threatened the future of small light planes. However, with the passage of the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994, the company began producing the Model 182 (and other single-engine models) again in July 1996 at a new factory in Independence, Kansas.
Cessna built 640 Model 180s in its first production year and the Spirit of Columbus was the 238th aircraft, bearing serial number 30238 and registration number N1538C. During the first ten years, several owners put 990 flying hours on the aircraft. Russell Mock and Al Baumeister bought N1538C and began preparing it for Jerrie's world flight which she had initially envisioned as a fun, leisurely flight around the world until reminded that no woman had ever done it solo. The men installed a new 225 hp engine and stowed personal equipment and survival gear. A complement of twin radio direction finders, dual short-range radios, and a long-range radio, plus a new compass, allowed the aircraft to become a round-the-world vehicle. Javelin Aircraft engineered the extra fuel tanks that replaced passenger seats inside the cabin.
On March 19, 1964, at 9:31 am, Mock departed from Columbus on her history-making solo flight. Twenty-nine days, 11 hours, and 59 minutes later, she arrived back in Columbus, on April 17, 1964, after flying 36,964 kilometers (23,103) miles around the world. Her route took her to Bermuda, the Azores, across northern Africa through the Middle East, India, the Far East, hop-scotching across the Pacific Ocean islands of Guam, Wake and Hawaii to Oakland, California and then home to Columbus. The flight was monitored by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) which certified it as a round-the-world speed record for aircraft weighing less than 3,858 pounds. Meanwhile, another woman, Joan Merriam Smith, was simultaneously attempting a round-the world flight, one that more closely followed Amelia Earhart's route. Mock, however, had filed for her permit first and, indeed, finished her flight before Smith. In addition to the world flight, she became the first woman to fly across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and set a total of seven records. On May 4, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Mock the Federal Aviation Administration's Exceptional Service Decoration.
Dubbed the "flying housewife," Mock, the mother of three, flew around the world in a blue skirt, worn for publicity purposes, and heels, which she took off while flying. She also packed a typewriter for writing stories for the Columbus Dispatch, as well as personal letters. Mock studied aeronautical engineering at Ohio State University and started flying in her twenties. She set out on her VFR (visual flight rules) trek around the world with 750 hours of flying time and no over-water experience.
After completing her flight, Mock never flew the Spirit of Columbus again. Cessna Aircraft Company, in conjunction with the Javelin Aircraft Company, exchanged the aircraft for a later model in which she promptly set a 500 km closed-circuit record of 206.73 mph in 1965. She continued to set speed records in the United States and over the Pacific Ocean through 1969. Cessna suspended the Spirit of Columbus in the factory in Wichita, Kansas, for a number of years until donating it to the National Air and Space Museum in 1975.
CESSNA 180 SPIRIT OF COLUMBUS
A National Aeronautic Association press release, dated April 18, 1964, announced that Geraldine Mock had become the first woman to pilot an aircraft around the world. Previous attempts by women, including the ill-fated 1937 flight by Amelia Earhart, were unsuccessful. When success did come, it was twenty-seven years later by a woman from Columbus, Ohio, flying a 1953 Cessna 180 single-engine monoplane, the Spirit of Columbus. Mock wrote about her exceptional solo flight in Three Eight Charlie.
The Cessna 180 series and its descendants are another great success story for Cessna Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas, and general aviation. Borrowing some features, such as flaps, from the Army's L-19 Bird Dog liaison airplane and evolving directly from the postwar Model 170B four-seat design, the 180, introduced in 1952, became a rugged four-place high-wing plane with a top speed of 165 mph. Variations on the basic airframe and 225 or 230 hp engines made it a popular bush-type aircraft in most of the undeveloped parts of the world as well as in the United States. The Model 180 was also successfully marketed as a sophisticated business and personal aircraft.
In 1956, by adding a tricycle landing gear, the 180 became the Model 182 Skylane, which, with cockpit and exterior improvements, enjoyed a long initial production run as a high performance workhorse in the personal, business, and utility categories. The Cessna 185 Skywagon was introduced in 1960 with a more powerful engine for the tail dragger 180 design. Cessna built more than 6,000 of the Model 180 series aircraft and 22,000 Model 182s through 1986. It halted production of single-engine piston aircraft in the mid-1980s when a product liability crisis, a surplus of general aviation aircraft, and other economic woes threatened the future of small light planes. However, with the passage of the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994, the company began producing the Model 182 (and other single-engine models) again in July 1996 at a new factory in Independence, Kansas.
Cessna built 640 Model 180s in its first production year and the Spirit of Columbus was the 238th aircraft, bearing serial number 30238 and registration number N1538C. During the first ten years, several owners put 990 flying hours on the aircraft. Russell Mock and Al Baumeister bought N1538C and began preparing it for Jerrie's world flight which she had initially envisioned as a fun, leisurely flight around the world until reminded that no woman had ever done it solo. The men installed a new 225 hp engine and stowed personal equipment and survival gear. A complement of twin radio direction finders, dual short-range radios, and a long-range radio, plus a new compass, allowed the aircraft to become a round-the-world vehicle. Javelin Aircraft engineered the extra fuel tanks that replaced passenger seats inside the cabin.
On March 19, 1964, at 9:31 am, Mock departed from Columbus on her history-making solo flight. Twenty-nine days, 11 hours, and 59 minutes later, she arrived back in Columbus, on April 17, 1964, after flying 36,964 kilometers (23,103) miles around the world. Her route took her to Bermuda, the Azores, across northern Africa through the Middle East, India, the Far East, hop-scotching across the Pacific Ocean islands of Guam, Wake and Hawaii to Oakland, California and then home to Columbus. The flight was monitored by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) which certified it as a round-the-world speed record for aircraft weighing less than 3,858 pounds. Meanwhile, another woman, Joan Merriam Smith, was simultaneously attempting a round-the world flight, one that more closely followed Amelia Earhart's route. Mock, however, had filed for her permit first and, indeed, finished her flight before Smith. In addition to the world flight, she became the first woman to fly across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and set a total of seven records. On May 4, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Mock the Federal Aviation Administration's Exceptional Service Decoration.
Dubbed the "flying housewife," Mock, the mother of three, flew around the world in a blue skirt, worn for publicity purposes, and heels, which she took off while flying. She also packed a typewriter for writing stories for the Columbus Dispatch, as well as personal letters. Mock studied aeronautical engineering at Ohio State University and started flying in her twenties. She set out on her VFR (visual flight rules) trek around the world with 750 hours of flying time and no over-water experience.
After completing her flight, Mock never flew the Spirit of Columbus again. Cessna Aircraft Company, in conjunction with the Javelin Aircraft Company, exchanged the aircraft for a later model in which she promptly set a 500 km closed-circuit record of 206.73 mph in 1965. She continued to set speed records in the United States and over the Pacific Ocean through 1969. Cessna suspended the Spirit of Columbus in the factory in Wichita, Kansas, for a number of years until donating it to the National Air and Space Museum in 1975.