The world’s oldest wing walker

At age 82, Tom Lackey decided it was time for a new challenge, said Chris Broughton in The Guardian (U.K.). The former British construction worker had taken up flying a few years earlier following the death of his wife, Isabel. “I needed a new focus in life, and learning to fly was a blast,” he said. “But I grew bored with just flying straight. So, with the encouragement of my instructor, I performed my first loop-the-loop, then a barrel roll.” Lackey’s instructor suggested that he try something even more daring: wing walking. He would be strapped standing to a frame on the top of a biplane, and stay there throughout the flight. “I’ll admit to some nerves on that first walk, but the fear was nothing compared with the excitement. I was traveling at 80 miles per hour, the wind buffeting my body. I couldn’t have been happier.” A few years later, he became the oldest man to stand on a plane as it looped the loop. “I remember the sensation of my stomach dropping as the plane went into a dive, then looking up and thinking, ‘What are those cows doing up there.’” Now 94, he has no intention of giving up his extreme hobby. “I only hope no one dares me to wing-walk across the Atlantic, because I’d be stupid enough to try it.”

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