Geraldine 'Jerrie' Cobb

Since my last post was so very shallow, I felt the need to post something a little more highbrow. So here it is; I've chosen to write about one of my biggest heroes.

No, not Wonder Woman (who was my first hero, just as she was for many gay men), I'm talking about Geraldine 'Jerrie' Cobb. Haven't heard of her? Well shame on you!

Jerrie Cobb should have been the first woman in space.

Perhaps I should explain.
Jerrie was born in Norman, Oklahoma, in 1931. She learned to fly her daddie's 'plane at the age of 12. At 17 she had her private pilots license and was paying her way through school by dusting crops and teaching navigation. At 18 she recieved her commercial license, setting world altitude and speed records. She was a very talented pilot and her achievements brought her to the attention of NASA. She was recruited to become an astronaut trainee in 1959, the first woman to be selected for that role.

She helped NASA to select other candidates and they became known collectively as the First Lady Astronaut Trainees (or FLATs). Thirteen women completed the first round of training before NASA decided to pull the plug on their female astronaut training scheme. Jerrie and her team were denied the chance to fly any space missions.

Jerrie didn't let this setback get her down. She went on to set new world records for speed, distance and absolute altitude and has spent over 30 years performing missionary work in South America. In 1981 she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work.

And that is why she is one of my biggest heroes; a woman who has rallied against her setbacks and come back stronger.

(The first woman who actually made it into space was the Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. In 1963 she spent 3 days in space, performing various tests on herself to see how the female body reacted to space flight. It was 19 years before another woman was selected for a space mission.)

Earhart and Quimby

Amelia Earhart - everyone knows her name. Well maybe not everyone, but she seems pretty popular at the moment. First Night in the Museum 2 (oh Amelia, how the mighty have fallen) and now a new film about her life simply entitled Amelia have once more set her firmly in the public eye.

And it's easy to see why Amelia has such enduring international fame. In 1932 she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She was setting records in a male-dominated field, one of the rare women pilots in the pioneering age of aviation. But perhaps she is best remembered for her mysterious disappearance in 1937, the subject of numerous conspiracy theories. It is a shame that the circumstances surrounding her death should overshadow the achievements of her life.

But Amelia wasn't the only American aviatrix of her time. she wasn't even the first. That honour goes to a woman by the name of Harriet Quimby.



Harriet was something of a trendsetter; she drove a motor car, smoked (scandalous for a woman at the start of the 20th Century), was a reporter, a playwright. In 1911she added pilot to the list, being the first American woman to gain her license. ON 16th April 1912 she became the first woman to fly solo across the English Channel, piloting a monoplane she had borrowed from Louis Bleriot for the occasion.

Sadly the Titanic had sunk just the day before. That tragedy dominated the headlines and Harriet's achievement went almost unremarked.

Still, Harriet went on to become a star turn in the flying circuses that were so popular at the time. She wore a plum coloured satin flight suit with a hood and cat-like goggles - quite a fashion statement! Three months after her Channel crossing she attended the Third Annual Boston Aviation Show, taking the organiser William Willard for a spin over the bay.

No-one knows for sure what went wrong. Harriet's 'plane crashed, killing both herself and Willard.

Now Harriet was one of Amelia Earhart's inspirations, and yet few people today have ever heard of her today. Perhaps it was just the unfortunate timing of her greatest achievement. Regardless, I doubt we'll be seeing a Harriet movie coming out of Hollywood anytime soon, mores the pity.