{"id":19637343,"date":"2026-09-03T11:59:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T09:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/pancho-barnes-happy-bottom-riding-club-speed-record\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T08:41:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T06:41:37","slug":"pancho-barnes-happy-bottom-riding-club-speed-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/pancho-barnes-happy-bottom-riding-club-speed-record\/","title":{"rendered":"Pancho Barnes: The Aviator Who Ran the Test Pilots&#8217; Saloon"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid #0F1720;background:#fff;color:#0F1720;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-weight:700;line-height:1;letter-spacing:0;text-transform:none;cursor:pointer;box-shadow:none;transition:background 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That was the standing offer at a bar in the Mojave desert run by a woman who had once held the women&rsquo;s world air speed record, flown stunts for Howard Hughes, and crossed Mexico on a burro dressed as a man.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Florence Lowe Barnes is remembered mostly as scenery in the Chuck Yeager story. She was considerably more interesting than that.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px 22px;margin:24px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.8\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:600;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Real name:<\/strong> Florence Leontine Lowe, born Pasadena, July 1901<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Grandfather:<\/strong> Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, Civil War balloonist and head of the Union Army Balloon Corps<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Learned to fly:<\/strong> 1928; reportedly soloed after six hours<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>1930:<\/strong> took the women&rsquo;s world air speed record from Amelia Earhart in a Travel Air Type R Mystery Ship<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Hollywood:<\/strong> stunt pilot on Hell&rsquo;s Angels; founded the first movie stunt pilots&rsquo; union around 1930-31<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>The club:<\/strong> Rancho Oro Verde, better known as the Happy Bottom Riding Club, bought 1935 near Muroc<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Died:<\/strong> found at her desert home, 30 March 1975<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Aviation was in the family<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Her paternal grandfather was Thaddeus Lowe, who ran the Union Army&rsquo;s balloon corps during the Civil War &mdash; effectively the first American military air unit. He took her to an air meet as a child. She then spent two decades doing more or less everything except what a Pasadena heiress was supposed to do.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The nickname came from an escapade in the late 1920s: she signed onto a boat bound for Mexico dressed as a man, and ended up travelling overland by burro. A companion said she looked like Don Quixote&rsquo;s squire, mangled Sancho Panza into Pancho, and it stuck for the rest of her life.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>She started flying in 1928 and was reportedly solo after six hours.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/pancho-barnes-1931-biplane-dogs.jpg\" alt=\"Pancho Barnes on the wing of her aircraft in 1931\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Barnes at Santa Monica in 1931, in flying jacket and beret, with two dogs in the cockpit. Photo: Los Angeles Times \/ UCLA Digital Library, CC BY 4.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Faster than Earhart<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>In 1930 she took the women&rsquo;s world air speed record from Amelia Earhart, flying a Travel Air Type R &mdash; the celebrated Mystery Ship racer. The figure usually quoted is 196.19 mph. It is worth noting that while the Smithsonian and the Edwards Air Force Base history office both confirm she took the record from Earhart, neither states that number, so treat the decimal places with a little caution.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>What is not in doubt is that she was a genuinely fast pilot at a time when that was the whole point, and that she used it to get work. Manufacturers hired her to demonstrate aircraft, for a reason a Smithsonian curator put plainly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;If a woman can fly it, then what are you so scared of?&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Dr. Matt Shindell<\/strong> &mdash; Curator, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, on why manufacturers hired Barnes to demonstrate aircraft<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/powder-puff-derby-women-pilots-long-beach.jpg\" alt=\"Women pilots lined up at the Powder Puff Derby, Long Beach\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Women racing pilots at the Powder Puff Derby, Long Beach. Barnes flew in the era when women&rsquo;s air racing was a serious professional circuit. Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives, public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n<p>She flew stunts in Hollywood, including on Howard Hughes&rsquo; <em>Hell&rsquo;s Angels<\/em>, and then did something more consequential: she organised the stunt pilots into a union, to fix pay and stop directors killing people for a shot.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Happy Bottom Riding Club<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>In 1935 she bought desert land between two dry lakes, a few miles from what was then Muroc Army Airfield. Over the next six years it became a ranch, a dairy, a hotel, a rodeo ground, a swimming pool, an airstrip and, above all, a bar.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Muroc became Edwards. The men flying the X-planes off the lakebed drank at her place: Yeager, Doolittle, Bob Hoover, Jack Ridley, later Buzz Aldrin. If you went supersonic, dinner was on the house. It was the closest thing the American flight-test programme had to a mess, and it was run by a woman who had been flying since before most of them could drive.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;She would never use a 5 or 6 letter word when a four-letter word would do. She had the filthiest mouth that any of us fighter jocks had ever heard.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Chuck Yeager<\/strong> &mdash; USAF test pilot, in his own recollection of Barnes<\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>He also, in the same account, called her a damn good pilot and a great friend.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">How it ended<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The Air Force wanted her land. A new base commander barred enlisted men from the club, and the base pushed an allegation that she was running a brothel &mdash; the FBI investigated and found no proof of it. Behind the row was a plan for a very long runway that would have run across her property.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>She fought it in court. In 1953, while the case was still running, fire destroyed most of the main buildings. The cause was never established. Arson was suspected and never proven.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>She was offered $205,000 and eventually settled for roughly double that, which by the standards of a fight with the United States Air Force is not a defeat. The club was never rebuilt. The runway was never built either.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;the expectation for her life was so different than how she made her life become.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Lauren Kessler<\/strong> &mdash; Biographer, author of The Happy Bottom Riding Club, speaking on the Smithsonian AirSpace podcast<\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>She died alone in the desert in March 1975. Edwards, which had spent a decade trying to get rid of her, later named a room at the officers&rsquo; club after her, and her ashes were scattered over the ruins.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Home-movie footage of Barnes and her Travel Air Mystery Ship:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iau2PhpVRuk\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<p>The trailer for the documentary about her and the club:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/r1l4Byw6PNU\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<p>And Edwards Air Force Base on its own most difficult neighbour:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pbEgjGyIMTU\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\n\n\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Who was Pancho Barnes?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Florence Lowe Barnes, born in Pasadena in 1901, an American aviator who took the women&rsquo;s world air speed record from Amelia Earhart in 1930, flew stunts in Hollywood, and ran the desert bar near Edwards Air Force Base where the X-plane test pilots drank.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Where did the name Pancho come from?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">From an escapade in the late 1920s. She signed onto a boat bound for Mexico dressed as a man and ended up travelling overland by burro. A companion said she looked like Don Quixote&rsquo;s squire, mangled Sancho Panza into Pancho, and it stuck for life.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Did Pancho Barnes really beat Amelia Earhart&rsquo;s record?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. In 1930 she took the women&rsquo;s world air speed record from Earhart flying a Travel Air Type R, the celebrated Mystery Ship racer. The figure usually quoted is 196.19 mph, though neither the Smithsonian nor the Edwards base history office states that number, so the decimal places deserve caution.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What was the Happy Bottom Riding Club?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">A ranch, dairy, hotel, rodeo ground, swimming pool, airstrip and bar that Barnes built on desert land near Muroc Army Airfield, which later became Edwards. Yeager, Doolittle, Bob Hoover, Jack Ridley and later Buzz Aldrin drank there. Anyone who broke the sound barrier ate free.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why did the club close?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Air Force wanted her land for a very long runway. A new base commander barred enlisted men, and the base pushed an allegation that she was running a brothel, which the FBI investigated and found no proof of. In 1953, while the case was still in court, fire destroyed most of the buildings. Arson was suspected and never proven.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Did she win against the Air Force?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Partly. She was offered $205,000 and settled for roughly double that. The club was never rebuilt, but the runway was never built either. Edwards later named a room at the officers&rsquo; club after her, and her ashes were scattered over the ruins.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Was Pancho Barnes related to a famous aviation figure?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. Her paternal grandfather was Thaddeus Lowe, who ran the Union Army&rsquo;s balloon corps during the Civil War, effectively the first American military air unit.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who was Pancho Barnes?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Florence Lowe Barnes, born in Pasadena in 1901, an American aviator who took the women\u2019s world air speed record from Amelia Earhart in 1930, flew stunts in Hollywood, and ran the desert bar near Edwards Air Force Base where the X-plane test pilots drank.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Where did the name Pancho come from?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"From an escapade in the late 1920s. She signed onto a boat bound for Mexico dressed as a man and ended up travelling overland by burro. A companion said she looked like Don Quixote\u2019s squire, mangled Sancho Panza into Pancho, and it stuck for life.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did Pancho Barnes really beat Amelia Earhart\u2019s record?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. In 1930 she took the women\u2019s world air speed record from Earhart flying a Travel Air Type R, the celebrated Mystery Ship racer. The figure usually quoted is 196.19 mph, though neither the Smithsonian nor the Edwards base history office states that number, so the decimal places deserve caution.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Happy Bottom Riding Club?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"A ranch, dairy, hotel, rodeo ground, swimming pool, airstrip and bar that Barnes built on desert land near Muroc Army Airfield, which later became Edwards. Yeager, Doolittle, Bob Hoover, Jack Ridley and later Buzz Aldrin drank there. Anyone who broke the sound barrier ate free.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why did the club close?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Air Force wanted her land for a very long runway. A new base commander barred enlisted men, and the base pushed an allegation that she was running a brothel, which the FBI investigated and found no proof of. In 1953, while the case was still in court, fire destroyed most of the buildings. Arson was suspected and never proven.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did she win against the Air Force?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Partly. She was offered $205,000 and settled for roughly double that. The club was never rebuilt, but the runway was never built either. Edwards later named a room at the officers\u2019 club after her, and her ashes were scattered over the ruins.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Was Pancho Barnes related to a famous aviation figure?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. Her paternal grandfather was Thaddeus Lowe, who ran the Union Army\u2019s balloon corps during the Civil War, effectively the first American military air unit.\"}}]}<\/script><p><em>Sources: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum; Edwards Air Force Base Cultural Resources Department; Lauren Kessler, The Happy Bottom Riding Club; the General Chuck Yeager Foundation.<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/douglas-x-3-stiletto-underpowered-inertia-coupling\/\">Douglas X-3 Stiletto: Built for Mach 2, It Barely Passed Mach 1<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/amy-johnson-solo-england-australia-1930-jason\/\">Amy Johnson: The First Woman to Fly Solo to Australia<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/hughes-h-1-racer-worlds-fastest-1935\/\">The Racer That Redrew the Airplane<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>She took the women\u2019s world speed record from Amelia Earhart, flew stunts for Howard Hughes, and ran the desert bar where the X-plane pilots drank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":19636942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[665,666],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19637343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world","category-history-and-legends"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site 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