Clyde Pangborn
Clyde Pangborn | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | March 29, 1958 | (aged 62)
Height | 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) |
Spouse | Swana Beaucaire |
Parent(s) | Max Pangborn Opal Lamb |
Clyde Edward Pangborn (
Early life and career
Clyde Edward Pangborn, son of Max and Opal Lamb Pangborn, was born in
After college, Pangborn worked briefly as an engineer for a mining company before he joined the
Aviation career
Barnstorming
After
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. One among many examples is
The Flying Circus disbanded in 1929, but Pangborn continued flying with several other businesses he owned. The
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 airship Graf Zeppelin in 1929. Herndon, the son of Standard 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 by Wiley Post and Harold 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 red Bellanca J-300 Long Distance Special, the Miss Veedol, but poor weather conditions forced them to abandon their efforts while they were flying over Siberia.[6][8] The pair took off just minutes after John Polando and Russell Boardman, who went on to successfully fly to Istanbul three days later.[9]
1931 trans-Pacific flight
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 and 16 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 in Miss 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 nationalist Black 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 reduce drag.[6]
Pangborn and Herndon finally took off on October 4, 1931, from Sabishiro Beach, Misawa, Aomori, Japan. Their destination was Seattle, Washington, just under 5500 miles[10] (8,500 km) away, a distance exceeding Charles 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 almost
The
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]
1934 England-Australia race
In 1934, Pangborn, along with Col.
1936 Moscow flight
In 1936 the
Later career
Prior to World War II, he had become the Chief Test Pilot for Bellanca Aircraft Corporation in New Castle, Delaware. In 1937, he demonstrated Burnelli Aircraft in England and Europe for Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft Company of Southampton, England. He worked for Cunliffe-Owen until the late 1930s testing military aircraft.
When World War II broke out in Europe in late 1939, Pangborn joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) and assisted in organizing the RAF 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 first Lancaster heavy bomber to the United States for tests and later returned with the same aircraft and demonstrated it to the United 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 the US 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 at Arlington National Cemetery.[16] His papers are archived at Washington State University.[4] and the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
Pangborn was enshrined as a member of the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1995.
See also
References
- ^ a b Priscilla Long (October 12, 2005). "Pangborn, Clyde Edward (1894-1958)". HistoryLink.
- ^ Roll T623_1751, Enumeration District 59.
- ^ 1910 Census Roll T624_225, Enum. Dist. 179.
- ^ a b "Clyde Pangborn papers", Washington State University
- ^ World War I draft registration in Shoshone, Idaho
- ^ ISBN 978-1496910387.
- ^ a b "Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon, Jr.: First to Fly Nonstop Across the Pacific". Aviation History. June 12, 2006.
- ^ "'Herndon v. Liberty". Time. 22 May 1933. Retrieved April 28, 2008.[dead link]
- ]
- ^ "Pangborn vs Lindbergh Flight Comparison." Archived 2017-03-04 at the Wayback Machine onechanceforglory.com. Retrieved: May 21, 2012.
- ^ Historic Aerobatic Pilot Lost His Lunch, But A Museum Has Found It
- ^ "Chicago In Range of Jap Bombers Warns Pangborn", Chicago Tribune, 10 December 1935.
- ^ "Vance Flying Wing Plane Brings $2500". Berkeley Daily Gazette. 2 June 1936.
- ^ "Pangborn plans to fly on to Moscow", The Ottawa Citizen, July 21, 1937.
- ^ "Clyde Pangborn, Wife to Kiss and Make Up", The Milwaukee Journal, August 11, 1940.
- ^ "Clyde Edward Pangborn." Arlington National Cemetery, Retrieved: April 28, 2008.