Jackie Cochran (far right) as a child | Credit to
"Superwoman" p. 11 by Billie Pittman Ayers and Beth
Dees
May 11, 1906
Jackie Cochran was born with her original name, Bessie Lee Pittman
"She had been to visit some little friends and she was on her way home.
It was already getting dark and of course she had been told that ghosts or "haints" lived in the cemetery she had to pass. When she got close she actually saw one. She made a decision there she said that changed her life. Rather than running away, she ran at the ghost and it turned out to be a poor calf with its leg caught in some boards. After that she said she found it easier to face her "haints" than run away from them"
- "Superwoman" p. 7 by Billie Pittman Ayers and Beth Dees
Cosmetics Advertisement | Credit to The
Makeup Museum
1932
"If you're going to cover the kind of territory you need to cover in order to make money in this kind of economic climate, you'll need wings. Get your pilot's license."
-Floyd Odlum "Jackie Cochran An Autobiography" p. 57
Cochran did get her pilot license and started her own cosmetics business. Soon after, she married Floyd Odlum.
"I had no idea at first that Floyd Odlum was worth so much money."
-Jacqueline Cochran "Jackie Cochran An Autobiography" p. 57
Jackie Cochran with Floyd Odlum | Credit to "Jackie Cochran: An Autobiography" p.182
"Jackie was Floyd's hobby. Going for speed records cost a fortune, but he happily paid the bills, and kept pushing her to try for more."
-"Yeager an Autobiography" p. 275
1936
"In 1936, on Jackie's favorite date-her birthday-May 11, he married Jackie in a quiet ceremony in Kingman, Arizona."
-"Superwomen" by Billie Pittman Ayers and Beth Dees p. 60
With Floyd's assistance and money, Jackie was able to break many records.
Jackie Cochran with Floyd Odlum | Credit to UWF Archieves
Jackie Cochran in front of a P-51 Mustang | Credit to "Stars
at Noon" p. 131
Jacqueline Cochran became the first women to make a blind (instrumental) landing.
"When darkness falls, storms rage, fog settles, or lights fail, pilots are forced to make "instrument landings," relying on technology and training to guide them through typically the most dangerous part of any flight."
-"Blind Landings Low-Visibility Operations in American Aviation, 1918–1958 " by Erik M. Conway
Jackie won the Bendix Trophy
Jackie Greeted by Vincent Bendix after winning the
Bendix Race | Credit to "Jackie Cochran: Pilot in the
Fastest Lane" by Doris Rich p. 87
"She had won the Bendix in eight hours,ten minutes and 31.4 seconds. One of the judges drove a car out (...) to bring her back. She kept him waiting while she combed her hair and applied a fresh coat of lipstick before she descended from the cockpit."
-"Jackie Cochran: Pilot in the Fastest Lane" by Doris Rich p. 86
"The Postal Service honored Jacqueline Cochran with the issuance of a 50-cent international postcard-rate stamp on March 9, 1996, in Indio, California. Designed by Davis Meltzer of Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, the stamp features Cochran after winning the Bendix Trophy in 1938, which she won after completing the air race from Los Angeles to Cleveland in 8 hours and 10 minutes."
-Arago Article about Jackie Cochran's stamp
Jackie Cochran in P-51 Mustang | Credit to "Jackie Cochran: Pilot
in the Fastest Lane" by Doris Rich p. 155
June 18, 1941
The First Women to Fly a Bomber Across the Atlantic
"Cochran made a highly publicized flight in a new Lockheed Hudson, delivering the patrol bomber to Britain just three months after the Senate had approved the Lend-Lease bill. In so doing, she became the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic."
-U.S. Air Force Article by By Dr. Raymond Puffer, Air Force Flight Test Center historian
Cochran in her WASP Uniform | Credit to "Coming Out Right" by Elizabeth S. Smith p. 64
August 5, 1942
The WASP Organization
"She (...) organized the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program."
-General Curtis Lemay in "Jackie Cochran : an Autobiography" p. 132
"To Jackie's delight, her fliers proved their courage time and again (...) female biology and size did not prevent women from doing "men's work".
-"Coming Out Right" by Elizabeth S. Smith p. 64
The First Women to Break the Sound Barrier
Jackie Cochran in a Jet plane | Credit to "Jackie Cochran An Autobiography" front cover
May 18, 1953
"I landed with one more barrier behind me."
-"Stars At Noon" by Jacqueline Cochran p. 238
Mercury 13 Women | Credit to Mercury 13, Netflix
"Mercury 13 was a group of women who trained to become astronauts for America's first human spaceflight program (...) the commitment of these women paved the way for others who followed."
-NASA Mercury 13 Article
1959
The Mercury 13 Program
Climbing out of F-86 Sabre | Credit to "Jackie
Cochran: Pilot in the Fastest Lane" by Doris L.
Rich p. 177
May 1960
Mach 2
"The first women to fly faster than Mach 1 had reached and passed the speed of Mach 2."
-"Jackie Cochran: Pilot in the Fastest Lane" by Doris Rich p. 211
Jackie Cochran in the Cockpit | Credit to "Jackie Cochran: An Autobiography" p. 279
1962
The First Women to Fly a Jet Across the Atlantic
"In her 60's (...) climbing into a Lockheed Jetstar, she flew from Houston, Texas to Hanover, England. She became the first women to fly a jet across the Atlantic Ocean."
-"Jacqueline Cochran America's Fearless Aviator" by Nina McGuire and Sandra Wallus Sammons p. 65
August 9, 1980
Jacqueline Cochran Dies at 74
Jaqueline Cochran's Gravestone | Credit to "Jackie Cochran Pilot in the Fastest Lane" by
Doris Rich p. 231
“She did a lot of good – a tremendous amount of good – and between Jackie and Floyd, they probably accomplished more in their lifetimes than anybody.”
– Glennis Yeager from “Jackie Cochran An Autobiography” p. 282
"Jacqueline Cochran has done more for aviation than many of you men."
-The Society of Experimental Test Pilot's president, quote found in "Jacqueline Cochran First Lady of Flight" by Marquita Fisher p. 93
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Jackie Cochran broke many barriers throughout her life.
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