LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Jackie Cochran: Pilots
built 185 days ago
"Jackie" Cochran was an orphan raised by a poor family. She worked her way out of poverty, eventually starting her own business. But Cochran's true calling was flying; she took flying lessons in 1932 and received her pilot's license in just 18 days.
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During her aviation career, Jackie Cochran set more speed and altitude records than any of her contemporaries, male or female. She not only became one of the world's great aviatrixes but ... one of the best pilots of either gender. Throughout her life, Cochran demonstrated an incredible drive; she wanted to succeed at everything she did. Remarkably, Cochran, unlike many famous aviators, did not originally show an interest in learning to fly. In fact, she obtained her pilot's license only so that she could peddle her own line of cosmetics across the country. Nevertheless, Cochran was a true aviation pioneer.
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In 1932, Jackie Cochran began taking flying lessons at Roosevelt Field on Long Island. When she began taking the lessons she said, "a beauty operator ceased to exist and an aviator was born." On the third day of her lessons, she soloed. She obtained her license in two and a half weeks. After receiving her license, she bought a Travelair plane and began taking additional flying lessons from Ted Marshall, a Navy pilot.
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Cochran's training program, first at an airport in Houston and then on the Texas prairie at Sweetwater, looked a lot like Army flight training, but it was still a civilian program. When it began graduating pilots in early 1943, they were assigned to the WAFS under Love's command. By then, the WAFS were delivering advanced trainers and Nancy herself had been one of the first pilots to check out in a P-51 Mustang, the hottest plane of the war. Others among the original group were quietly working their way into P-39s and P-47s. Under Love's guidance, the WAFS had proved their worth and ATC was begging for more. The new pilots from Sweetwater were well trained and were soon flying a variety of the army's planes.
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After sharpening her skills at a California flight school, Cochran entered her first major aviation competition in 1934--the MacRobertson Race from London to Melbourne. Unfortunately, she and her co-pilot, Wesley Smith, had to abandon the race because of problems with their plane's flaps. Although Cochran was disappointed, she continued competing. In 1935, she entered the famous Bendix cross-country race from Los Angeles to Cleveland, but once again had to drop out due to mechanical problems. Ironically, in spite of her ambitions, it turned out that Cochran's major accomplishment of the year was the launch of her own cosmetics company.
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Jackie Cochran is not as well known as some of the other great pilots. One history expert said people respected her, but did not really like her. She led the way for other female pilots. But she did not seek their company as friends.
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