Pancho Barnes is a 1988 biopic film, starring Valerie Bertinelli

Valerie Bertinelli

Valerie Anne Bertinelli is an American actress, best known for her roles as Barbara Cooper Royer on the television series One Day at a Time , Gloria on the television series Touched by an Angel and Melanie Moretti on the sitcom Hot in Cleveland .- Early years :Bertinelli was born in Wilmington,...

 as Florence "Pancho" Lowe Barnes.

Plot

Leaving an arranged marriage to Reverend Rankin Barnes (James Stephens

James Stephens

James Stephens may refer to:*James Stephens , 17th century MP for Gloucester*James Stephen , English lawyer associated with the abolition of slavery* James B...

), Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes (Bertinelli) takes an interest in flying light planes in the 1920s, and soon rivals Amelia Earhart (Nance Williams), breaking world speed records. Barnes is hired by Howard Hughes (David Kockinis) to do stunt flying for the film Hells Angels

Hells Angels

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Their primary motto...

, instigates the formation of the Motion Picture Pilots Association, was a World War II Air Force Civilian Pilot Trainer, and establishes the Happy Bottom Riding Club

Happy Bottom Riding Club

The Happy Bottom Riding Club, more formally known as the Rancho Oro Verde Fly-Inn Dude Ranch, was a dude ranch restaurant and hotel operated by Pancho Barnes on the site of current-day Edwards Air Force Base in southern California's Antelope Valley, in the southwestern part of the United...

as a mess hall for pilots and former servicemen.