During the roaring 20’s, the most extreme entertainers on the great plains were wing walkers. Captivating crowds from Texas to Nebraska, wing walkers made their fortunes by displaying a bravado that couldn’t–and still can’t–be matched.
Perhaps the most unlikely wing walker was a rough and tumble woman named Gladys Ingle. One of the few women to attempt such death defying stunts, Ingle’s signature maneuver was leaving the plane’s cockpit at 1,500 feet and taking archery target practice on her bi-plane’s top wing.
In 1936, the U.S. government outlawed wing walking below 1,500 feet (457 meters), which essentially doomed aerial stunting since audiences could no longer easily see stunts performed above that altitude.
For their bravado, wing walkers earned about $3,000 for 30 minutes work. A wing walker’s life expectancy was estimated to be approximately 27 months.
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