# Happy Birthday, Pancho Barnes

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-pancho-barnes/725884>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [July 22, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-pancho-barnes/725884 "2015-07-22T16:18:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-pancho-barnes/725884/1 "2015-07-22T16:18:45Z")

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[Florence Lowe ‘Pancho’ Barnes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Barnes) was born on this day in 1901.

I met her son, Bill. Dad kept his planes on leaseback at Barnes Aviation, where I learned to fly. Bill’s widow Shouling was a wonderful lady.

Most people know of Pancho Barnes through _The Right Stuff_, but she’s a legend where I spent my teens and early-20s.

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**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-pancho-barnes/725884/2 "2015-07-22T16:36:38Z")

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One of the Great Ladies of Flight. And quite a character in her own right.

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**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-pancho-barnes/725884/3 "2015-07-22T16:50:21Z")

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I read an article about her recently in either Aviation History or Air & Space Magazine a few months ago. There was a lot more to her than what was shown on The Right Stuff.

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-pancho-barnes/725884/4 "2015-07-22T17:45:41Z")

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> [@JerrySTL](#):
>
> There was a lot more to her than what was shown on The Right Stuff.

Yep. Stunt pilot, founder of the Associated Motion Picture Pilots union, granddaughter of Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, rival to Amelia Earhart…

If you want to learn more, I can recommend the book [_The Happy Bottom Riding Club: The Life and Times of Pancho Barnes_](http://smile.amazon.com/Happy-Bottom-Riding-Club-Pancho/dp/0812992520) and the DVD [_The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club_](http://smile.amazon.com/Legend-Pancho-Barnes-Bottom-Riding/dp/B002NHX1YK).

I’ve been meaning to pull the DVD out again.

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**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-pancho-barnes/725884/5 "2015-07-22T17:52:04Z")

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One of the top female air racers of the 30’s, too. And a top horse trainer, in her spare time.