I meant to post this on May 11th (her birthday), but got sidetracked. I figured better late than never, though.
A brief summation, for those unfamiliar. In the early part of last century when flying was something new and unusual, female pilots were a rarity and therefore newsworthy. The most famous of course is Amelia Earhart, but (imo) Jackie Cochran was the more interesting aviation pioneer. She accomplished much more (not the least of which was surviving to old age), including being the first woman to break the sound barrier, being an instrumental figure in starting the WASPs, the first woman to fly a bomber, and the first woman to fly the Atlantic. She set a variety of speed records in several planes (including F-104s and F-84s), and at the time of her death in 1980 held more speed and distance records than any pilot in history, male or female, living or dead.
In addition to this, she was (I think) the first woman air-race pilot. She competed as the only female pilot in the 1937 Bendix air race, where she came in third, and won the trophy in 1938. I’m sure the other pilots here will back me when I say that these early air-race planes were staggeringly dangerous to fly, and it took an exceptionally skilled pilot to fly (and survive) them.
In 1937, she had a Monocoupe custom-built to fly as her personal aircraft. This plane was very fast, although not enough to enter in the Bendix competition. It was also quite the handful to fly and eventually crashed, killing another pilot who was flying it at the time. At this point, the plane (or its wreckage anyway) seems to have been forgotten.
Now shifting the storyline to the present, I promise I’ll tie this all together.
Occasionally, I am called on to deliver airplanes, usually from seller to buyer. Last month I was asked to deliver a small plane from the northeast to its new owner in the DFW area and I took my son along so he could share the flying. We flew commercial to the plane’s location and were met by an interesting and gracious gentleman who was our host for the next few days (weather prevented my planned departure). He was a very accomplished and experienced pilot who’d retired several years ago and I had a marvelous time listening to his stories.
During our examination and test flight of the purchase aircraft, he mentioned his small collection of aircraft in a nearby hangar and offered to give us a tour. I followed him through a small door into the hangar, and when he turned on the lights, this is what I saw. You guessed it… back in the corner is Jackie Cochran’s custom-built 1937 Monocoupe. He acquired the remains several years ago, and has completely rebuilt it. He uses this machine as his “daily-driver” (so to speak).
A great deal of the parts are original, although a significant portion had to be built from new, due to crash damage. It is still certified as “experimental” and according to him it is capable of at least 250 knots (288 mph). For the pilots, the airspeed indicator has no limitation markings. No white or yellow arc, no redline. Whether this is a product of its age, or the experimental category, I don’t know.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take a ride in it, as the weather conspired to keep us all grounded. When it finally lifted, we had to depart quickly in the purchase airplane in order to make the maximum westward progress before the next weather front grounded us. We made it to Arkansas late that night after 11 hours in the cockpit, and finished the remainder of the flight the following day.
If I haven’t bored you to tears yet, here a few pics of the return trip in the plane we picked up.
My son and I, just before departure
Breaking out on top, somewhere over Cincinnatti
Me and son in cockpit.. For the pilot’s, When’s the last time you saw and old ADF like that?
Approaching the Mississippi near sundown.
