 Upside Down |
| ©Linda Allen 1989 Well, I was just a kid that day in 1931 When I saw the airplane circlin' in the sky Those planes were still a wonder, Thunderation! What a thrill! Never understood what made 'em fly There came a spurt and sputter and the airplane headed down We all ran to the field outside of town I got there tired and breathless just in time to see her crash I was so scared - I never made a sound And it was Upside down Doin' loop the loops and barrel rolls Upside down Flyin' higher than a dream Upside down Walkin' wings to make the young girls scream Greatest thing our town had ever seen Clyde Pangborn was a young sensation seeker, we all knew A barnstormer with more tricks than a kite Then a Tokyo paper promised fame and fortune to the first To make a non-stop trans-Pacific flight They set off on their journey on a clear October day To save on fuel they dumped the landing wheels Then high above Alaska - Pangborn walked the icy wings And with frozen hands tied dangling rods of steel CHORUS Instrumental chorus Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon flew from Samashiro Beach Miss Veedol was the monoplane they flew For over 40 hours to Wenatchee's landing field Where they circled in the sky so clear and blue I tell you, I was there the day Clyde Pangborn came back home The plane slid down the field and tipped her nose Then we saw two grimy pilots walkin', smilin' to the crowd I yelled so hard it hurt down to my toes CHORUS Notes: The Wenatchee Museum has a wonderful exhibit on the Pangborn- Herndon flight, which includes their plane's bent propellar. Newspaper editor Wilf Wood's recollection of seeing the plane circle overhead as a boy provided additional inspiration. Clyde Pangborn did walk the wings above Alaska to release the rods which could have caused serious damage upon landing. |