Willa Brown, Jacqueline Cochran among notable women achievers

In 1938, Willa Brown became the first African-American woman in the United States to earn a private pilot’s license and established the Coffey School of Aeronautics to train black pilots and aviation mechanics. In conjunction with the Coffey School of Aeronautics, Brown helped organize Civil Air Patrol Squadron 613.

Later, in 1939, Willa Brown helped create the National Airmen’s Association of America, which sought to get black aviators into the U.S. Military.

Her dedication toward racial equality led to Congress allowing black participation in civilian flight training programs. It also allowed for the Coffey School of Aeronautics to train pilots for the Civilian Pilot Training Program.

Brown also became the first black female officer in CAP and first black woman to obtain a commercial pilots license in the United States.

Jacqueline Cochran

After only three weeks of lessons, Jacqueline Cochran received her pilot’s license at Roosevelt Flying School on Long Island, New York, in 1932. Afterward, she immediately pursued her instrument rating, commercia, and transport pilot licenses and in 1935 established her own line of cosmetics. Cochran flew around the country to build distributors and deliver products.

As the war in Europe seemed inevitable, Cochran organized a group of women pilots to transport warplanes for the Air Transport Auxiliary. Her leadership continued to the organization of the Women’s Flying Training Detachment, training civilian women pilots in case of a shortage of military pilots during WWII.

Soon after, WFTD merged with the Women’s Auxiliary Ferry Squadron to form the Women Airforce Service Pilots. With Cochran as director, WASP had more than 1,000 women transport warplanes, personnel and cargo more than 60 million miles.

After the war, Cochran became a record setter, trading many records with French pilot Jacqueline Auriol. Only six years after Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947, Cochran became the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound and at the time of her death in 1980, she held more altitude, distance and speed records than any other pilot in aviation history.