I was eight or ten years old when, one summer, my parents brought home a box of biscuits so that my siblings and I would have something to snack on and, inside the box and to our surprise, was a small metal model of a twin-engine aeroplane that became mine. As well as becoming one of my favourite toys, it created a before and after in my philosophy of life by initiating a growing interest in aviation in general.
Jacqueline Cochran and Jacqueline Auriol had a history of rivalry and an encouraging competition to be the fastest rider with the best records.
In learning about aviation, one of the things I have always looked for and admired are those highlights that were turning points and important milestones. If any of these milestones stand out, it is what was called the "The battle of the women"in which the celebrated Amelia Earhart. One of its principles was... who isn't attracted by speed?
He could have given us lessons on speed as well Jacqueline Cochran.
This woman was considered one of the leading racing drivers of her generation, in addition to the first woman to break the sound barrier and the first to fly a jet across the ocean, among many other records. She worked as a hairdresser before realising that her future lay a little higher, when a friend gave her a ride in a plane and her attraction pushed her to take flying lessons until she got her Commercial Pilot's licence. Following this moment, the passion for flying pushed her to enter several races, from which she won more than one prize and achieved several speed records. In 1953, flying a Canadair F-86 Sabre, she became the first woman to reach the speed of sound.
On the other side of the Atlantic, in France, and driven by the same passion, Jacqueline Auriol became a Test Pilot, achieving real aerial feats in his aircraft. In 1959, aboard a Mirage III, he would reach the speed of MACH 2; in 1962, would beat the speed record by flying at 1,850 km/h. The record set by her rival, Jacqueline Cochran, had been broken.
It went on to become a real rivalryThe two companies, although healthy, gave rise to a time when the desire to improve each other reached important moments in aviation, both in terms of speed and in the control and piloting of aircraft.
In relation to the way they flew, one of the outstanding feats of these women was the dangerous circumstance suffered by Auriol, who, when she lost control of the controls on board the Mystere IV, which was falling into a tailspin and withstanding pressures impossible for anyone, on the point of losing consciousness, as she would admit, managed to control the aircraft and land without any damage whatsoever.
Between them, they reached astonishing speeds for the time, reaching 2,030 km/h in 1964 by Auriol, or 2,097 km/h that same year by Cochran. At the time of Jacqueline Cochran's death in 1980, no one had managed to exceed this speed. Jacqueline Auriol wrote in 1970: "I love flying".
