A Woman of Firsts

It was 57 years ago yesterday that Jackie Cochran became the first woman to ever break the sound barrier. In a Canadair F-86 Sabre jet borrowed from the Royal Canadian Air Force she flew at an average speed of 652.337 miles per hour (mph).

But this was not her first "first." She was also the first woman to fly in the Bendix Trans-Continental race, which she won in 1938. Jackie was also the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic ocean and the first female to fly a jet across the ocean. She won five Harmon Trophies as the outstanding woman pilot in the world.

Sometimes called the "Speed Queen" at the time of her death on August 9, 1980, no pilot, man or woman, held more speed, distance or altitude records in aviation history than Jackie Cochran.

Born May 11, 1906 near Mobile, Alabama, she began her working life as a hairdresser in Pensacola, Florida. But in the early 1930s she discovered flying.

Before the United States joined World War II, she was part of "Wings for Britain" that delivered American built aircraft to Britain. It was then she became the first woman to fly a bomber (a Lockheed Hudson V) across the Atlantic.

In 1940 she wrote a letter suggesting that women pilots be employed to fly noncombat missions in the American armed forces. Following America's entry into the war, in 1942 she was made director of women's flight training for the United States. As head of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) she supervised the training of more than 1,000 women pilots. For her war efforts she received the Distinguished Service Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

At war's end, she was hired by a magazine to report on global postwar events. In this role, she witnessed Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita's surrender in the Philippines, then was the first (non-Japanese) woman to enter Japan after the war. She also attended the Nuremberg Trials in Germany.

Jackie was the the first woman to land and take off from an aircraft carrier, the first woman to reach Mach 2, or twice the speed of sound, about 1,500 mph.

Despite her lack of formal education, Ms. Cochran had a quick mind as evidenced by more "firsts." The first pilot to make a blind (instrument) landing, the ONLY woman to ever be president of the Federation Aeronautique Int'l (1958-1961), the first pilot to fly above 20,000 feet with an oxygen mask.

Although her aviation accomplishments never gained the media attention given to Amelia Earhart, she is remembered and honored for her place in history.

And all this before women's lib. What a great lady!