Barnstorming

thumb|A [[Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" over central Ontario, Canada, c. 1918]]

Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes",

Barnstormers were pilots who flew throughout the country to sell airplane rides and perform stunts. Charles Lindbergh first began flying as a barnstormer.

During World War I, the United States manufactured a significant number of Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" biplanes to train its military aviators, and almost every American airman learned to fly using the plane. After the war the U.S. federal government sold off the surplus material, including the Jennys, for a fraction of their initial value (they had cost the government $5,000 each, but were being sold for as low as $200). Perhaps the largest and most successful of these was the Gates Flying Circus, which attracted in its heyday tens of thousands to a single show. A Time magazine article estimated it staged 2000 air meets in 44 states. For example, on July 18, 1915, Katherine Stinson became the first woman in the world to perform a loop. During a barnstorming tour in Minnesota and Wisconsin in 1923, he made the "decision to pursue further formal instruction with the U.S. Army Air Service."

Barnstorming "seemed to be founded on bravado, with 'one-upmanship' a major incentive." By 1927, competition among barnstormers resulted in their performing increasingly dangerous tricks, and a rash of highly publicized accidents led to new safety regulations, which led to the demise of barnstorming. Spurred by a perceived need to protect the public and in response to political pressure by local pilots upset at barnstormers competing for local customers, the federal government enacted laws to regulate a fledgling civil aviation sector.

thumbnail| [[AeroSuperBatics Ltd|Breitling Wingwalkers ]]

The laws included safety standards and specifications that were virtually impossible for barnstormers to meet, such as the minimum altitude at which certain tricks could be performed (making it harder for spectators to see what was happening). The military also stopped selling Jennys in the late 1920s. This made it too difficult for barnstormers to make a living. Clyde Pangborn, who was the pilot of the two-man aviation team who were the first to cross the Pacific Ocean nonstop in 1931, ended his barnstorming career in 1931. Some pilots, however, continued to wander the country giving rides as late as fall 1941.

Performances

Planning

"Barnstorming season" ran from early spring until after the harvest and county fairs in the fall. Most barnstorming shows started with a pilot, or team of pilots flying over a small rural town to attract local attention. They would then land at a local farm (hence the term "barnstorming") and negotiate for the use of a field as a temporary runway from which to stage an air show and offer airplane rides. After obtaining a base of operation, the pilot or group of aviators would "buzz" the village and drop flyers.

Business

Barnstormers offered plane rides for a small fee. Lindbergh, for example, charged five dollars for a 15-minute ride in his plane. However exciting and glamorous, it was not an easy way to make a steady living. To make ends meet, the barnstormers—including Charles Lindbergh—often had to moonlight as flying instructors, handymen, gas station attendants, etc.

Philip Jose Farmer's 1982 book A Barnstormer in Oz featured a barnstorming pilot named Hank Stover.
In the Peanuts comic strip, Snoopy's alter ego, the World War I Flying Ace, states that he may do a little barnstorming after the war.
The novel The Flying Circus by Susan Crandall follows the exploits of a trio of individuals who come together to create their own barnstorming troupe.

Film and television

The Tarnished Angels (1957) – melodrama by Douglas Sirk based on the Faulkner novel about barnstorming
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) – comedy about the "pioneer era" (1903-1914) of air racing and barnstorming in Europe
The Gypsy Moths (1969) – American drama film directed by John Frankenheimer starring Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr, based on the novel of the same name by James William Drought
Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies (1973) – based on a story by Steven Spielberg starring Cliff Robertson as a Jenny pilot who barnstorms with his young son
The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)
Nothing by Chance (1975) – documentary by Hugh Downs about the biplanes that barnstormed across America in the 1920s
Days of Heaven (1978) – movie by Terrence Mallick in which a barnstorming troupe visits a farm and performs
The MTV show Nitro Circus features Travis Pastrana, Jolene Van Vugt, and Erik Roner wing-walking on a biplane without chutes or harnesses
The Fall Guy (1981–1986) – An action/adventure television series originally airing on ABC. The show was about a stuntman who moonlights as a bounty hunter using his skills as a stuntman to catch the bad guys. A scene from the intro shows off a biplane running through a farm yard before crashing into the side of a barn. This causes the stuntman 'Colt' to be thrown out of the crashed biplane. The following scene shows Colt being thrown into the hay, in effect "hitting the hay". To conclude the stunt, he covers his head with his hands, burying his face into the hay; while exploiting his uncompromising yet embarrassing situation, he "hey hey"s himself to attention in song. This scene in the intro to The Fall Guy was borrowed from a scene in the movie Singin' in the Rain. In season 2's episode 18 "Guess Who's Coming to Town", it starts out with Colt performing a stunt from The Great Waldo Pepper. As the biplane gains altitude to avoid crashing into the barn, it is not high enough to avoid Colt from doing the same. Colt crashes through the barn roof and winds up falling into the hay (in effect "hitting the hay").

Video games

In 1982, Activision produced a Barnstorming game cartridge for the Atari 2600.
In RollerCoaster Tycoon 2, the "Barnstorming Roller Coaster" has coaster cars that are replica biplanes.
In RollerCoaster Tycoon 3's Wild! Expansion Pack, a "Barn Stormer" ride can be built.
In Kentucky Route Zero, the small town surrounding 5 dogwood drive was established and lived in by a troupe of barnstormers.
In Indigo Park, the character Mollie Macaw refers to her habit of crashing into barns as barnstorming. A later song associated with the character is titled BARNSTORMING.

Music

"The Immelmann Turn," by Al Stewart, a song set in the 1920s barnstorming era which refers to an aerobatic maneuver of the same name
"Barn Storming," by State Radio
The song ”Girl on the Wing,” by The Shins refers to a “girl on the wing of a barnstormer”