Jackie Cochran Research Paper

Jacqueline “Jackie” Cochran was born on May 11, 1906 in Defuniak Springs, Florida. Before she became a pilot she started her own hairdressing business and it wasn’t until she met Floyd Odlum, who suggested she learned to fly to gain an advantage in the beauty industry, that she considered becoming a pilot. Over the next four years Jacqueline learned how to fly a plane and earned her pilots licence. In 1939, when Adolf Hitler and Nazis marched across Europe, Jacqueline Cochran believed America would become involved in the war and she felt that women could play a major role in the war effort. With this in mind, Jacqueline proposed a women’s flying division but Army Air Force General Henry Arnold rejected her idea. Jacqueline then began to participate

in major air races and set new records. In 1940, she broke national and international speed records and she also won the Women‘s National Aviation Association award as the outstanding woman pilot for four years in a row, from 1938- 1941. She established a woman’s national altitude record and broke the international open-class speed record for both men and women. In 1941, General Arnold reconsidered Jackie’s proposal and asked her to travel to England for the "Wings for Britain" program, which was an organization that flew American aircraft to Britain. In June 1941 Cochran became the first woman to fly a bomber across the North Atlantic and in July 1943 Cochran was appointed to the General Staff of the U.S. Army Air Forces to direct the Women Air force Service Pilots (WASP) program and trained women pilots during the war. In 1945 she received the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal for her contributions. After the war, Jacqueline Cochran continued to participate in air races and aviation competition, setting new transcontinental and international records. Then, on May 18th 1953, at Rogers Dry Lake, California, she became the first woman to break the sound barrier.