Everything about Pancho Barnes totally explained
Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes (
July 22,
1901 –
March 30,
1975), was a pioneer of women's aviation and the owner of the celebrated
Happy Bottom Riding Club located on land annexed into
Edwards Air Force Base in southern
California's
Antelope Valley in the southwestern
United States.
Early years
She was born as
Florence Leontine Lowe on
July 22,
1901 to Thaddeus Lowe II (1870-1955) and his first wife Florence May (Dobbins) Lowe. The Lowes were a wealthy family in
San Marino, California, and Florence Lowe was reared to become a society lady. An adventurous streak had always been present in her family, and the young Florence learned the spectrum of hunting, fishing, and camping skills from her father. She is even known to have gone horseback riding with the young
George S. Patton, Jr. across the Alhambra plains. Another inspiration was her grandfather, Prof.
Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, who had pioneered American aviation with the establishment of the
Union Army Balloon Corps during the
American Civil War. However, her upper-class upbringing and her mother's fears about her wild tendencies and
tomboy-like attitude led to a
1919 marriage to Reverend C. Rankin Barnes of
South Pasadena, with whom she'd a son, William E. Barnes.
How Pancho got her nickname
The peaceful life of a clergyman's wife wasn't for Florence however. After her mother's death in
1924 and subsequently inheriting the family fortune, in early
1928 she returned to her flamboyant and headstrong ways, which caused her marriage to end in a
1941 divorce. She abandoned her family, disguised herself as a man, and stowed away on a
freighter bound for
Mexico, joining a banana boat crew once there. In San Blas, Mexico, she jumped ship with a fellow crewmember and began to roam the Mexican countryside with him. It was during this time in 1928 roaming the land on a donkey's back - reminding her male companion of the character he erroneously called "Pancho" who in reality was Sancho Panza from the novel
Don Quixote - Florence Barnes first became known by her nickname of Pancho. She was known by it for the rest of her life.
Pancho's adventures
Having spent four months abroad, Pancho returned to San Marino and in the Spring of 1928, while driving her cousin Dean Banks to flying lessons, decided immediately to learn to fly. Convincing her cousin's flight instructor of her desire that same day, she soloed after just six hours of formal instruction. True to her flamboyant devil-may-care spirit, she forthwith brought friends along for rides and began "buzzing" her husband's Sunday morning congregation for the fun of it. At this time in aviation history, Barnes was one of only two dozen
aviatrixes in the United States, a contemporary of female flyers such as
Amelia Earhart.
Her passion for aviation took off, and she ran an ad-hoc
barnstorming show and competed in air races. Despite a crash in the
1929 Women's Air Derby, Pancho returned in
1930 under the sponsorship of the
Union Oil Company to win the race — and break Amelia Earhart's world women's speed record with a speed of 196.19 mph (315.7 km/h). Barnes broke this record in a Travel Air Model R, which she dubbed her "Mystery Ship."
After her contract with Union Oil expired, Pancho moved to
Hollywood to work as a stunt pilot for movies. She flew in several air-adventure movies of the 1930s, including Howard Hughes' "Hell's Angels."
Pancho had extensive connections in Hollywood; her close friend
George Hurrell was head of the portrait department of
MGM Studios, but had got his start after Pancho introduced him to
Ramon Novarro, another good friend of Pancho's. She also introduced Novarro to fellow aviator
Moye Stephens and travel-adventure writer
Richard Halliburton. Pancho quickly formed friendships with other stars such as
Susan Oliver and
Richard Arlen.
The high life treated Pancho well, but her poor money management during the
Great Depression and disputes with her family were quickly draining her small fortune. By
1935, Pancho had only her apartment in Hollywood left. She sold this and in March,
1935 bought 80
acres (32.4
ha) of land in the
Mojave Desert, near the Rogers dry lake bed and the nascent
Muroc Field, then referred to as March Field because it was an adjunct property of
March Army Air Base at this time.
The Happy Bottom Riding Club
On her land, Pancho Barnes built the
Happy Bottom Riding Club, also known as the Rancho Oro Verde Fly-Inn Dude Ranch, a
dude ranch and restaurant which catered to airmen at the nearby airfield. Pancho became very close friends with many of the early test pilots, including
Chuck Yeager, General
Jimmy Doolittle, and
Buzz Aldrin. Pancho's ranch became famous for the parties and high-flying lifestyle of all the guests. However, a change of command in
1952 contributed to her getting into a conflict with the
US Air Force, and Pancho's colorful character was evicted from the base after a suspicious fire burned her ranch to the ground in
1953.
After the Rancho Oro Verde was destroyed, Pancho was so disgusted that she moved to
Cantil, California, with hopes of restarting a similar ranch there. Pancho filed a law suit against the United States Air Force for having been evicted from her property on Edwards AFB. Her main contention of defense was: "My grandfather founded the United States Air Force." On that argument the court found in her favor and reinstated her property with $375,000 remuneration. Pancho once again became a commonplace figure at the base and was referred to as the "Mother of Edwards AFB". The officer's mess at Edwards was renamed the Pancho Barnes Room, and the wounds began to heal as Pancho reconnected with many old-timers.
Death
Pancho was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the
Antelope Valley Aero Museum's annual "Barnstormers Reunion" on
April 5,
1975. However, when a friend called on
March 30, she couldn't reach Pancho. When Pancho's son Bill went to investigate, he found Pancho dead in her home. The coroner determined that she'd died of a heart attack several days earlier.
Her fourth husband "Mac" McKendry continued to live in Cantil and survived her for many years.
Legacy
Son Bill Barnes died piloting a
P-51 Mustang flying near the site of the Happy Bottom Riding Club in October,
1980. His mother Pancho founded in
1940 Barnes Aviation of
Lancaster which Bill operated in his adult years. It is still in the general aviation business today.
Her life and personality were portrayed in the
1983 epic film
The Right Stuff adapted from
Tom Wolfe's bestselling book of the same name.
Kim Stanley played Pancho Barnes in the film which documented - as far as the
history of early Space Flight goes - "How the Future Began." She was also the subject of a 1988 TV movie
Pancho Barnes, in which she was portrayed by
Valerie Bertinelli. A documentary film chronicling her life story is currently being produced by filmmaker
Nick T. Spark and directed by Amanda Pope, in affiliation with KOCE-TV, a
PBS station Orange County, California.
Pancho's
Mystery Ship was for a long time located in a hangar at
Mojave Airport. It was sold to a private collector a number of years ago, and is currently in the United Kingdom where it's being restored.
Her Happy Bottom Riding Club site is today the location for the annual Edwards Air Force Base Pancho Barnes Day celebration (established in
1980). A barbecue is held and drinks are served, along with dancing and live music to honor the remembrance of this aviation pioneer and friend. This goes on way into the night, just like in the old days when Pancho was there with her many friends.
Fictionalized Accounts
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