The Golden Age Of Barnstorming

Imagine yourself standing in that street, on that day, watching that plane as it disappeared in a cloud of dust. Powered flight was still young, but old enough to be feeling its oats. Just new enough to be a wonder, not old enough to not be novel.

There was a new air about the world in the 1920's, and the new spirit of flight was very much part of that. Air combat was not only introduced in WWI, but it became an integral part of the War Machine, and the World had not only built aircraft for that conflict, but we trained thousands of pilots to fly the new aircraft. Young men so full of spirit and the urge for adventure.

America's mechanical contribution to the aerodrome was the Curtiss JN-4 bi-plane, or the Jenny. After the war America dumped a huge surplus of Jennys on the market. The planes, that cost the government a whopping $2000 a copy, could be bought for as little as $200. This meant that the pilots who trained by the U.S. Army could afford to buy the tool they were intimate with.

Being young, trained, and wanting of work, it was only natural that some would exploit the wonder and awe that most people held for the new technology and its implementation. And yet, it provided these young pilots with a means to at least simulate some of the excitement they had grown accustomed to during the war.

The pilots began flying solo, in small groups, or larger ones (Flying Circuses) to rural towns and putting on demonstrations utilizing their skills they honed in combat; defensive maneuvers turned to aggressive money generating mechanisms.

Typically, one the pilots would make a quick buzz at low altitude right through town, creating quite a stir, then fly off and land in a nearby farm field where they would strike up negotiations with the farmer in an effort to use his land as a place to put on an aerial show (Barnstorming). Once the deal was sealed, the pilots would get back in their aircraft and head back towards town.

Flying in a group, usually the lead aircraft included a wing walker (typically a woman), the airmen would slowly fly through town, the wing walker feigning peril while handbills announcing the show were tossed from the planes.

Yeah, imagine yourself standing there, either disgusted because you don't understand what's happening to the world you knew, or in awe because you delight at what wondrous achievements man has made.

As early as 1910 air shows were conducted as a way to generate money. In the early shows, it was just enough to have the aircraft fly around because not many had seen powered flight and this was quite a thrill.

During WWI the aircraft were put to use and the pilots were trained to perform such maneuvers as Loops, Rolls, Immelmans and more. But, as Baron Richtoven said, "A pilot could loop and roll better than anyone in the world, that alone won't get a kill." This meant timing, which in turn meant nerve. The flyboys developed plenty of that, and needed to keep displaying that nerve after the war.

The timing couldn't have been better. Air show attendees were clamoring for real stunts. Not just flyovers. The sort of aerial showmanship they read about in the papers. The pilots coming home with pent up energy and a need to showoff married to the public demand for more was a match made in heaven. What's more, flight schools were being opened in what seemed like every empty field across the vast landscape.

There seemed to be a oneupmanship going on amongst the various barnstorming acts, There were variations on death defying loops and dives, but maybe the biggest competition happened in the arena of Wing Walking. The first Wing Walker appeared in 1918, and from that moment forth, there was a myriad of different wing walking stunts. Tennis, archery, trapeze acts, Jumping from one plane to another, mounting a plane from a moving car were all acts performed during the Golden Age Of Barnstorming.

Maybe the most unique act was the "Batman" act put on by several aerialists. They would climb from the aircraft and jump. Wearing special costumes made of canvas, they would glide towards earth. Looking like soring birds dropping towards Earth, they would deploy their parachutes at what would seem the moment just beyond the last one. Crowds went nuts over this.

The shows usually cost a few pennies to attend and if you were brave enough, you could pay anywhere from $1 to $15 to get a ride with one of the pilots.

The Barnstorming era grew to a zenith in the early to mid 1920's. The popularity being driven by the public demanding more thrills and the performers pushing themselves to deliver. Perhaps you throw in a touch of actual deaths, both performers and those who paid for rides, and you have the formula for excitement.

The Curtiss Aeroplane Company built nearly 7000 JN-4s in 1915. The dual cockpit biplane was the first mass produced aircraft in history, and even though the plane was by and large designed for the U.S. Navy and Army, not a single one saw combat. The plane was the training tool of over 95% of American and Canadian aviators.

The Jenny taught an entire generation how to fly.

The powerhouse behind the Jenny was the OX-5/90 water cooled engine. Delivering a whopping 90 horsepower (my bike spits out more than that) to reach a maximum speed of 75 mph ( my bike goes way faster), and a climb rate of 2000feet in 10 minutes (hoping my bike never gets a climb rate) the OX-5/90 was a stable stud in the fact that it was very reliable and, if cared for could be almost infallible.

Of course, once the war was over and the Jenny was used as a trainer, there was an abundant amount of the planes on the government's hands. So, the government dumped what they could on the market at bargain basement prices. With the Jenny being as durable as she was, it took until the mid-1920's for the surplus to expire and for aviators to move onto other, more up to date aircraft.

Below you'll find references to some of the greatest aerialists of the Golden Age Of Barnstorming era. There are brief bios of each star as well as a link to a more detailed look at their lives. The link will not close this page, so please go out and enjoy!

Ormer Locklear was the first wing walker. In 1918, while in the U.S. Army pilot training school in Texas, Locklear wanted to prove to his superior officers that guns could be mounted on the wings of aircraft. They said it couldn't be done, so during a flight, he climbed out on the edge of the wing without dramatically disrupting the aircraft's aerodynamics.

Bessie Coleman is a name often overlooked when it comes to the civil rights movement for not only racial but gender equality as well. Bessie was not only the first black woman to hold a pilot's license in America, but she was the first to hold an International license.

Charles "Lucky Lindy" Lindbergh was a crowd favorite during the Golden Era of Barnstorming. But, without a doubt his most widely known acheivement was being the first person to fly solo from America to Europe. His New York to Paris flight took just over 33 hours and he did it non-stop without a radio or a parachute.

Jimmy Angel and his brother, Eddie, made quite a team as Jimmy would perform astounding aerobatic stunts while his brother was quite the daredevil as a wing walker. Jimmy became a famous bush pilot and was hired by the Venuzualan Governement to scout for gold. What he found instead was the world's tallest waterfalls.

Roscoe Turner partnered with Harry Rusner to make up a barnstorming duo. Turner was a mechanic and kept the plane together during the down time. Show time saw Rusner as the pilot and Turner walked the wings and parachuted. Eventually the partners split and Turner became very popular due to the combination of his showmanship and honed aviator skills.

Frances Lowe "Pancho" Barnes was as flamboyant and colorful as they came. Well respected not only because she was a woman who actually got her pilot's license, but because she was a darn good pilot as well.

Clyde "Upside Down" Pangborn made audiences gasp wherever he flew. As his nickname suggests, his specialty was to fly upside down along the flight line in front of the spectators. It is widely believed that he was the first to perform this stunt. He became famous later for being part of the two man team that were the first to fly from Japan to San Fransisco.

Born, raised , and continuing to live in or around the Dayton, Ohio area puts me in the Mesopotamia of powered flight. For as long as I can remember, I have been in awe of aircraft and those who pilot them.

When I was a young boy, my parents would pack the family in the sedan and drive out to what was then Cox Municipal Airport to do nothing more than watch planes take off and land. We'd stop at a certain Ice cream parlor not far from one of the pull-offs next to the airport, and the six of us would eat ice cream and marvel at the craft as they touched down or lifted off.

Every yaw adjustment made, no matter how minute, would bring a gasp from the backseat of four kids. Every screech of the rubber tires, or stutter of the old prop engines started us.

We rushed out to the growing airport for two big occasions. When the first 747 landed there and when the Concorde made its appearance. Wow! That was cool. Not that going out there every week wasn't. But, this was just a bit cooler.

Growing up poor had its advantages.

I saved my paper route earnings so I could go to the first official air show at Cox. It just so happened it fell on my 10th birthday, and I had an older cousin who was in the Civil Air Patrol. This was like the coolest combination of cosmic coincidences, because as luck would have it, he was volunteering at the air show and somehow my dad knew exactly where "Little" Jim would be. And that was right over by the small aircraft hangers, where pilots were giving fifteen minute rides for $10. I remember weighing the decision. Plane ride or some other junk I'd lose or forget about over the years. I chose memories.

Jim took me over to meet the pilot, took my money, helped me in the co-pilot's seat and cleared us. A feeling of awe I'll never forget overcame me as I watched the ground shrink below us. During the flight I was torn between watching the changing of the landscape below us an ogling the instrument panel. At one point, the pilot had me grab the wheel. I was king for those moments, but yet I was keenly aware that we were cheating physics with a thin thread made of fuel and human ingenuity.

The flight took us over downtown Dayton, and directly over the school I was attending. How cool was that? I'll tell you how cool that was; The pilot looked down and said,"I believe that's your school right there."

Forty-five minutes later we landed, and yes I was heartbroken. I didn't ever want to come down. The rest of the air show was anti-climatic.

When the show was finished and we got home, dad took me aside and gave me an envelope. Inside the envelope was a $10 bill and a note from Jim that simply read, "Happy Birthday".
All those memories for free just doesn't seem legal.

To this day I rubberneck when aircraft fly near, and I remember how spooky it was the three days post 9/11 that there were no planes in the sky. Not a single aircraft. I kept looking, and I kept feeling disjointed. Spooked. And when I saw the first aircraft, it was a helicopter doing line checks along the power grid near where I worked, I cheered. I felt so much relief.

So, even though I have never gotten my pilot's license, flight is very much a big part of who I am.

Thanks for allowing me to share this with you!