01.10.10: While it is nowhere near a greenlight, I am happy to report a new glimmer of hope for this project as a small but very capable independent production company in Los Angeles has taken an interest in the Three-Eight Charlie screenplay project. I cannot disclose the name of the producer(s) interested, but can say they are discussing strategies to raise the first round of development funding that will push this project forward as a full-length "indie" feature film. With Sundance coming soon, the producer(s) are determining if shopping the project at the festival will be productive. This is a developing story and I will update this space when news happens.
02.10.08: Jerrie to be Inducted into WAI Pioneer Hall of Fame
The Women in Aviation, International Pioneer Hall of Fame was established in 1992 to honor women who have made significant contributions as record setters, pioneers, or innovators. Each year, the organization solicits nominations from throughout the aviation industry for the WAI Pioneer Hall of Fame. We salute these distinguished members of the 2008 Women in Aviation, International Pioneer Hall of Fame. The 2008 inductees include:
(from the WAI site): Geraldine "Jerrie" Mock was Inspired in 1962 to "add a bit of fun" to her then 38-year life, Jerrie Mock took her husband's jocular remark, "Why don't you fly around the world?" and ran with it. A quarter century had elapsed since Amelia Earhart's fatal attempt, but a woman had not yet soloed around the world. Mock modified her 1953 Cessna 180, The Spirit of Columbus with a new engine and avionics. She took off on March 19, 1964, and landed safely in Columbus on April 19, 1964 (29 days, 11 hours, and 59 minutes later). She was the first woman to fly from the United States to Africa via the North Atlantic, the first to fly the Pacific in a single-engine aircraft, and the first to fly both major oceans solo. Mock continued to compete, achieving 21 records for speed and distance. She received the FAA's Gold Medal for Exceptional Service from President Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
Jerrie will be inducted at the 19th Annual International Women in Aviation Conference, held from March 13-15 2008 at the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center in San Diego, CA. The actual 2008 Scholarship Awards Banquet and WAI Pioneer Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held 7:00 - 10:00 PM in the Atlas Ballroom. There has been no word yet from WAI about Jerrie being in attendance at the San Diego event.
04.20.06: Almost every day, my inbox glows with email about Jerrie Mock, her book Three-Eight Charlie, or the screenplay project. But on occasion, a letter comes in that is so eloquent, so “from the heart” that I cannot resist sharing it with the world. Visit the project blog to read one of these letters, published with Mr. Tom Emrich’s permission. He says it all so well.
04.16.06: The popularity of this story was demonstrated tonight when a signed first edition of Jerrie Mock's book Three-Eight Charlie was sold on eBay for $305! And for those of you who want the book and do not want to live through the suspense of a hard-fought eBay auction, another seller on eBay is offering an unsigned version at a "Buy it Now" price of $395. You can buy that book here.
04.07.06: There has not been much public news about this project in some time. However, I continue to work every day behind the scenes to promote the story and screenplay in the L.A. area. Never say die is my motto...I am in this until the end. When there are any public developments to report, I will post here as well as on the project blog.
11.22.05: I have recently completed a trip to Washington, D.C. to photograph FAA 1538C. This trip produced an extensive series of archival research images that will be used by the producer of this project in re-creating "Charlie" for filming. Read all about this photo mission here.
10.27.05: It has been far too long between bits of good news regarding the Jerrie Mock story, but this one was worth waiting for. After residing basically out of the public eye in a Smithsonian warehouse since 1984, the Spirit of Columbus, aka "Charlie" now sits fully restored on the floor of the NASM's Steven Udvar-Hazy Aviation Center at Dulles Airport in Chantilly, VA.
For those who have followed this saga from the beginning, it was the sight of Charlie in that warehouse with his wings removed that started this whole journey forward for me. To finally see Charlie getting his due is – in my opinion – a MAJOR STEP in gaining Jerrie the recognition she has always deserved. Click here to see a great photo of Charlie at the Hazy Center.
06.13.05: Connie Luhta, President of the International Women's Air & Space Museum at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland writes to tell us her organization is setting up an exhibit case on Ohio women pilots at Cleveland Hopkins Airport, and Jerrie Mock is one of the featured pilots. I am helping her effort by providing reprints of some photos from Jerrie's archives.
06.08.05: I've discovered a post on the web from a fan of this story looking for a copy of Jerrie's book Three-Eight Charlie, and they are willing to pay $300-500 for a first edition! This is awesome news, and further proof that as this project moves forward, Jerrie's "stock" is rising. Click here to view the post, about half way down the page.
05.19.05: I've received quite a few emails in support of this film being made, and have decided to share some of them on a new Latest Fan Mail page. It seems to be unanimous that this story has been in hiding way too long, and needs to be told. It makes sense that if the public reacts accordingly, it will make Three-Eight Charlie a rousing success at the box office.
05.19.05: I received an update from Dorothy Cochrane, Curator for General Aviation at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, regarding the "re-hanging" of Charlie. "The current schedule calls for the Spirit of Columbus to be moved to and suspended in the Udvar-Hazy Center in the fall, possibly in October, subject of course to unforeseen schedule changes," Cochrane said. "It would be great to have Jerrie here for that, just so she can enjoy seeing Charlie again".
05.18.05: Candy Cook emailed me from Arizona to say that after reading a rare copy of Jerrie's book, she "felt like Jerrie and I are sisters." As a pleasure pilot, Cook said she literally could not put the book down, which is the unanimous opinion of any pilot who has ever read Mock's book. I believe many women may really identify with Jerrie's tenacity when they see the film Three-Eight Charlie, and if that translates into a ton of new student starts at flight schools across the nation, that's all right by me.
05.17.05: Jerrie made her first public appearance in years this past weekend at EAA 445's Airfest 2005 in Tallahassee. John Sivyer of EAA 445 reports there were a steady stream of well wishers and autograph seekers greeting Jerrie as she sat under the wing of a 180 Skywagon. While this is the first appearance for Jerrie in some time, I predict it won't be the last.
05.13.05: I received a call from Art Weiner, USAF, Ret. (a former navigator with the 353rd Bomb Squadron out of Lockbourne AFB in Columbus, Ohio) who wanted to clarify his involvement regarding Jerrie's flight planning in 1964. I was aware of Weiner's work helping her plan the flight, but inadvertently understated this in my AOPA Pilot article. After being asked to help by General Dick Lassiter, Weiner drew on years of left seat time in USAF birds and helped Jerrie prepare several long flight plan maps covering every mile of her route. These were then folded accordion-style to about kneeboard size for use in Charlie's cramped cockpit. Since my main objective with Three-Eight Charlie has always been to write a script that is as factually accurate as possible, many new facts and clarifications are sure to come to light as my research continues, and we will pass this new information along to the producer or studio who secures the screenplay.
05.12.05: Kudos go out to Tom Root of Plymouth, Ohio for sending me some original black and white glossies of Jerrie and Charlie from his personal archive. These will be great for research photos when a production team starts to modify a few Cessna 180s to recreate Charlie for filming. And for the pilots who read this, Tom has a four digit AOPA #, which means he's been around for a few good years helping to keep GA strong.
05.11.05: Tallahassee Democrat Newspaper staff writer Kathleen Laufenberg has published a very nice article on Jerrie in her "local" paper. Since Tallahassee is also the capital of Florida, this is very good coverage for Jerrie's public appearance at EAA 445's Airfest 2005 on May 14 & 15. The author has granted me permission to re-publish the article HERE.
05.02.05: A recent email asked what inspired me as I wrote Three-Eight Charlie. To understand where my mind's eye was at during the creation of the screenplay, take yourself to Africa, and watch as Robert Redford’s Denys gracefully pilots his Tiger Moth biplane carrying Meryl Streep’s Karen over the majestic African scenery below. Backed up by John Berry’s powerful score, the “biplane scene” in Sydney Pollack’s Out of Africa is the one scene that has been my inspiration for Three-Eight Charlie.
As Denys' Tiger Moth slides gently through still air, the audience is there with the actors, riding peacefully and without a care on fabric wings as Berry’s score elevates the romance of flying to possibly the highest point ever presented on film. As an experienced business jet pilot himself, Pollack captured the essence of flight as only a pilot could, and it is my vision that the aerial scenes in Three-Eight Charlie could be as glorious!
04.26.05: Last night I had the extreme pleasure of sitting in on a lecture by Burt Rutan at the University of Oregon’s School of Applied Arts. Rutan, designer of SpaceShipOne, is the most prolific and inspired aeronautical engineer of our time, if not of all time. He spoke of aviation being on the very cutting age of commercial space travel, which he sees as becoming affordable in five years. But Rutan also said something that was quite philosophical, and oh so true regarding children and the future of aviation. He said that today’s 4 to 14-year-olds are tomorrow’s aviation pioneers, and that the most disastrous thing we as aviators can do for the future of aviation is to let these kids become bored.
That made me think about one of the many positive emails I receive every day from pilots who are thankful that I have enlightened them about Jerrie Mock. One man said that his five-year-old daughter recently dressed up as Amelia Earhart for her school’s Dress-up Day, and that now he can tell her about the woman (Jerrie) who actually made it around the world. This enforces my theory that there is a huge, untapped market out there comprised of young women who have not yet been invited to share our skies. It has always been my opinion that women are welcome as pilots, and I believe movie producers who are considering making this film will realize that Three-Eight Charlie will inspire these young women in a way no other film has ever done before.
04.21.05: It appears the growing popularity of Jerrie Mock is being noticed by used book sellers nationwide. Today, the only copy of Three-Eight Charlie I found on the Internet became available in Los Angeles, priced at a whopping $218.40! The book can be found here. This price spike makes me wonder what will happen when the Jerrie Mock story breaks nationally in the mainstream media. I believe the production companies that are considering securing the film all realize that this new "buzz" about Jerrie can only help the promotion of the movie.
04.12.05: I received a very nice email from one of the News Anchors at the NBC affiliate in Eugene promising to run a story on this project in the near future. While this would only be local market coverage, it would be step one in my quest to "enlighten" the media about Jerrie, her flight, and my screenplay.
04.02.05: I've recently located an original copy of the July 1964 issue of Flying Magazine in the University of Oregon library that contained a lengthy article on Jerrie's flight. There were several new bits of really fascinating information in the piece that I previously had not known, and after confirming the facts with Jerrie, I've written a couple of new scenes that adds increased dimension to her character.
03.28.05: Since the Jerrie Mock story broke nationally, the supply of used copies of Jerrie's 1970 book, Three-Eight Charlie, seems to have instantly dried up across the Internet. As late as two weeks ago, there were maybe 10 copies available, priced from $24 to $100 when signed by the author. Today, in searching my two favorite used book sites, all sources report zero copies available. Watch abebooks.com and bookfinder.com for any copies that pop onto the market.
03.27.05: I've received word from Charles Lawson that his father, Chuck Lawson, is still alive and well. In 1964, Chuck was the President of Florida Airmotive Electronics, the avionics division of the fixed base operation, Florida Airmotive in Fort Lauderdale. This was the facility that installed the avionics in Charlie! He believes (as I do) that Jerrie deserves recognition for her historic 1964 flight, and said he'd be willing to help any way he could with the project, including working with the producers who buy the screenplay. All the sketches and plans for the N1538C installation were lost in a hangar fire years ago, but Chuck will still be a very valuable asset to the design team that will need to replicate Charlie for filming.
03.25.05: John Sivyer of EAA #455 in Tallahassee, FL writes to announce that Jerrie has agreed to visit the club's fly-in on May 14/15. Details have yet to be worked out. www.eaa445.org
03.24.05: Traffic on this site has gone wild since the AOPA story broke. I have received several complimentary emails from AOPA readers who lived in the Columbus, OH area when Jerrie made her flight. This kind of buzz is what makes my world go around right now.
03.24.05: The AOPA Pilot Magazine article highlighting Jerrie Mock's historic 1964 flight has reached mailboxes on both coasts. Kudos to Editor Thomas Haines and all the staff at AOPA. If you are not a member of this fabulous organization, you should be. www.aopa.org
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