Scran Bag

Without a Parachute  

Midair repair…by a woman 1924

Hard to believe that stunts such as these used to be accomplished frequently. Does anyone recall the air-to-air re-fuelling of one biplane to another using a long hose? Those people had to be either fearless or just plain crazy!

This woman has more guts than a sausage factory. Take a look at this film. Fabulous  footage, although grainy due to time and bad equipment in those days compared to today, but what nerve this gal had. Gladys Ingles was a member of a barnstorming troupe
called the 13 Black Cats in the 1920’s. Ingles was a wing walker; in this film, she shows her
fearlessness in classic barnstorming fashion to save an airplane that has lost one of its main landing gear 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 film, 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
propeller. It’s certainly a feat many mechanics wouldn’t even try on the ground with the engine running.

She died at age 82.