Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Not This Fat Boy!

link

That's right, not in a million years would you catch me trying to do something like that.
Gladys Ingles was a member of a barnstorming troupe called the 13 Black Cats in the 1920s.
Ingles was a wing walker; in this film, she shows her fearlessness in a classic barnstorming
fashion to save an airplane that has lost one of its main wheels. Ingles is shown with a
replacement wheel being strapped to her back and then off she goes as "Up She Goes," a
duet from the era, provides the soundtrack. In the video, Ingles transfers herself from the
rescue plane to the one missing the main landing gear tire. She then expertly works herself
down to the undercarriage only a few feet from a spinning prop. It's certainly a feat many
mechanics wouldn't even try on the ground with the engine running.

I got this in an email today and was really struck by how fearless Gladys was. I'm for thinking the plane would have just had to crash, were it up to me.

H/T Nuckle Kim

1 comment:

Laura said...

Never, never would I do it either.