Clyde Pangborn & 'Diavalo' Krantz, 8/1/25 1925 (photo)

Clyde Edward 'Upside-Down' Pangborn made crowds gasp when he performed his daring aerial stunts during the Roaring Twenties. He was among the period's finest aerial showmen. As his nickname suggests, he was anything but a conventional pilot, and people loved him for it. But Pangborn was much more than an entertainer. In 1931, he and a fellow aviator set a world record when they became the first people to fly nonstop from Japan to the United States. Pangborn also served as a test pilot in his later years. During his career, Pangborn not only knew the thrill of entertaining crowds and establishing records, but also the painstaking process of thoroughly testing a plane and making it safe for other pilots to fly.