Pancho's Mystery Ship not only helped her achieve a place in the record books, but it opened the door to a new and exciting world — motion picture stunt flying. In 1926 Howard Hughes began pre-production work on a film about aviation combat in WWI. The making of "Hell's Angels" remains a Hollywood legend, one most recently celebrated in the film "The Aviator" starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Hughes.

Hughes' film would be one of the most expensive made to that date, a whopping $3.8 million. A WWI style aerodrome was built near the Van Nuys Airport, and nearly fifty vintage aircraft assembled for the production. Frank Clarke served as lead pilot, and many other notable fliers were involved including Ira Reed and Roscoe Turner whose Sikorski S-29 was flown as a mock Gotha bomber.

By 1928 the film was almost complete, but by then the world's first sound film "The Jazz Singer", had made its debut. Rather than release "Hells Angels" as a silent film, Hughes determined to reshoot portions of the film with dialogue and dub in sound effects. This is where Pancho came in! Her Mystery Ship was well known not only for its looks, but for its powerful motor, which was capable of producing a throaty roar in flight. Thus, through her friendship with Frank Clarke and because of her Model R, Pancho found herself hired to produce sound effects for Hughes' film.

The set-up for the sound recording was simple. A microphone was attached to a balloon set up above Hughes' aerodrome, known as Caddo Field. Pancho flew at the balloon from a variety of angles, and stunted above and below the balloon, as all the while sound technicians recorded her plane's motor. The result: enough material to create a sound effects library for the movie.

Many people believe Pancho flew as a stunt pilot in "Hells Angels", but as you have just learned, that's not really the case. Nevertheless, when you watch the film, you are hearing Pancho flying!

Just about a year after she first saw the Mystery S in Cleveland, Pancho announced that she intended to break the women's speed record in her ship. In late September of 1930 she made a first attempt at Metropolitan Airport in Van Nuys. A small team of personnel were assembled including the National Aeronautic Associastion's official timer, Joe Nikrent. After having a barograph installed to record the attempt, Pancho took off , roared into the air, and then flew four fast laps over a mile-long course at an altitude of less than 200'. Unfortunately she fell short of Amelia Earhart's record speed of 184.6 mph.

Undaunted, Pancho returned for another go the very next week. On August 1, she flew with the throttle wide open. This time Nikrent timed her at a maximum speed of 197.26 mph, and an average speed of 196.19 mph. She had shattered the old record by nearly 12 mph, and became the "fastest woman on earth."

(The record stood for about a year, when aviatrix Ruth Nichols flew 210 mph in a Lockheed Vega).

The record flight made all the newspapers and thrust Pancho firmly into the public eye. Union Oil, a sponsor of Pancho's, produced a full-page color ad to record her achievement. It read in part, "Fastest mile ever traveled by a Woman...!" and stated that the flight was "...a skillful combination of sheer nerve, skillful piloting, faultless motor and ship and perfect aviation fuel."

Pancho first saw this unique plane back in 1929 at the Cleveland Air Races. Dubbed the 'Mystery' because it's construction was kept under wraps by builder Walter Beech, the plane was an immediate sensation. Aviator Doug Davis won a speed competition against an Army Hawk that year, despite initially missing a pylon and falling nearly a mile behind at the start of the race. Pancho, deeply disappointed at her failure to finish the Powder Puff Derby, wanted a Mystery Ship. The odds did not seem to be in her favor. There were only a few in production, and they seemed destined for only the most skillful — male (it goes without saying) — pilots. Nevermind. Pancho was relentless, and she won out. For just over $13K, an absolute fortune in those days, she bought one. She now had the fastest plane in the world. Just imagine what she'd do with it!

For Bobbi Trout, the flight was a landmark. Two years earlier in 1929, she'd tried to set an endurance record with Elinor Smith in the "Sunbeam". While that attempt garnered a great deal of attention, the flight ended after 42 hours when their refueling plane got into trouble, had to make an emergency landing, and was damaged.

It's difficult today to truly appreciate the courage that Trout, Smith, and Cooper demonstrated on these flights. Aerial refueling in the late 20's sometimes involved lowering cans of gas from one plane to another. A more sophisticated set-up, used on these flights, used a long hose that fitted into a filler pipe. The chance for an explosion or fire was great, and more than once Bobbi got a faceful of gas while trying to refuel the plane.

Bobbi and Pancho Barnes had a strong friendship that dated back to 1929, when they met at the Carpinteria Airport. They also flew together in the Powder Puff Derby and worked together to form the Women's Air Reserve. (They're seen in the photo at right at the opening of Grand Central Airport in February of '29.)

In 1933, King Carol of Rumania sent Bobbi an Aviation Cross in honor of the endurance record she'd set two years prior. The Cross was presented to Trout during a reception thrown by Pancho at her home in San Marino. As a biographer of Trout noted, only two other Aviation Crosses were awarded to Americans: Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart.