And You Will Find Love

One of her new heroines, Jacqueline Cochran, had entered the Bendix the year before, flying from Los Angeles to Cleveland, Ohio, and was a strong contender to win the 1936 races.

Barbara felt a kinship with Cochran for more reasons than just their mutual love of flying. They had both come up the hard way, but Cochran had it even harder. It became one of Barbara's new ambitions in life to meet her heroine. Meanwhile, she learned everything she could about her and her flying accomplishments.

Officials told Cochran when she entered the 1935 Bendix that it was "too difficult for a woman." It was because another woman pilot, Florence Klingensmith, had been killed in the 1933 Bendix and racing officials were afraid that might happen again. But Cochran got signatures on a letter from all the male pilots saying it was okay with them if she wanted to enter the race. At the last minute, Amelia Earhart entered, too.

On the night of the takeoff, fog rolled off the Pacific Ocean so heavy that pilots couldn't see the end of the runway. The plane ahead of Cochran's crashed on takeoff and the pilot was killed. The owner of the Bee Gee which Cochran was to fly begged her to call off the flight, but she said she believed she could use the plane's instruments to take off.

Cochran began her blind takeoff, but as the plane moved down the runway, its engine didn't seem to be building up enough power. Just before the plane was about to crash into a fence at the end of the runway, its wheels left the ground. But the radio antenna had caught on the fence and was pulled off. Cochran had no radio to navigate or communicate with, but made it up into the sky.

Hours later, approaching the Grand Canyon, Cochran saw that an electrical storm was building up. At the same time, she noticed her plane was overheated. The winds were very strong, it began to rain, and lightning flashed all about her. She feared she couldn't fly the overheated plane safely through the storm, so she reluctantly flew to the nearest airport. She hadn't finished the race, but proved that a woman could again enter the Bendix. Her idol, Amelia Earhart, took fifth place.

Cochran, who was superstitious, wondered if she had lost the race because during the flight she lost the yellow rosebud her husband, Floyd Oldham, always gave her for good luck at the start of a race.

Chet, Paul, and Olafson came back and interrupted Barbara's reflections on the Bee Gee and the Bendix Races.

"Your soloing calls for a celebration," Chet told her. "How about I take you to dinner tonight?" When she hesitated, trying to think of a polite way to say no, he charged ahead. "All of you."