Brig. Gen. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager (Ret.) and his flight student, groundbreaking female aviatrix Jackie Cochran, shown here circa 1953, have the distinction of being the first male and female pilots to break the sound barrier. Cochran is shown at the controls of an F-86 Sabre jet, the plane in which she first flew at supersonic speeds. Photo courtesy Air Force Flight Test Center History Office

Jackie Cochran: Magnificent woman in her flying machine climbed into the cockpit and 'broke the bonds of gender and space'

Sarah Merlin
X-Press Assistant Editor

With echoes of her legacy reverberating off Edwards hangar walls and runways, dignitaries of all stripes gathered May 16 to celebrate the high-flying life and legend of aviatrix Jacqueline "Jackie" Cochran and pay homage to the women pilots, astronauts and flight test engineers who have flown in her wake.

Among many achievements as a pilot and businesswoman, Cochran rose from the humblest of origins to garner many firsts as a female pilot, most notably being the first woman to break the sound barrier. Her flying career spanned four decades and included the setting of eight world records at Edwards in speed, altitude and distance - more than any other pilot, male or female. Some of those records stand.

Three events highlighted the celebration, dubbed Jackie Cochran Day on the base. Air Force Flight Test Center commander Maj. Gen. Doug Pearson presided over the day's activities, which were attended by Brig. Gen. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager (Ret.) and by members of the World War II Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) and the international women's pilot organization the Ninety-Nines. Cochran was a leading force in creation of the WASP group, whose members flew noncombat support missions for the U.S. during World War II, and was past president of the Ninety-Nines.

The day's activity began with morning ceremonies dedicating a Lockheed F-104G Starfighter and a commemorative plaque to Cochran's memory near the Oasis Community Center.

Jacqueline "Jackie" Cochran Photo Courtesy of NASM

Lockheed officials made an F-104 like the one now mounted on display available to Cochran, a civilian pilot, for a series of flight tests in the 1960s. During a June 1961 flight in the Starfighter, she claimed her third jet speed record in less than a month, flying the difficult Edwards 100-kilometer circular course at 1,303.241 mph.

"Jackie broke the bonds of gender and space," said Pearson in opening remarks, calling Cochran "an inspiration to young people today" and "an outstanding aviator and businesswoman."

"She told herself 'I'm good enough to do this, and it doesn't matter that I was a born a female.' (In a world overwhelmingly dominated by male aviators), she succeeded in spite of being a female. She succeeded where most wouldn't even have tried."

Cochran's long-time friend and flight instructor Chuck Yeager, whose landmark flight over Edwards first broke the sound barrier in October 1947, followed Pearson to the podium. Yeager's reminiscences of Cochran were interrupted briefly with the commemorative flyby of an F-86 Sabre jet, the Korean-era fighter in which Cochran became the first female pilot to break the sound barrier on May 18, 1953.

Yeager shared stories of his experiences as Cochran's close friend and teacher. The two were legendary in aviation circles for their daring and their willingness to test the capabilities of any aircraft they flew. They traveled the globe together during their aviation careers.

Among attendees at the Cochran Day festivities were four original WASP members. From left are Margaret Weiss, current WASP president Bea Thurston, FloraBelle Reece and Irma "Babe" Story. NASA Photo / Tom Tschida

Highlights of their exploits entertained the crowd at the F-104 dedication and at the day's next event, a luncheon featuring remarks by Pearson, Yeager and other speakers including Dryden Chief Engineer Marta Bohn-Meyer. Photo and video exhibits dedicated to Cochran's career were on display, and attendees also enjoyed a flightline array of static aircraft that included types flown by Cochran.

Yeager recounted memories of flying in the back seat of a T-38 with Cochran at the controls, the plane's baggage pod filled with silk dresses, jewelry and other personal effects.

"We had shoes stuffed up in the windshield," Yeager said. "Things tucked everywhere. She liked to have her things with her, so she could dress for the occasion whenever she wanted to."

But Cochran was no dilettante, and Yeager was unabashed in his praise of her skills as a pilot.

"She was very disciplined," he said, "better than a lot of male test pilots who were my peers.

"She always listened very carefully to instructions she was given - she set an excellent example in this regard for modern-day pilots, both male and female."

Lt. Col. Sandy Miarecki is one such pilot. Miarecki, a former Edwards test pilot who now is a T-38 instructor at Randolph Air Force Base in Texas, is one of the four percent of American military pilots who are women - a statistic not significantly changed during the past twenty years, Miarecki noted in her turn at the podium. She cited Cochran's example as motivation for her pursuit of a career in the cockpit.

"Growing up when I did," said Miarecki, "I saw the space program develop before my eyes. I wanted to be an astronaut, and it just didn't occur to me that I couldn't be one because I was a girl."

It wasn't until entering the military that she learned the extent of the barriers that existed for women in aviation, and of the paucity of female candidates for pilot and astronaut slots. But with women like Cochran serving as an example, Miarecki said she persevered.

"I had it easy compared to her," she said. "When I thought I had it tough, I would think back to Jackie Cochran and other great women pilots. I thought, 'If they can do it, we can do it.'"

Members of the Ninety-Nines international women's pilot group attended Jackie Cochran Day activities. Members of the local chapter of the Ninety-Nines pause on the runway near an F-86 Sabre jet, the type of aircraft in which Jackie Cochran broke the sound barrier. From left are Dryden employees Michelle Davis, Marta Bohn-Meyer and Carol Reukauf; Beverly Wander Wall, Irene Nester, Rosemary Jensen-Coonrod, Cathy Hansen, FloraBelle Reece, Lynne Bunn and Leigh Kelly. NASA Photo / Tom Tschida

In Bohn-Meyer's remarks, she too credited Cochran's influence on her own career as an aviator. Bohn-Meyer was the first - and only - woman to fly as a crewmember in the triple-sonic SR-71 Blackbird.

"(Cochran) was a true American patriot," said Bohn-Meyer. "She was a major source of inspiration for me -and I have to admit I'm jealous" of Cochran's achievement in breaking the sound barrier.

Her predecessor was one of the first to master the art of networking, Bohn-Meyer said, which benefited Cochran herself, women who were her contemporaries and the aviators who came after her.

"She had all the 'right stuff' - she was in the right place at the right time, with the right qualifications and the right enthusiasm." Cochran's was a legacy of success, said Bohn-Meyer, and today's women in aviation must "commit to keeping her legacy alive."

The day's final event took place at South Base, where Pearson led the dedication of the X-1 "pit," a T-shaped depression into which Yeager's rocket plane was lowered so it could be attached to the belly of the B-29 mother ship that carried the X-1 skyward.

"This is an important piece of property," Pearson said. "People can come here and take note and take pictures and talk about the important things that happened here in the past."

The pit, created more than 50 years ago, was a stopgap measure devised by the military to address a stumbling block in the X-1's launch.

"We had no way to raise a B-29," Yeager explained in remarks to the crowd. "So we backed the X-1 into the pit, rolled the B-29 over it and hoisted the X-1 up."

The pit - known informally to base personnel as the "Yeager pit" long before its formal dedication - fell into disrepair when engineers later devised a hydraulic lift for the B-29, rendering the pit obsolete. Volunteers in recent years cleaned the weeds, dirt and stagnant water from the pit and erected a railing around it.

During the Jackie Cochran Day event, a freestanding granite structure holding a plaque that details the pit's significance was dedicated. The plaque was donated by the 400-member Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association, a military-industrial consortium. Chapter president Bob Peterson was on hand for the ceremony.

"I'm glad to see it in immaculate condition," Yeager said of the pit. "I'm glad it's got a plaque."

Dryden historian Peter Merlin and the Air Force Flight Test Center History office contributed to this article.