Jacqueline Cochran rose from childhood poverty to become an aviation pioneer.
She was the first woman to fly in the Bendix Trophy Transcontinental Race in 1935, winning it in 1938.
At the outbreak of WW2, she was the first woman to ferry a bomber across the Atlantic Ocean in support of the war effort, helped create and run the WASP program; training the majority of women pilots in the war. She earned several medals to include the Distinguished Flying Cross.
By 1961, she had become the first woman to break the sound barrier, worked on the Mercury 13 program and helped trained women to be astronauts. In 1962, she set 9 world records only to break them the following year. She flew everything from prop planes to jet fighters.
To this day, she still holds more speed, altitude, and flying records than any other pilot, male or female, in the world. "I might have been born in a hovel but I am determined to travel with the wind and the stars." #stayzero #zerofoxtrot #imapilot