A Visitor to an Air Show

The sky was clear over Houston that early spring morning, and the eye could see for two hundred miles—if there was anything to see. The country was flat, the air was still, and the crowd was exuberant. They were about to witness an event that they couldn't have even imagined a few years earlier. The place was dusty and dirty, but nothing different from what the farmers in the crowd experienced daily. They lived out in the country, and the opportunity to see an unusual happening such as this was a welcome occasion.

Tom Webber had finished plowing his field the day before. He planned to plant a new crop of tomatoes in the field in a few weeks. While the ground was resting after the plow, he felt this would be a good chance to spend the day with his family, as the feverish late spring and summer months left no time for anything but farming. The Gates Flying Circus was in town displaying their airplanes and flying stunts in this new era of aviation. This would be a new experience for almost all who attended the show. Airplanes were the new in-thing in those days so Tom thought it would be great to take his wife, Margaret, and two young children, Mark and Danielle, to the show to celebrate the coming of summer.

When they arrived, they were amazed at the crowd. Parking was a nightmare when several thousand people converged in a single farmer's field. The morning was still a bit cold, but the rising sun in the clear blue sky warmed the air quickly.

The family eventually found a parking spot, and the four had to hike more than a mile to the ticket booth. They bought their tickets and proceeded into the field to watch the show. Makeshift grandstands had been constructed, but there were not nearly enough spots to seat so many people. With time, Tom found a spot for his wife to sit while he mingled through the crowd to find a good viewing location. The kids roamed freely as they were safe to do that in this crowd.

They were in awe at the stunts being performed right in front of their eyes. Airplanes with their powerful ninety-horse-power, slightly-muffled engines roared by right in front of them. Then stunt men did acrobatics on the wings and hung by their legs from the landing gear axles.

This went on for more than an hour until the sights became commonplace. Their minds started to accept that these heavier-than-air machines could actually fly, and their eyes and necks became sore from taking it all in. But they were glued to the show, as the grand finale was yet to come.

The performance would end with one of the local folks doing some sort of a stunt. In this case, it was rumored that a young local woman—a girl in her very early twenties—was to jump from an airplane and parachute down to the ground.

Tom and his family could hardly wait. Who would have such bravery and guts to perform such a stunt? At last it was revealed that a local girl, Rosalie Gordon, and a pilot, Clyde Pangborn, would do the feat.

Tom said to his wife, "I don't know them now, but I bet everyone in the region will know them afterwards."

When the airplane carrying the final stunt taxied to the end of the make-shift runway, a cheer from the audience echoed throughout the farmland. There were actually three persons onboard, but nobody in the audience really understood why. The members of the crowd held their breath as the airplane lifted off of the field. The airplane circled around and around as it gained altitude. Eventually it leveled off at what seemed to be an extremely high elevation.

"I'm sure they wouldn't try the parachute thing from there!" Tom told his family. "That is just too high."

But almost before he got the words out of his mouth, Tom could see some activity from the girl and the second man over the edge of the airplane's body. Everyone in the crowd was awestruck. Tom thought, I hope they know what they are doing—I'm not ready for my family to witness a disaster. Then, before he could even count to three, the girl was over the side, snapped to the end of the rope, and was being dragged behind the airplane some twenty feet or so. The people in the audience felt scared, but many figured that it was part of the process of letting the girl drop from a parachute. Then a few minutes later, a number of other airplanes took off in pursuit of the stunt airplane.

Word quickly traveled through the crowd that there was a problem. Apparently, the parachute shroud line had gotten tangled, and the girl with the parachute was trapped. Other pilots took to the air in hopes of finding a way to save the girl. As numerous attempts were made to rescue her, the audience members watched helplessly and fully believed that the girl was doomed.

Tom decided he did not want his family to see this any further, so he quickly gathered them up and guided them to the exit. From there, they swiftly raced to their car and headed for home.

Meeting Clyde Pangborn

Three weeks earlier, the local girl, Rosalie Gordon, who wanted to be the parachutist, had a driving desire to go to a flying show, and she tried to convince her fiancé, Richard, that it was a good idea. One of Rosalie's girlfriends, Marianne, had gone to a show and told Rosalie it was the most exciting thing she had ever seen. "The fliers are so handsome, too!" Marianne had added.

Rosalie didn't think the fact that the planes were flown by handsome pilots would convince Richard to go. On an unusually cool Texas afternoon in March, 1923, Richard took her for a leisurely drive in the countryside. Fluffy white clouds filled the blue sky, and a gentle breeze blew in the open car windows. Rosalie was in such a good mood that she feared it wouldn't last. Life was good—a new secretarial job at a law firm and a handsome fiancé who treated her like a princess made everything perfect.

They drove past one of the only farms in the area and stopped for a moment to watch the cows grazing. A couple of the cows actually looked up and gazed at them as if to say, what are you doing here? Rosalie laughed.

"They're watching us," she said.

"It stinks around here," Richard said as he put his foot on the accelerator.

Richard was a young farm employee who graduated from high school some three years earlier. In high school, he was very popular as he excelled in the looks department and was quite active in sports. At this time he hadn't found himself yet and was in the stage where he was still waiting for that big opportunity to jump up in front of him. Cars and girls were still high on his priority list as he lived from day to day.

They sped down the road and away from the farm, and the aroma disappeared. Rosalie was hesitant but decided that it was the best time to ask him about the barnstorming show.

"Did you hear what Marianne said about those fliers she saw? She met them at an air show that was being held at Rosenberg last week."

Rosalie, too, was not far out of school. Her goal was to find a boy to marry and begin her life as a housewife. She had boyfriends before, but thought this one was serious. She and Richard plan to marry but not right away. Their wedding is planned for the summer next year. They both agreed they wanted to live the life a while and get to know each other better.

As she spoke, Richard wasn't paying any attention to what she was saying. Rosalie figured that there was too much noise from the open windows. A short time later, he stopped the car and pointed to a gigantic willow tree in the middle of a field. "Look at that beautiful old thing. I wonder how long it's been there."

"A century or more, probably," Rosalie said.

"It's magnificent, but then you know how I feel about nature," Richard said. "What were you saying about Marianne?"

"The air show, remember? I was wondering how you would feel about going to see one."

"How expensive is it? You know that I took a pay cut at work and can't afford too many luxuries."

Rosalie frowned. He was so cheap. "I think Marianne said it's a quarter per person. I can pay for it myself."

Richard grinned. "You don't need to do that. Just ask Marianne where we get the tickets."

Rosalie threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you. I know we're going to have a great time. From what I hear, you'll really be impressed."

* * *

On a warm Saturday morning in April, 1923, Richard and Rosalie got into Richard's Model T Ford and headed over to the farmer's field where the show was being held. Richard was very reserved and had little to say about what they were about to see. But Rosalie was very excited and couldn't keep still or stop chatting.

"This is so exciting," Rosalie said. "I can't wait. Joyce Parker went once and said it was amazing. She couldn't believe the tricks they did like flying upside down." She looked at Richard, who kept staring straight ahead. "Aren't you excited about it at all? You almost seem bored."

"None of it makes sense. Only birds are supposed to fly, not machines. It's unnatural," Richard said.

Rosalie frowned. "How can you have that kind of an attitude? Everyone thinks it's so exciting. You never know where flying might go someday. Things are advancing so fast. I wouldn't be surprised if someday people might be traveling to foreign lands on one of those machines."

They drove on in silence. Barnstorming was a phenomenon of the post-WWI years. Most passenger-carrying flights in those years were made from farmer's fields. The fields were usually adjacent to the barns, which were painted red. The term "barnstormer" possibly came from the way these events were held.

Rosalie and Richard arrived at the farmer's field, walked the typical mile from their parking spot, and found a seat on one of the makeshift benches that had been set up for the event. Everyone in the audience seemed very excited, and Rosalie heard one woman say that she'd actually gone up in an airplane the last time they were in town and it was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her.

Rosalie leaned over the man who was sitting next to her to speak to the woman. "Do they let just anyone go up in the airplane with them?" she asked.

"Sure," the woman grinned, "for a price, they'll do anything. They take you for a test run first. And when they are sure you won't faint or get sick, they will show you all of the tricks they perform with you onboard. I can't tell you how exciting that was. I'm hoping that eventually they will let me go on a dive with them. I'm sure that, with time, I can convince them to do all of the tricks with me onboard."

"What is this `getting sick' thing you mentioned? Is it that cold up there?" Rosalie asked.

"No," the girl said, "it is motion sickness. It is easier to get motion sickness in an airplane than it is in a car. You have to realize that your body is being tossed around in all directions in an airplane."

Rosalie couldn't help but notice how beautiful the woman was, blonde with gorgeous blue eyes. Richard leaned over and whispered in Rosalie's ear. "I bet I know why the fliers let her in the airplane with them."

Rosalie punched him in the arm. "Don't say that. It isn't nice. She seems like a nice girl."

Every once in a while, Rosalie noticed Richard looking at the girl, but when the show started she forgot all about it. The pilots first performed the figure eight, when they made left and right turns over pylons and then crossed over a central point between them. Then they flew upside down by slowly rolling the planes onto their backs. They rode for a long time with their heads to the ground, their bodies suspended against the safety belts. This was followed by loops, which appeared to be easy. To do a loop, a pilot had to simply push the nose down and aim at the field, then pull the stick back when he had enough speed, look at the clouds and the sky, and then look at the field again.

After the show, Rosalie and Richard were introduced to one of the key pilots, a young man named Clyde Pangborn. Rosalie was in awe, but Richard seemed uninterested.

"What's it like to be up there by yourself?" she asked Pangborn.

"I'm always exhilarated by the wind as it stings my face," Pangborn said.

Pangborn didn't seem like an overly intelligent person but a tall thin, down-to-earth practical man. He spoke rather slowly but was very precise in what he had to say. Rosalie thought he was rather good looking and would be a real "catch" for some woman but knew he was in high demand as all flyboys were at that time.

Pangborn's reply was not the answer Rosalie had expected, and she wanted to hear more.

"I like the idea of being able to fly anywhere I want," Pangborn continued. "I like the idea that people like you are so fascinated by aviation. Have you ever thought of going up for a ride?"

"Sure have. I'm sure it's very exciting!" Rosalie paused and looked at the plane Pangborn had just been flying. "I'd like to do one of those stunts, if possible."

Pangborn shook his head. "We do take people up, but our schedule is all filled up for the rest of the day. We generally don't take customers on any of our stunts, as most cannot stomach them—if you know what I mean." He extended his hand to wish her well. "It's been nice meeting you. I hope you come to another show."

Rosalie watched him walk away.

The Change in Rosalie's Life

For the next few days, Rosalie couldn't talk about anything aside from the flight and Clyde Pangborn. Richard grew more and more annoyed. She couldn't help noticing that something wasn't right between them, but she had no idea what it was.

One night they were listening to the large radio located in the living room of Richard's parents home. His parents were in the next room and typically gave the two younger people their "space". It was a common two-story house in those days where the furniture was grouped around the four-foot high radio that emitted a considerable amount of heat from the seven radio tubes contained inside the cabinet.

That night, the radio broadcast notice of another barnstorming show that was to take place in Kingwood the following week. Rosalie wanted to go, but she didn't know how Richard would feel about it. To her surprise, Richard immediately picked up on the radio announcement and turned to her.

"I bet you want to go, don't you?"

"Well, we had a good time at the last one, didn't we? You enjoyed yourself."

"I think you're interested in that guy, Pangborn," Richard said.

"I'm not. Why do you even say that! Besides, he's way too old for me. You know, I think you are jealous. If you were a flyer, I'd certainly ask you first—but you're not! But I do want to ask him if I can go up in the plane with him. I can't imagine anything more exciting."

Richard shook his head. "I won't let you do it, and neither will your parents. It's much too dangerous, so put it out of your head."

She stomped on the floor as hard as she could with her small low-cut leather shoes. "Now look, I'm twenty-one years old, and you can't tell me what to do. Neither can my parents. Richard, I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but I don't like it."