Clyde Pangborn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1895-10-28)October 28, 1895 |
| Died | March 29, 1958(1958-03-29) (aged 62) |
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) |
| Spouse | Swana Beaucaire |
| Parent(s) | Max Pangborn Opal Lamb |
Clyde Edward Pangborn (c. October 28, 1895 – March 29, 1958), nicknamed "Upside-Down Pangborn", was an Americanaviator andbarnstormer who performed aerial stunts in the 1920s for the Gates Flying Circus. He was its half-owner, chief pilot and operating manager, working in partnership withIvan R. Gates. In 1931, Pangborn and co-pilot Hugh Herndon Jr. flew their plane,Miss Veedol, on the first non-stop flight across thePacific Ocean.[1]
Clyde Edward Pangborn, son of Max and Opal Lamb Pangborn, was born inBridgeport,Washington, nearLake Chelan. His exact birth year is uncertain, because he used 1893, 1894, 1895, and 1896, on various documents, changing his age to appear older or younger as needed. The1900 United States census listed Clyde Pangborn (b. October 1893) and his brother Percy (b. January 1891) living with their mother Ola [sic.] inSpokane, Washington.[2] In 1910 Clyde (age 16) and Percy (age 19) were boarders with the Alfred Heimark family in St. Maries, Benawah County, Idaho. Census day was April 15; Clyde would not be 17 until October.[3] "1895" was used on hisWorld War I draft registration inShoshone,Idaho.[4][5] When he was two years old, his parents divorced and he moved to Idaho with his mother. He graduated from high school in 1914 and enrolled in theUniversity of Idaho, where he studiedcivil engineering for two and a half years. Pangborn was a first cousin of American composerGeorge Frederick McKay (1899–1970), who grew up in Spokane, Washington, and used the penname Arthur Pangborn for the lyrics for some of his compositions.
After college, Pangborn worked briefly as an engineer for a mining company before he joined theAir Service duringWorld War I. He completed flight training and was subsequently stationed as aflight instructor atEllington Field inHouston, Texas. While teachingcadets how to fly theCurtiss JN-4 "Jenny" biplane, Pangborn learned to roll his plane onto its back and fly upside-down for extended periods, which earned him the nickname "Upside-Down Pang".[citation needed]
AfterWorld War I, Pangborn took upbarnstorming, exhibition flying, and aerial acrobatics, which he did for the next nine years. He performed as a part of the Gates Flying Circus, which he co-owned withIvan Gates. It performed internationally and made Pangborn famous for changing planes mid-air. Early in his career, he was injured when he fell out of a speeding car as he attempted to jump onto a flying plane; this was his only serious injury during his entire career in flying. He received national fame after assisting in a mid-air rescue ofstuntwoman Rosalie Gordon, who had become caught on Pangborn's landing gear while demonstrating a parachute jump, inHouston,Texas.[1][6]
During his time in the Flying Circus, Pangborn flew more than 12,500 miles and carried thousands of passengers. It was during this time that he also met Hugh Herndon, who later became his co-pilot in a historic trans-Pacific flight.
Many who would later be major figures in aviation took their first flights with Pangborn, including future World War II aceGregory Boyington, who took his first flight with Pangborn at the age of 8 during one of Pangborn's barnstorming stops.
The Flying Circus disbanded in 1929, but Pangborn continued flying with several other businesses he owned. TheGreat Depression, however, made them all go bankrupt, and as a result, he turned his attention to breakingworld records in flight.
In 1931, Pangborn and Herndon sought to fly around the world and break the current record of 20 days and 4 hours, set by the airshipGraf Zeppelin in 1929. Herndon, the son ofStandard Oil heiress Alice Boardman, asked his mother for the $100,000 to finance the flight.[7] However, while they were still planning their flight, the record was broken byWiley Post andHarold Gatty with a time of 8 days and 15 hours. Pangborn and Herndon attempted the flight anyway, taking off from New York on July 28, 1931, in their redBellanca J-300 Long Distance Special, theMiss Veedol, but poor weather conditions forced them to abandon their efforts while they were flying overSiberia.[6][8] The pair took off just minutes afterJohn Polando andRussell Boardman, who went on to successfully fly toIstanbul three days later.[9]
With their eyes on a $25,000 prize, Pangborn and Herndon next decided to attempt the first nonstop trans-Pacific flight. They flew from Siberia to Japan in preparation. In the spirit of documentation, Herndon took several still pictures and16 mm motion pictures, some of which were of Japan's naval installations. The photography and inadequate documentation to enter the country (which they had not been aware of), resulted in the men being jailed. They were eventually released with a $1,000 fine, but they were allowed only one chance to take off inMiss Veedol; if they returned to Japan, the plane would be confiscated and the men would return to prison.
Other complications hampered the flight. Pangborn and Herndon's "painstakingly prepared" maps and charts were stolen by the nationalistBlack Dragon Society, who wanted a Japanese pilot flying Japanese equipment to be the first to complete the endeavor.[7] They also had extremely precise calculations for their flight, leaving no room for error;Miss Veedol had to be overweighted with fuel, far beyond the manufacturer's recommendation (650 gallons stock was expanded to 915 gallons), and they would have to abandon their landing gear after takeoff to reducedrag.[6]
Pangborn and Herndon finally took off on October 4, 1931, fromSabishiro Beach,Misawa, Aomori, Japan. Their destination wasSeattle, Washington, just under 5500 miles[10] (8,500 km) away, a distance exceedingCharles Lindbergh's flight from New York to Paris by 2,000 miles. Three hours after takeoff, a problem arose: the device intended to jettison the landing gear partially failed. The gear was ejected, but the two root struts remained. Pangborn had to climb out onto the wing supports barefoot at 14,000 feet to remove them.[6]
Later, the engine nearly quit as Herndon neglected his responsibility to pump fuel from the fuselage tanks to the wing tanks, which feed the engine. Within a few hours, the upper[clarification needed] tanks again went dry—this time the engine did quit running. Because there was no built-in starter, Pangborn dove the airplane from cruise altitude and pulled out at 1,400 ft (430 m) to get the engine started.
They almostran intoMount Rainier whenVancouver,British Columbia, and Seattle were fogged in and Herndon again had the airplane off course. They decided to fly to Boise, where they could claim the furthest distance record along with the nonstop transpacific. Due tofog they could not land in Boise, Spokane, orPasco, Washington, so they turned back toWenatchee, Washington.[6] They belly landed on a strip cut out of thesagebrush on Fancher Field near what is nowEast Wenatchee. Pangborn's mother, brother, and a reporter from the Japanese newspaperAsahi Shimbun had already assumed Wenatchee was their destination and were there waiting for their arrival. The flight from Japan took a total of 41 hours and 13 minutes.[6]
ThePangborn-Herndon Memorial, dedicated to the historic flight, is located near the landing site, and the propeller damaged from the landing is on display in theWenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. The museum also has half of a sandwich believed to have been carried on the trans-Pacific flight.[11] The regional airport,Pangborn Memorial (EAT) in East Wenatchee, also honors his accomplishment.
Miss Veedol was trucked to Seattle where she was repaired and the landing gear replaced. Pangborn and Herndon continued to New York to complete their world flight.
As early as 1935 Pangborn warned of a potential Japanese attack on the United States due to his sighting and analysis of Japanese aviation capabilities, and said that Japanese planes would be capable of reaching Chicago.[12]
In 1934, Pangborn, along with Col.Roscoe Turner, flew aBoeing 247 in theMacRobertson Race. Turner and Pangborn came in second place in the transport section (and third overall), behind the Boeing 247's eventual rival, the new Douglas DC-2.
In 1936 theVance Flying Wing was bought at auction in 1936 for $2,500 by theMason Aircraft Corporation. Pangborn planned on using the aircraft for aDallas,Texas, to Moscow Flight.[13] Pangborn was detained near theLatvian frontier when he entered the country without a visa. He was released on July 21, 1937, and flew on toMoscow after help from New York CongressmanWilliam Sirovich.[14]
Prior to World War II, he had become the Chief Test Pilot for Bellanca Aircraft Corporation inNew Castle, Delaware. In 1937, he demonstrated Burnelli Aircraft in England and Europe forCunliffe-Owen Aircraft Company ofSouthampton, England. He worked for Cunliffe-Owen until the late 1930s testing military aircraft.
WhenWorld War II broke out in Europe in late 1939, Pangborn joined theRoyal Air Force (RAF) and assisted in organizing theRAF Ferry Command. He recruited pilots throughout the United States and Canada for the Ferry Command and Eagle Squadron.[15] From 1941 through the end of the war in 1945, Pangborn served as Senior Captain, Royal Air Force Ferry Command during which time he made approximately 170 trans-ocean flights (crossing both the Atlantic and the Pacific). In 1942, he brought the firstLancaster heavy bomber to the United States for tests and later returned with the same aircraft and demonstrated it to theUnited States Army Air Forces and major aircraft builders throughout the United States and Canada. Meanwhile, Pangborn flew almost every type of multi-engine aircraft used during the war. After theUS entered the war in December 1941, he served in the US military.
He was discharged from the RAF in 1946 and continued his career as a commercial pilot. As part of his work, he pioneered commercial flight paths and developed better aircraft. He was instrument-rated to fly any plane, single or multi-engine, land or sea, and had logged more than 24,000 flight hours over his 40 years of piloting.
Pangborn died in 1958 and was laid to rest with military honors atArlington National Cemetery.[16] His papers are archived atWashington State University.[4] and theMuseum of Flight in Seattle.
Pangborn was enshrined as a member of theNational Aviation Hall of Fame in 1995.
