Once powered flight was established and there were sufficient numbers of aircraft and aviators, it wasn’t long before air races and speed trials were set up. Machines were put through their paces, and 1912 saw the first recorded loop-the-loop and inverted flight. The First World War put a stop to the fun and games for a while, but also produced a surplus of trained pilots and capable aircraft. With the war’s end, some of them wondered whether their new skills might earn them a living. And they started getting out of the cockpit. Wingwalking attracted thrillseekers—often women proved to be the biggest draw—and unsurprisingly enough it was often as life-threatening as it sounded. Fatalities were far from uncommon and so, as a result, were job vacancies. One man sent a telegram to a potential employer that read: “When present wingwalker is killed I want the job.” He was soon hired, and was soon dead too, breaking his back while performing a stunt he’d dubbed the “Bullet Drop.”
Lillian Boyer dangles one-handed. Increasing regulation forced her into retirement in 1929 and, happily, she then went on to live to the grand old age of 88.
Ormer Locklear performs a handstand on the wing. A US Army Air Service flying instructor during the First World War, Locklear was killed in 1920 filming a maneuver for the movie The Skywayman.
Watched by a huge crowd, Mabel Cody climbs from a car into a plane.
Gladys Roy and Ivan Unger play tennis on the wing. If there was ever a ball, it didn’t stay up there long enough for the photographer to capture it.
