Lockheed TF-104G with Jacqueline Cochran

painting © Lou Drendel 1968

Jacqueline Cochran learned to fly in 1928 at the age of 22. She was the first woman to win the Bendix Transcontinental Race (1938) and established speed and altitude records for women. She was the director of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASPS) during World War II, and became the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic. She was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in 1945, and was commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserve. She became the first woman to break the sound barrier in this TF-104G Starfighter.