Wing walking
Encyclopedia
Airshow
An air show is an event at which aviators display their flying skills and the capabilities of their aircraft to spectators in aerobatics. Air shows without aerobatic displays, having only aircraft displayed parked on the ground, are called "static air shows"....
s and barnstorming
Barnstorming
Barnstorming was a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s in which stunt pilots would perform tricks with airplanes, either individually or in groups called a flying circus. Barnstorming was the first major form of civil aviation in the history of flight...
during the 1920s, wing walking is the act of moving on the wings of an airplane during flight.
The beginning of air walkers
The first wing walker to perform daring stunts was 26 year old Ormer LocklearOrmer Locklear
Ormer Leslie "Lock" Locklear was an American daredevil stunt pilot and film actor during and immediately after World War I.-Early life and career:...
. Legend has it that he first climbed out onto the lower wings during his pilot training in the Army Air Service during World War I. Undaunted, Ormer just climbed out of the cockpit onto the wings in flight whenever there was a mechanical issue and fixed the problem.
On November 8, 1918, Locklear wowed the crowd at Barron Field, Texas with his dare devil wing walking stunts. Wing walking was seen as an extreme form of barnstorming
Barnstorming
Barnstorming was a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s in which stunt pilots would perform tricks with airplanes, either individually or in groups called a flying circus. Barnstorming was the first major form of civil aviation in the history of flight...
, and wing walkers would constantly take up the challenge of outdoing one another. They themselves admitted (or rather proclaimed proudly) that the point of their trade was to make money on the audience's prospect of possibly watching someone die.
After this first demonstration, wing walkers continued to play an important part in the Army Air Corps (now the U.S. Air Force) and Navy in the advancement of aviation. They were instrumental in the first air to air refuelling as well as long distance flight records. In 1921, 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 wing walker was the next exploration into aerial refuelling.
Ormer Locklear led the charge with his plane to plane transfer and many followed. His female equivalent, the first woman to switch planes in the air, was Ethal Dare.
Some of the many aerialists to become popular were Tiny Broberick, Gladys Ingles, Eddie Angel, Clyde Pangborn, Lillian Boyer, Jack Shack, Al Wilson, Fronty Nichols, Spider Matlock, Gladys Roy, Ivan Unger, Jessie Woods, Charles Lindbergh, and Mabel Cody (niece of Buffalo Bill Cody).
Eight wing walkers died in a relatively short period during the infancy of wing walking and even the great Ormer Locklear himself perished in 1920 while performing a stunt for a film.
Variations on wing walking became common, with such stunts as doing handstands, hanging by one's teeth, and transferring from one plane to another. A 1931 article on wingwalking on inverted aircraft touted the practical aspect of performing inflight landing gear inspection or maintenance. Eventually wing walkers began making transfers between a ground vehicle, such as a car, a boat, or a train, to the plane. Other variations included free-falls ending with a last-minute parachute opening; Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
, whose career in flight began with wing walking, was well-known for stunts involving parachutes. The first African-American woman granted an international pilot license, Bessie Coleman
Bessie Coleman
Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman was an American civil aviator. She was the first female pilot of African American descent and the first person of African American descent to hold an international pilot license.-Early life:...
, also engaged in stunts using parachutes. Another successful woman in this profession was Lillian Boyer
Lillian Boyer
Lillian Boyer, an American wing walker, performed numerous aerial stunts that included wing walking, automobile-to-airplane transfers, and parachute jumps between 1921 and 1929.-Wing walking career:...
who performed hundreds of wing walking exhibitions, automobile-to-plane changes, and parachute jumps.
Flying circuses and air walkers
Flying circuses formed and they featured a variety of stunt performerStunt performer
A stuntman, or daredevil is someone who performs dangerous stunts, often as a career.These stunts are sometimes rigged so that they look dangerous while still having safety mechanisms, but often they are as dangerous as they appear to be...
s. Promoters
Promoter (entertainment)
An entertainment promoter i.e. music, wrestling, boxing etc is a person or company in the business of marketing and promoting live events such as concerts/gigs, boxing matches, sports entertainment , festivals, raves, and nightclubs.- Business model :Promoters are typically hired as independent...
would herald the way with posters hyping up the danger of air walking and the new celebrities that would perform.
Some famous early flying circuses or troops were The Gates Flying Circus, the Flying Aces Air Circus (Jimmy and Jessie Woods), The 13 Black Cats, The Five Blackbirds (an all African American team), Mabel Cody's Flying Circus, Bugs McGowen's Flying Circus, and a troop run by Douglas Davis.
The Gates Flying Circus is perhaps the organization that made the most impression on the public. In one day alone they gave 980 rides. This was done by pilot Bill Brooks at the Steubenville Air show in Ohio. Their one dollar joy ride was a sensation.
When the stock market crash
Stock market crash
A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors...
of 1929 occurred, many of the more prominent flying circuses such as The Gates Flying Circus folded. Smaller operations, such as the Flying Aces, with Jimmy and Jessie Woods, continued until the 1938 Air Commerce Act required them to wear a parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
.
Air walkers after World War II
In the mid 1970s, Ron David, a pilot and gifted narrator, became the director of the Flying Circus in Bealeton, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. Under his stewardship he returned the air show back to its barnstorming
Barnstorming
Barnstorming was a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s in which stunt pilots would perform tricks with airplanes, either individually or in groups called a flying circus. Barnstorming was the first major form of civil aviation in the history of flight...
roots and included a wing walking act. Since the Flying Circus aerodrome was a grass field, he asked the CAA to allow the wing walker out of cockpit during flight and return back into the cockpit, so the wing walker could be strapped in for take off and landing. His concern was taking off or landing with a wing-rider on the top wing and the chance of the plane flipping over if it hit a rut in the grass field. He was granted permission.
His first wing walker was Bill FitzSimons, a jumper with the Flying Circus. Bill left to continue his act around the country with pilot Ron Shelley. Jim Bradley, Bill's understudy, stepped in. Jim was a member of the Saint Michael's Angels there in the Flying Circus Aerodrome in Bealeton, Virginia. Jim tested and developed the fundamentals of their act.
When his Army duty called him, he chose Hank Henry to continue wing walking with Ron. Hank wing walked a year and Ron advertised for a new wing walker. Nour Jorgensen responded to the ad. Jim Bradley, Hank Henry, and Nour Jurgenson busted the boundaries of wing walking. The stunt work they pioneered is still state of the art and continues to inspire wing walkers around the world.
On November 14, 1981 in an event organized by Martin Caidin, 19 skydivers set an unofficial wing-walking world record by standing on the left wing of a Junkers JU-52 aircraft in flight.
On April 21, 2009, Tiger Brewer, an eight year old British boy, became the world's youngest Wing Walker after standing above the wings of his grandfather's plane 304.8 metres (1000 feet) above Gloucestershire, England at speeds of about 161 kilometres per hour (100 mph).