A rather amusing article in the Sunday Times provides a first person account of wingwalking by Emma Parker Bowles - who is afraid of heights. An aviator named Vic Norman has brought wing walking back in Britain with his company AeroSuperBatics.
Iam strapped to a pole on top of the wing of an aircraft old enough to be my grandfather, which is in a nosedive towards the earth 1,000ft below. As I plunge towards the blurry green Gloucestershire field, my body battered by the 3G force, the 150mph wind feels as though it is trying to rip my head off.
My neck muscles are straining like a German shot putter’s and my jowls are flapping about by my ears. Spit and snot are smeared across my face, which is frozen in a terrified shriek – a bit like Edvard Munch’s The Scream with flying goggles on.
Except I can’t scream, because I can’t breathe, and I am convinced that the last thing to go through my mind before I die will be the 2,100rpm propeller inches from my feet.
For someone with a fear of heights, wing walking is not fun. In fact it is the most horrible sensation I have experienced. As we get closer and closer to the ground in this awful death plunge, I squeeze my eyes closed and pray.
Heh. My wife would do it in a heartbeat if given the chance. Just a funny, non-political kind of story for a slow news Saturday. Here's the AeroSuperBatics website. Here's a history of the - er - art, from an American outfit that also does wingwalking. That company is Silver Wings Wingwalking and here's their site. And if you're wondering if they are all quite mad, I wonder that myself. But they make it look so easy.
Heh. My wife would do it in a heartbeat if given the chance. Just a funny, non-political kind of story for a slow news Saturday. Here's the AeroSuperBatics website. Here's a history of the - er - art, from an American outfit that also does wingwalking. That company is Silver Wings Wingwalking and here's their site. If you're wondering if they are all quite mad, I wonder that myself. But they make it look so easy. And graceful.
By NortonPete, Sunday, 9 December , 2007 @ 6:24 am
I have witnessed this at a local airshow. The history of this is interesting with regard to aerial refueling:
In 1921, one brave man, Wesley May, strapped a fuel tank on his back and performed a plane to plane transfer. Additional tests were undertaken and a hose with aide of a wingwalker was the next exploration into aerial refueling.
Video, World news | Gaius Saturday, 8 December , 2007 
By NortonPete, Sunday, 9 December , 2007 @ 6:24 am
I have witnessed this at a local airshow. The history of this is interesting with regard to aerial refueling:
In 1921, one brave man, Wesley May, strapped a fuel tank on his back and performed a plane to plane transfer. Additional tests were undertaken and a hose with aide of a wingwalker was the next exploration into aerial refueling.