The Legend of Poncho Barnes

The Legend of Pancho Barnes chronicles the thrilling life of aviation pioneer Florence Lowe “Pancho” Barnes, one of the most colorful and accomplished women pilots of the earliest 20th Century. A tough and fearless woman, Pancho was a rival of Amelia Earhart who made a name for herself as Hollywood’s first female stunt pilot. Just before WWII she opened the “Happy Bottom Riding Club”, a ranch near Edwards Air Force Base that became the epicenter of the aviation world during the early jet age. Chuck Yeager celebrated breaking the sound barrier there in 1947, and Howard Hughes and Jimmy Doolittle caroused in the bar. The Club’s destruction by fire in 1953 is seen by many to mark the end of a Golden Era in post-WWII aviation.