Jerrie Cobb
| Jerrie Cobb | |
|---|---|
Jerrie Cobb with a Mercury spacecraft.
|
|
| Full name | Geraldyn M. Cobb |
| Born |
March 5, 1931 Norman, Oklahoma |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Oklahoma City Classen High School |
| Aviation career | |
| Known for | Part of the "Mercury 13" |
| First flight | 1943 |
Geraldyn ("Jerrie") M. Cobb (born March 5, 1931 in Norman, Oklahoma) is an American aviator. She was also part of the "Mercury 13," a group of women selected to undergo physiological screening tests at the same time as the original Mercury Seven astronauts, as part of a private, non-NASA program.
Cobb is the daughter of Lt. Col. William H. Cobb and Helena Butler Stone Cobb. As a child growing up in Oklahoma, Cobb took to aviation at an early age, with her pilot father's encouragement. Cobb first flew in an aircraft at age twelve, in her father's open cockpit 1936 Waco biplane. At 16, she was barnstorming around the Great Plains in a Piper J-3 Cub, dropping leaflets over little towns announcing the arrival of circuses. Sleeping under the Cub's wing at night helped scrape together money for fuel to practice her flying by giving rides. By the age of 17, while a student at Oklahoma City Classen High School, Cobb had earned her private pilot's license. She received her commercial pilots license a year later. In 1948, Cobb attended Oklahoma College for Women for a year.
By age 19, Cobb was teaching men to fly. At 21, she was delivering military fighters and four-engine bombers to foreign Air Forces worldwide.
Facing sexual discrimination and the return of many qualified male pilots after World War II, she had to take on less sought after jobs, such as patrolling pipelines and crop dusting. Regardless, she went on to earn her Multi-Engine, Instrument, Flight Instructor, and Ground Instructor ratings as well as her Airline Transport license.
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Wikipedia