Jacqueline Cochran grew up as an orphan in rural Florida, picking cotton and sleeping on the floor of a shack. By 40, she held more speed, distance, and altitude records than any other pilot alive — male or female. The distance between those two facts was covered entirely by her own will, intelligence, and a ferocious refusal to accept what others told her was possible.

She learned to fly in just three weeks in 1932 — a record that stood for years. She entered the Bendix Trophy air race in 1935 — the first woman to do so — and finished third in 1937. She won it outright in 1938, becoming the first woman to do so. When World War II broke out, she convinced Army Air Force General Hap Arnold — who was initially opposed to the idea — to allow women pilots to fly military aircraft in support roles. Together with Nancy Harkness Love, she formed the Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs).

The WASPs flew everything. B-17 Flying Fortresses, P-51 Mustangs, B-29 Superfortresses, dive bombers, transport aircraft. They ferried aircraft from factories to airfields, towed targets for anti-aircraft gunners, flew test flights on newly repaired aircraft, and trained male pilots. In two years of operation, 1,074 women flew 60 million miles of military missions. Thirty-eight of them died. They were classified as civilians, denied military benefits, and quietly disbanded in December 1944 when returning male pilots needed the jobs. They received no Veterans’ benefits until 1979.

Faster Than Sound

After the war, Cochran kept flying. On 18 May 1953, with Chuck Yeager flying alongside her as a chase pilot and flight instructor, she broke the sound barrier in a Canadian-built F-86 Sabre over Rogers Dry Lake in California. She became the first woman in history to fly faster than sound. Then she did it again. And again. Over the course of her career, she broke the sound barrier multiple times and set a series of altitude and speed records that stood for years.

Cochran died in 1980, holding more aviation speed records than any other pilot in history. The cosmetics empire she had built — Jacqueline Cochran Cosmetics — was still operating. The WASPs she had fought for were finally receiving military recognition. And in aviation circles, her name ranked alongside Lindbergh and Earhart as one of the great pilots of the twentieth century. Not the great female pilots. The great pilots. Full stop.

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