Pancho Barnes - WikiHQ

Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes (July 22, 1901 – March 30, 1975) was a pioneer aviator and a founder of the first movie stunt pilots' union. In 1930, she broke Amelia Earhart's air speed record.

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, in Pasadena, California. She was born to a wealthy family, growing up in a large mansion in San Marino, California. During her formative years, she attended the area's finest private schools, such as The Bishop's School. Her father, an avid sportsman, encouraged her to appreciate the great outdoors, and Florence became an accomplished equestrian.

In 1919, Florence married Reverend C. Rankin Barnes of South Pasadena, California, and they had a son, William E. Barnes. Her mother died in 1924.

Aviation career

Having spent four months abroad in Mexico, getting caught up with revolutionaries and escaping the attention of authorities, disguised as a man, she began to use the nickname "Pancho" around this time. Barnes returned to San Marino, California, with an inheritance bequeathed to her on her parents' death. In 1928, while driving her cousin Dean Banks to flying lessons, she decided to learn to fly, and convinced her cousin's flight instructor, Ben Catlin, a World War I veteran, of her desire that same day.

thumb|Pancho Barnes with [[Travel Air Type R Mystery Ship R613K, c. 1930s]] After breaking the record, a reporter asked her how it felt. Her response was typical of her personality: "I feel like a sex addict in a whore house with a pocket full of $100 bills!"

After her contract with Union Oil expired, Barnes moved to Hollywood to work as a stunt pilot for movies. In 1931, she started the Associated Motion Picture Pilots, a union of film industry stunt fliers which promoted flying safety and standardized pay for aerial stunt work. She flew in several air-adventure movies of the 1930s, including Howard Hughes' Hell's Angels (1930).

thumb|left|350px|Pancho Barnes and the [[Women's Air Derby, Long Beach, California, circa 1930–1931]]

Barnes had extensive connections in Hollywood. Her early close friend George Hurrell (1904–1992), then eking out a living as a painter and photographer in Laguna Beach, California, would later become the head of the portrait department of MGM Studios. Barnes is credited with helping Hurrell start his career in Hollywood after he took the photo she was to use on her pilot's license, introducing him to her Hollywood friends.