Tex Rankin

John Gilbert "Tex" Rankin (January 20, 1894, Texas – February 23, 1947 Klamath Falls) was an aerobatic pilot, barnstormer, air racer, and flight instructor from the 1920s to the 1940s. Born in Texas on January 20, 1894, Rankin began flying in 1913, when airplanes were still considered a new oddity. While serving in the Washington State National Guard in 1916, he was ordered to Mexico for border duty. As World War I was declared, Rankin was activated into the U.S. Army, where he served in the U.S. Signal Corps Aviation Section until 1919.

In 1920, Rankin opened his first flying school in Walla Walla, Washington. Rankin then moved his flying school to Portland, Oregon, where he established the Rankin Flying Service of Portland, OR. By 1928, Rankin's flying school was listed as the largest civilian flying school in the world. Throughout the late 1920s, Rankin went on tour with the Rankin Air Circus, performing barnstorming stunts throughout the west. In August 1929 Rankin flew his historic "Three Flags" flight; being the first flyer to make a non-stop, non-refueling flight from Canada to Mexico. On January 10, 1930, Rankin established a National Aeronautic Association flying record, for executing and completing 19 consecutive aerial outside loops. In February 1931, he established a new world record for outside loops, completing 78 consecutive loops in 88 minutes. Later that same year, Rankin would set the world record a third time, with a total of 131 loops. Rankin's record stands to this day. Rankin became the U.S. Aerobatic Champion in 1935, at the National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1938, by then already well known as a stunt pilot and technical director in Hollywood, Rankin won the International Aerobatic Trophy at the International Aerobatic Competition in St. Louis, Missouri. At the age of 48, Rankin was the oldest entrant in the competition. Rankin's own "Rankin System of Flying Instruction" student instructional books were well known standard reading texts for flying school students throughout the world. Rankin performed daily aerobatic flights to the delight of the crowds at the San Francisco World's Fair. While living in Hollywood, Tex became a member of the Hollywood Motion Pictures Pilot Association and the Screen Actors Guild. Among the celebrities taught to fly by Rankin himself were James Stewart, Errol Flynn, and Edgar Bergen.

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