Cochran, Jacqueline

Date of birth: Between 1905 and 1913. Place of birth: Pensacola, Florida.

Died: August 9, 1980.

Major contribution: Set many speed and altitude records; headed Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II.

Awards: Distinguished Service Medal; fifteen Clifford Harmon Trophies;

William Mitchell Memorial Award;

French Legion d’Honneur; gold medal from Federation Aeronautique Internationale; U. S. Aviation Hall of Fame; International Aerospace Hall of Fame.

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acqueline Cochran was perhaps the most accomplished women flier of all time as well as the holder of many records. She also gave important service to both Britain and the United States during World War II.

It is believed that Cochran was orphaned and raised in foster homes as a child. She lived in poverty and went to work in a cotton mill while still very young. Cochran later was trained as a beautician, work that she enjoyed. Sometime around 1930, she moved to New York City, hoping to gain more suc­cess in beauty salons there.

In 1932, on a trip to Florida, she met Floyd Bostwick Odium, a millionaire. They married 4 years later. When they first met, Cochran had told Odium that she hoped to produce and sell her own cosmetics. Odium suggested that she

О Jacqueline Cochran led the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. She is shown here (left, in black outfit) with a U. S. Air Force officer and some of her trainees.

learn to fly an airplane so she that could carry her products to different cities. Cochran went to flight school and earned her pilot’s license in just a few weeks.

Two years later, in 1934, Cochran entered a flying race from London to Melbourne, Australia. She was forced to abandon that race, and another the next year, due to mechanical difficulties. In 1937, however, Cochran had success in the Bendix race from Los Angeles to Cleveland. She finished first among the women competitors and trailed only two male pilots. That same year, Cochran set a speed record by flying from New York to Miami in just over 4 hours and 12 minutes. She also set a female speed record of nearly 204 miles per hour (328 kilometers per hour) that year. The fol­lowing year, Cochran won the Bendix,

beating all competitors, male and female. In 1939 Cochran flew higher than any woman had before, reaching 30,052 feet (9,160 meters). Later in the same year, she set two new speed records.

In 1939 World War II broke out in Europe. In 1941 Cochran joined other women fliers in piloting planes from the United States to the United Kingdom. Once there, she trained women to do noncombat flying tasks. The goal was to free men from these jobs so they could fly combat missions.

After the United States entered the war, Cochran recrossed the Atlantic to do similar work back home. She was put in charge of a new unit, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Its thou­sand or so pilots moved aircraft to need­ed locations and helped train male pilots. These women logged more than 60 million miles (97 million kilometers) of flying, performing a vital service.

Although the WASP force was dis­banded, Cochran remained devoted to flying. When jet airplanes were devel­oped, she learned how to fly them and worked as a test pilot for aircraft compa­nies Lockheed and Northrop. In 1953 Cochran set various speed records and became the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound. In the early 1960s she set new records for women in altitude (55,253 feet, or 16,841 meters) and speed (1,429 miles per hour or 2,299 kilometers per hour). As the United States began forming its space program, Cochran pushed to be named a

О Jacqueline Cochran continued to fly and set records for many years. She was photographed with fellow pilot Chuck Yeager in 1962 after a flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

woman astronaut. Government officials, however, decided against selecting any women at the time.

Cochran was slowed in the 1970s by a heart condition. Although she had to cut back on her flying, she continued to work as an advisor to the U. S. Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and several museums. She died in 1980.

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SEE ALSO:

• Pilot • Supersonic Flight

• World War II

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