Cochran as a young girl | Credit to "Jackie
Cochran: An Autobiography"
It All Began in Florida
"I came away from this book project with awe about what this poor girl from Florida was able to accomplish."
-Personal Interview with Maryann Brinley 02/10/20
"On May 11, 1906, Bessie Lee Pittman was born. She changed her name later to Jackie."
-"Superwomen" by Billie Pittman Ayers and Beth Dees p. 6
Jackie's family was poor and lived in a Floridian town, Muscogee, twenty miles away from Pensacola. Cochran made money at a cotton mill, but soon left her parents.
Jacqueline Cochran Original Photograph |
Credit to UWF Archives
Jacqueline Cochran voice, YouTube Barbara Sharp
Muscogee Sawmill | Credit to UWF Archives
Earning Her Pilot's License
"Having passed all of her flight tests on seventeen days, less than three weeks."
-"Jackie Cochran: Pilot in the Fastest Lane" p. 29 by Doris L. Rich
It takes most pilots around three months.
"She (...) passed the test, and received private pilot's license No. 1498 dated August 17, 1932."
- " Jackie Cochran Pilot in the Fastest Lane" p. 30 by Doris L. Rich
"I had taken my lessons in what was called a Fleet trainer, with a sixty horsepower engine."
- "Jackie Cochran: An Autobiography" p.73 by Maryann Brinley
The Bendix Race
"Won from twelve men in the more than two thousand-mile Los Angeles-to-Cleveland air derby."
-"Superwomen" by Billie Pittman Ayers and Beth Dees p.78
____________________________________________________________________________
"On March 9, 1996, the Postal Service issued an international airmail stamp honoring Jacqueline Cochran."
- "Jackie Cochran: Pilot in the Fastest Lane" by Doris Rich p. 232
Bendix Trophy Race | Stamp from Personal Collection
___________________________________________________
Jackie Cochran was ready to become the fastest women pilot.
___________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sky background Personal Photograph