James Dunn Mathis at age 16 was the youngest pilot to fly solo across the United States. He was formerly the Republican candidate for the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

Maryland's 2nd congressional district Maryland's 2nd congressional district elects a representative to the United States House of Representatives every two years. The district comprises parts of Howard, Harford, Baltimore, and Anne Arundel Counties, as well as small portions of th ...

Early life, career, and family

Mathis was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. At the age of sixteen, Jimmy piloted a single engine Cessna 172 solo from

Ocean City, Maryland Ocean City, officially the Town of Ocean City, is an Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic resort town in Worcester County, Maryland, Worcester County, Maryland along the East Coast of the United States. The population was 6,844 at the 2020 United States cens ...

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, becoming the youngest solo

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

ever to fly cross country. Although there had been previous claims by younger "pilots" that they were the youngest pilot to fly coast-to-coast, they were accompanied by licensed pilots/instructors because they were not legally old enough to fly an airplane solo and as "

pilot in command The pilot in command (PIC) of an aircraft is the person aboard the aircraft who is ultimately responsible for its operation and safety during flight. This would be the captain in a typical two- or three-pilot aircrew, or "pilot" if there is only ...

". Jimmy Mathis made the flight, after over 100 hours of training, and with a Student Pilot Certificate in his pocket. Jimmy planned and coordinated his trip with his instructors, Harry Kraemer and David Moeslein. He had no blanket, no pillow. Overnight stays were with aviation businesses and Aviation Safety Counselor Associates. However, when he arrived in Cahokia, Illinois things didn't work out so well, so he called his dad who said he could stay wherever he wanted. He crossed the Mississippi River and stayed at Adam's Mark hotel in St. Louis MO over a rainy 4 July weekend. Currently Jimmy hosts a Saturday morning talk show on Baltimore radio station WBAL, AM-1090.

Marriage and family

Currently Mathis lives in

Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City of ...

with his wife Christin Bethany Jones, social services counselor.

Professional life

After graduating from

Towson Catholic High School Towson Catholic High School was a private Catholic, co-educational high school in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland, whose closing was announced in July 2009. At its peak enrollment in the 1960s and 1970s, more than 400 children attende ...

, Mathis completed a 2-year intern program with Sinclair Broadcasting's FOX 45 Television in Baltimore working in all facets of television news & sports. Subsequently he was hired by

WBAL-TV WBAL-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship property of Hearst Television, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to the company's sole radio ...

- the NBC affiliate in Baltimore before moving to

WTTG-TV WTTG (channel 5) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNe ...

- FOX 5 in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where he covered news stories at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

and the United States Congress. In 2002 Mathis founded, Mathis Productions, Inc. and has produced a variety of programs ranging from reality, comedy and human interest Over the years he has won numerous awards for photography and editing including two local Emmy Awards (one for photography and one for editing) at age 20. His resume now includes three local Emmys and five more nominations.

References

1978 births Living people Politicians from Baltimore American aviators Emmy Award winners American television producers Maryland Republicans {{Maryland-politician-stub