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| Tex and I (in cockpit) at Alameda Bay Airdrome | Tex, like many aviators of his day, participated in long distance air racing. Here he prepares for the New York-Spokane Transcontinental Air Derby in 1927 | Each day Tex would perform his stunts over the Fair at Treasure Island. He would even loop the Bay Bridge |
In the thirties and forties
while some kids claimed Tom Mix or Buster Crabb as their hero, I most admired
Tex Rankin, the world famous stunt pilot. In 1939 Tex housed his plane at the
Alameda Airdrome from which he took off for his daily aerobatics
over the new Bay Bridge and Worlds' Fair>
Tex's career spanned several
decades during which time he performed many fetes. He barnstormed around the country, served
as a Hollywood stunt pilot in such classic flicks as "Wings" and ran an
aviation school where he trained thousands of Air Force Cadets including Major Richard Bong, Congressional Medal of Honor Winner and the man who shot down 40 Japanese aircraft in the South Pacific
Roscoe Turner, another aviator
of that time, and a Hollywood hero carried a lion cub in his cockpit. Stunt pilots were a flamboyant bunch. As shown below, Tex had
his black cat, #13, at his side while in the air.
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| Some of the many trophies he had won | Tex and his famous black cat | He used the numeral 13 as his logo |
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Click here to learn more about the restoration of Tex's plane | Tex performed at many air shows and air races. He even established the world's record for outside loops at 131. | Tex performs one of his outside loops over St. Louis. |
Pictures from the Bill Larkin Collection
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Quote from A Tokyo Raider
"I had the good fortune to have Tex Rankin as a personal friend. He was a superb pilot, a fine gentleman, and a loyal American. Tex was certainly one of the most skillful aerobatic pilots who ever lived. He could enthrall spectators with the grace and precision of his maneuvers. the real purpose of his flying was to improve equipment, to develop techniques, to increase safety, and to teach others. It takes great skill and courage to take an airplane, safely, near to its point of failure, but this Tex did repeatedly."
"I don't know if your web site is up to date. I'm probably the only survivor that was a pall-bearer at Tex's funeral in Tulare, Ca. I was working for Rankin Aviation Industries at the time. I took the phone call telling us of the fatal crash. I immediately turned the phone over to one of the managers and he got the details. Thought this would be of interest to you."
David Stone
Send E-mail to appleglo@verizon.net
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Click here for more info on Tex
