Biographical Sketches

Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes

Born: July 22, 1901    In: Pasadena, CA
Died: March 1, 1975    

Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes, grand-daughter of Thaddeus Lowe, who pioneered American aviation with the establishment of the Union Army Balloon Corps during the Civil War, was brought up in high society but acquired her famous tom-boy streak while learning hunting, fishing, and camping skills from her father, Thaddeus Lowe II. A marriage to clergyman C Rankin Barnes in 1919 survived in name only as she continued her flambuoyant adventures and, on inheriting the family fortune in the mid-1920s, she ran off to Mexico, where she acquired her nickname -- an equestrian friend likened her, riding alongside on a burro, to Don Quixote’s sidekick, Sancho Panza -- and the name got twisted around to "Pancho," which stuck with her forever after.

Contrary to popular belief, and folklore, Barnes was not a working motion picture stunt pilot, nor was she ever filmed flying through a hangar. Her sole contribution to movies was flying, with a few other pilots, past studio sound trucks at Muroc Dry Lakes, to record their motors to dub into "Hell’s Angels" after Howard Hughes decided to revise his silent epic as a sound film.

A social member of the film pilots, she encouraged them to form a union, opened her home for their meetings, and provided administrative and secretarial services in helping them charter their new organization. In appreciation for her help she was made an honorary member of the Associated Motion Picture Pilots.

A heavily-laundered, "Hollywoodized" version of her life story was filmed for television in 1988. Most recent is a Memorial Archive on the Internet offering much more information.

The Happy Bottom Riding Club: The Life and Times of Pancho Barnes, Lauren Kessler (Random House, 2000)
Pancho: The Biography of Florence Lowe Barnes, Barbara H Schultz (Little Buttes 1996)

Denotes an individual known to have soloed an aircraft prior to December 16, 1917, whether they were members of the "Early Birds of Aviation" Organization or not.