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After taking her first flying lessons in 1932, Jackie Cochran obtained her pilot license in just three weeks. In 1935, she became the first woman to enter the Bendix Transcontinental Air Race. In 1938, she won the race and the prestigious Bendix Trophy. Before America’s entry into World War II, she trained women pilots for war transport service in England. In 1941, Cochran suggested that female pilots could support the war effort with non-combat aircraft ferrying missions, and in 1943, helped form the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) and became its director. In 1953, she became the first woman to break the sound barrier in a North American F-86 Sabre. Setting one record was not enough for Cochran, and she went on to break several more, including an altitude record in 1961 and a women’s world speed record in 1964. In addition to her flying career, she also owned and operated her own cosmetics company, Jacqueline Cochran Cosmetics. Image: Pioneer aviators, Jacqueline Cochran postage stamps, 1996. Gift of John Zukowsky. 2000.054.079
This image was posted on March 04, 2019.