Milton Berle was a legendary comedian known for his quick wit and outrageous sense of humor. Berle’s “Texico Star Theater” was consistently the top-rated show on TV since debuting in June 1948. Berle’s stature as the mediums first superstar earned him the sobriquet “Mr. Television.” However, because he was also known for doing “anything for a laugh,” he was affectionally referred to as “Uncle Miltie” by his millions of fans.
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General Jimmy Doolittle was an accomplished aviator and leader, but he also had a love for horses and horseback riding. Pancho Barnes and General Doolittle had been friends for many years and Doolittle was a frequent visitor to her ranch. One day, in the early 1940s, he visited his old friend Pancho Barnes at her ranch in the Mojave Desert for a horseback ride. [Read More]
George Hurrell was internationally known for his talent as a photographer, but little known was the fact that he also had a talent and passion for cooking. In between his work assignments George would often visit the Happy Bottom Riding Club to relax and catch up with his old friend, Pancho Barnes. [Read More]
We salute General Chuck Yeager (February 13, 1923 – December 7, 2020), a true American hero, on what would have been his 100th birthday. Among his many achievements, on October 14, 1947, while piloting the experimental Bell X-1, General Yeager became the first to fly faster than the speed of sound. That evening Yeager and his X-1 team celebrated this milestone in aviation with Pancho Barnes at her Happy Bottom Riding Club. Pancho Barnes and General Yeager were close friends. [Read More]
The Happy Bottom Riding Club was Pancho Barnes most famous and successful creation. Club members could fly in to Pancho’s FAA approved airport, attend rodeos at her championship rodeo stadium, ride horses from her well-stocked horse corral, dance in her dance hall, have drinks at her bar, eat the best steak of their life in her restaurant, swim in her large circular pool, and then decide to do it all again the next day by checking into her hotel. Additionally, on her 360 acre ranch, she had a thriving dairy, cattle and hog business. During the height of the Happy Bottom Riding Club’s success, there [Read More]
The following interview is excerpted from the forthcoming book VOICES FROM THE HAPPY BOTTOM RIDING CLUB. Dr. Barney Oldfield was an aircraft design engineer and was head of the flight research instrumentation group for Bell Aircraft in Buffalo, New York. He was a charter member of Pancho’s Happy Bottom Riding Club. His membership card is dated 1942.
My name is Dr. Bernard Oldfield. My friends call me Barney. Although I was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada to American parents, I grew up in Buffalo, New York. After University I was hired by the Bell Aircraft Company as head of the Flight Research Instrumentation Group to work on America’s first jet aircraft, the XP-59A. This was a top-secret project, as secret [Read More]
The current US Air Force Flight Test Museum is located behind the gates at Edwards Air Force Base. Because the Museum is currently located behind the gates on a top security air base, access is often not possible for non-military personnel.
To make the museum fully accessible to the public, it is currently being rebuilt and relocated to just outside the West Gate to Edwards Air Force Base. As Art Thompson, Board Chairman of the Flight Test Foundation recently noted, “In the new location, the Flight Test Museum seeks to not only preserve and protect the history of flight test but also be the conduit to connect it to a new generation. The developments at Edwards have always [Read More]
Pancho Says: “Please buy the new book just published by General Chuck Yeager’s favorite wingman, Victoria Yeager: “101 Chuck Yeager-isms: Wit & Wisdom from America’s Hero.” Click the link here to review and purchase: