Jacqueline Cochran, left, and Nancy Love blazed a path for women in military aviation. U.S. Air Force graphic by Sylvia SaabFORT MEADE, Md., March 4, 2013 – Two women, from completely opposite economic, social and cultural backgrounds, walked parallel paths during the early days of World War II, clearing boundaries for women in aviation.
Jacqueline Cochran was born in 1906 in a cotton-fields-and-sawmill small town in western Florida. She grew up in such poverty that she didn’t own a pair of shoes until she was nine years old.
As Cochran grew, she loved the sight of airplanes, and she firmly believed that one day she would fly. In 1932 she earned her pilot’s license, and she not only flew, she soared.
At the time of Cochran’s death Aug. 9, 1980, she held more international speed, distance and altitude records than any other pilot, male or female. She was the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic Ocean, and was the driving force behind the formation of the Women’s Flying Training Detachment, which trained female pilots to fly military aircraft.
Nancy Harkness Love was born in 1914, the daughter of a wealthy physician, in Houghton, Mich. By the time she was 16, she’d earned her pilot's license. During her college years at Vassar, she earned extra money by taking students for airplane rides. read more>>>
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