Evening star., 1935-06-16
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charged from the Army in the Spring
Of 1919.
Flying appealed to him as being
something to stick to, so he Joined
that early group of transformers and
for the next three years barged around
the country as O. lone wolf, thrilling
the natives and inspiring them to fly
AT a dollar q minute. His sh.p-an
OX5 JN4 (Jenny)-was the third air.
plane sold by the Government on the
Pacific Coast, and its license number
was ..
Circus Formed in 1922.
Then, in 1922, Pang and the late
Ivan r. Gates got together and formed
the well remembered Gates Flying
Circus. And was that something!
At one time or another during the
eight years of It's existence the Gates
Flying Circus employed just about
every outstanding flyer in America.
Its record is an amazing thing to
study. It's history is the history Of
the development Of commercial avia-
ton during the formative postwar
years.
Pangborn was halloween, chief
pilot and operations manager of the
outfit. and during this eight-year
period (and during his private barn
storming tours) he estimates that he
himself hauled about 100000 pas
sengers. And without single fatality.
Not only that; Pang has yet to crack
up his first airplane, fact of which
he is mighty-and justly-proud.
Those were the good old days"
says Pang, with reminiscent smile.
Fright after the war got Is bucks
hop. but that didn't last long. Com
petition brought prices down to 10
and five, and in 1923 we were getting
two-and- a -half-and doing a land
Office business. BY 1925 we were
charging a dollar for a ride around
the field, and that was swell, because
we were carrying them by the thou
sands. I've taken up as many as 1900
passengers on single Sunday.
Refueling Mark Set.
1t was in 1929 that Pangborn set
refueling record which never had
been eclipsed. Accompanied by Carl
Dickson, Papg took of from the Syra-
cuse State Fair grounds in New
= Standard and remained aloft for eight
days, establishing an unbroken en-
durance flight record for open-cockpit
planes. The refueling experience
gained during this difficult flight will,
Pangborn believes, serve him well dur
ing his forthcoming venture
Shortly after this stringent Depart
ment of Commerce regulations and
an sir-minded America forced the
circus to bed down for keeps" and
Pangborn became chief test pilot and
assistant engineer for the New Stand
ard Aircraft Corp. of Paterson, N j.
But a job of this sort was too tame and
inactive for an old transformer like
Pang so in 1880 he chucked it and
went on the road again
This time he formed an association
which was to have far-reaching re-
suits and make him one of the Ma
tion's air heroes.
Pangborn had given postgraduate
flying instruction to a wealthy young
man by the name of Hugh Herndon,
jr. Herndon took to flying like duck
takes to water. and in 1880 he fore
Pangborn along the gypsy air trail.
During that season the pair hit 80
States and carried IS ZOO passengers.
World Flight Contemplated.
1t was during this time that Pang
decided that he would try to blaze
q record-breaking trail around the
world and at the same time make the
drst nonstop flight across the Pacific.
Herndon was nothing loath to be-
come partner in the adventure, and
on July %, 1881, the two hoped off
from Floyd Bennett Airport in Bel
1anca.
Setting q still unbroken record, they
flew from Newfoundland to Wales in
10 hours and so minutes; then they
pushed on across Europe, Russia and
Siberia to a safe landing at Tasha-
kawa Airport, outside of Toxic. Their
time from New York to Toxic Gnclud-
ing three days delay at Kharbarovsk,
Siberia) was nine days-another rec
ord which still stands.
The landing Of Pangborn and Hern-
don in Japan was the signal for
trouble. They had flown from Siberia
to Japan over what the japanese re-
gard as forbidden territory. Besides,
they had taken pictures. The Japa-
nese authorities promptly arrested
them and confscated their plane.
After days of questioning and in
Vestigation, the authorities ordered
the two airmen tried on a charge of
espionage and IS other infractions of
Japanese military law.
Boy, was that something!" rumi-
mates Pang. when we were told about
all the charges against us we had
visions Of firing squad or at the very
least, life IN japanese hoosegow. ANY
damn fool would've known that we
weren't spies, but we couldn't convince
the Japs. Probably because as they're
all spies they think everybody else is,
too."
Argument Of No Avail.
No amount of argument or protest
could dissuade the japanese from
making examples of Pangborn and
Herndon; they were brought to trial
and promptly found guilty on all
charges. The "merciful" sentence of
the court was 2l0 days in Jail, fine
Of $1,o25 for each and expulsion from
Japan.
American relations with Japan were
not too good at this time, and this fact
probably initiated against Pangborn
and Herndon But following their con-
Viction. the Department of State at