Barnstorming

There were barnstormers as soon as there were planes --- pilots who "pushed the envelope" setting new records and doing stunts like loops and inverted flight for the very first time. The First World War proved the military value of airplanes, and created the wellspring of barnstorming: an aftermath of hundreds of young pilots trained for combat, who loved planes and flying so much, they did not want to do anything else. Using war surplus planes bought for a song, many ex-fighter pilots became vagabonds wings wings, flying all over the country performing aerobatics and giving rides to locals at country fairs and in small towns wherever they could pick up a dollar, a meal, or a bed for the night. The planes were patched and tricky, the pilots usually just one jump ahead of the sheriff or bill collector --- but the sky belonged to them.