1459 MILES AN HOUR

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30445, 20 May 1964, Page 2

1459 MILES AN HOUR

Flying an aircraft faster than any woman in history, Jacqueline Cochran, in a Lockheed F-104G Super Starfighter, has smashed the existing world’s record for women in the 15/25 kilometre straight-line speed category by more than 150 miles an hour, averaging 1429.297 miles an hour. On two passes above Edwards Air Force Base, California, the aviatrix cracked the old mark of 1273.109 miles an hour. The record was confirmed on Monday by Mr E. Hansen, National Aeronautics Association official for the event In setting the new record—i mach 2.2, or better than twice the speed of sound—Miss Cochran eclipsed the previous world mark she set last May in a two-seat version of the

F-104. The single-seater F-104G is the same as the top front-line fighter. No other woman has ever flown a single-seater F-104G. Miss Cochran had to fly the Super Starfighter on a straight 10-mile course. Her altitude was 37,100 feet. When in the radar-monitored “trap” she had to hold the aircraft within a maximum up-and-down tolerance of 100 metres—not varying her altitude by more than 328 feet.