Cochran being sworn in as a consultant by NASA Administrator James E. Webb in 1961. Jacqueline Cochran (May 11, 1906 - August 9, 1980) was a pioneer American aviator. She learned to fly an aircraft in just three weeks, soloed and within two years obtained her commercial pilot's license. In 1937, she was the only woman to compete in the Bendix race.That year, she also set a new woman's national speed record. By 1938, she was considered the best female pilot in the USA. She had won the Bendix and set a new transcontinental speed record as well as altitude records. She was the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic. She won five Harmon Trophies as the outstanding woman pilot in the world. Sometimes called the "Speed Queen," at the time of her death, no other pilot held more speed, distance or altitude records in aviation history, than Cochran. She was the first woman to break the sound barrier (with Chuck Yeager right on her wing), the first woman to fly a jet across the ocean, as well as setting many other aviation records. In the 1960s, Cochran was a sponsor of the Mercury 13 programs. She died in 1980 at the age of 74.