Thursday, November 30, 2023
The Emmy™Award-Winning Documentary Film
"Broadcast" version now airing on most public television stations.
"Uncensored" version now on DVD and in film festivals.
Synopsis: A charismatic figure featured in Tom Wolfe's book The Right Stuff, Florence "Pancho" Barnes was one of the most important women in 20th Century aviation. A tough and fearless aviatrix, Pancho was a rival of Amelia Earhart's who made a name for herself as Hollywood's first female stunt pilot. Just before WWII she opened a ranch near Edwards Air Force Base that became a famous -- some would say notorious -- hangout for test pilots and movie stars. Known as the "Happy Bottom Riding Club", it became the epicenter of the aviation world during the early jet age. Chuck Yeager celebrated breaking the sound barrier there in 1947, and Howard Hughes and Jimmy Doolittle caroused in the bar. The Club's destruction by fire in 1953 is seen by many to mark the end of a Golden Era in post-WWII aviation. In the same fashion Pancho herself has become something of a legend, a fascinating yet enigmatic icon whose swagger is often celebrated, but whose story has been largely unknown. Until now.
A documentary film produced and written by Nick Spark and directed by Amanda Pope. Featuring interviews with test pilots Bob Cardenas, Bob Hoover and Chuck Yeager, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and biographers Barbara Schultz and Lauren Kessler. Narrated by Tom Skerritt with Kathy Bates as the voice of Pancho Barnes.
Last Updated: Wednesday, 12 August 2015 04:31 Nick Spark Hits: 6015
If Pancho Barnes and her Happy Bottom Riding Club hadn't existed, life would have been quite a bit duller at Muroc AFB, that's for sure. Pilots would have had to find another watering hole and place to 
congregate. Most likely that place would have been the establishment owned by Vemba Greene, better known as "Ma" Greene. Back in the 1940s, Ma and her husband Angus opened a restaurant and liquor store located very close the air base that everyone referred to as "Ma Greene's". You can see what it looked like, by taking a peek at the Walter Williams production journal entry -- the book cover is a shot of the place. Not much to look at, but apparently a fairly cheery place that was out of the sun.
"Ma's was the nearest place to the base to get food," Chuck Yeager told us when we asked, "that you didn’t have to wait in the mess hall for. It was almost like a railroad car, you know, diner. And she served quick food, you know, hamburger and things. But," he continued with a laugh, "Pancho had good steaks!" Indeed, the Greene's little dining establishment couldn't really hold a candle to Pancho's, which had a hotel, gambling hall, airport, dairy, riding stables, swimming pool, and all those cute gals too!
Photo: trade token from Ma's place. The sign for the establishment still exists, and you can see it at this link.
There are some really interesting parallels between Pancho and Ma. Clearly they both were strong women, and good business people too. As Vemba's 1977 obituary in the Desert News put it, "the Greenes, like Pancho Barnes, were sort of surrogate parents to the many G.I.s stationed at Edwards. Mrs. Green always wore a broad-brimmed straw hat and was a formidable woman with a heart of gold which she usually carefully concealed." Like Pancho, the Greenes nearly lost everything when the U.S. Government condemned their place in the 1950s for an expansion of the air base. They relocated and operated the "Muroc Jug Factory" which operated until 1970. One of the main hangars at present-day Edwards now sits on the original "Ma Greene's".
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