Mu. She left her studies at OSU to wed her husband, Russell Mock in 1945. Flight around the world Mock's flight began and ended at Ohio hometown's Port Columbus Airport; expedition financing included a loan from The Columbus Dispatch newspaper. She travelled eastbound, over Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam, among other countries. After stressful days traveling over the Atlantic, Mock was greeted by the president of the Aero Club of Morocco and stayed the night in a French home, where Mock reports, "there were no nightmares of thunderheads over the Atlantic. Dressed in red satin, I danced in marble palaces." Mock later journeyed to Saudi Arabia, where she landed at Dhahran Airport. In her book Three-Eight Charlie, Mock says that after landing in Saudi Arabia the crowd of men around her looked puzzled. One of the men approached her aircraft. “His white-kaffiyeh-covered head nodded vehemently, and he shouted to the throng that there was no man. This brought a rousing ovation”, she recalled. Mock was quite a spectacle in Saudi Arabia where women would not be allowed to drive cars until 2017, much less fly a plane. In Egypt, she mistakenly landed at a secret off-the-map military base instead of the Cairo Airport. Traveling the world gave Mock a new perspective and experiences. Flying over Vietnam, she noted: "Somewhere not far away a war was being fought, but from the sky above, all looked peaceful." Accomplishments and recognition Official world aviation records: 1964–69 (Sanctioned and accepted by the National Aeronautic Association and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) 1964 Speed around the world, Class C1-c Speed around the world, Feminine 1965 Speed over a closed course of 500 km, Class C1-b 1966 Distance in a straight line, Feminine 1968 Distance in a closed course, Class C1-c Distance in a closed course, Feminine Speed over a recognized course 1969 Speed over a recognized course First woman to First woman to fly solo around the world First woman to fly around the world in a single-engine plane First woman to fly U.S. – Africa via North Atlantic First woman to fly the Pacific single-engine First woman to fly the Pacific West to East First woman to fly both the Atlantic and Pacific First woman to fly the Pacific both directions Awards and honors Federal Aviation Agency Gold Medal for Exceptional Service Ohio Governor’s Award Louis Bleriot Silver Medal(World-Wide award of Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) American