Hot Sarabia

Francisco ("Pancho") Sarabia is a small Mexican with a white-toothed smile and surprising blue eyes. One morning last week, at Mexico City's airport, he put a rabbit's foot and a holy medal into his wallet, climbed into a five-year-old racing plane, took off in the direction of New York City. Pancho bucked strong head winds, got up at times to 16,000 ft. He had started with 525 gallons, but after passing Philadelphia he began to worry about his gas. When he sighted his destination, Floyd Bennett Field, he decided he was just about dry. So, instead of circling to come in upwind, he streaked in downwind for a "hot" landing. His wife, watching from the ground, put her hand to her mouth. But Pancho got down neatly and smoothly at about 115 m.p.h.

His admirers, including the Mexican Ambassador to the U. S. and a posse of his own relatives, rushed out to shake his hand, kiss him, slap his back. For Fran cisco Sarabia had set a new record of 10 hrs. 48 min. for the Mexico City-New York flight, beating the old record (set by the late Amelia Earhart) by 3 hrs. 31 min.

Even before the dangerous downwind landing, Sarabia's friends had their fingers crossed. His plane, the Q.E.D., had an unlucky history. In 1934 in the Granville Brothers' factory (Springfield, Mass.) it was built for Jacqueline Cochran to fly in a London-Melbourne race. Miss Cochran was forced down at Bucharest. Later the Q.E.D. was entered in four important U. S. races, never finished one. Last year Sarabia bought it from Dealer Charles Babb of Los Angeles.

Up to last week Francisco Sarabia was almost unheard of in the U. S., but in Mexico he is considered not only the nation's Lindbergh and Roscoe Turner but its Juan Trippe. He is president and co-founder (with his three brothers) of one of Mexico's most important native-owned airlines, the Compania Transportes Aereos de Chiapas. Last year it carried approximately 17,000 passengers, 18,000 Ibs. of mail, 3,000,000 Ibs. of freight, made enough money to double its equipment. It now has 28 ships of a half-dozen makes, 14 pilots. Sarabia considers his airline worth about a million dollars.

"Pancho" Sarabia likes good, quiet clothes and Scotch whiskey, speaks good English, displays the nerveless sang-froid of a proper flier. Born 39 years ago in the little town of Lerdo, he attended Mexican schools, crossed the U. S. border to get a degree at New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, went to an automobile school in Kansas City, worked at the Buick plant in Michigan. In 1926 he took a $3 ride with a barnstormer. Next day Pancho started flying lessons and he has never been out of flying for more than three months since. He ran a flying school in Mexico, became President Cardenas' personal pilot--and Cardenas has never since flown with anyone else.

It was to Cardenas that Airman Sarabia went when he thought up last week's flight as a good-will salute to New York's Fair (and incidentally as a long-distance test for the Q.E.D.). Mexico's President violently approved, gave his friend all the help he could--a tune-up for the plane at the army shops, a new paint job, a special airport runway, $200 worth of flight stamps which Pancho might sell to collectors. Last week Pancho helped dedicate the Mexican pavilion at the Fair, chatted for an hour with Mayor LaGuardia, flew on to Indianapolis for a reception arranged for him by Eastern Air Lines' President Eddie Rickenbacker. This week he is scheduled to deliver a letter from President Cardenas to President Roosevelt in Washington. After that Pancho can go home.

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