Category: wing walking

130. A Fat Man and His Plane or A Fat Man and His Van

Peter Ellis1 Comment

One left me speechless and needing to put my eyes back in my head, the other didn’t. Was it the van or being strapped to the top of a plane, 1000ft up and travelling at 150 miles an hour. Which is which?

I spent a lot of time worrying about my weight in the lead up to the flight. With a strict weight limit of 14 stone and me fluctuating at the 13.5 mark I was quite worried that I wouldn’t make the weight. I couldn’t imagine telling all those that had donated that I was too fat to fly. I pretty much stuck to the normal routine of regular exercise, portion size and what I was eating but the worry never went away. Even with a strict absence of treats, I still hovered around that weight.
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129. Walk This Way Fatso

Peter EllisLeave a comment

I needed and wanted to do something to capture the imagination. A sponsored walk, unless it was from John O Groats to Lands’ End in nothing but a purple G string, was never going to interest anyone. It had to be something different, something original, something most people had never done before.

It all really took off after the First World War. With thousands of aircraft lying idle and lots of highly trained pilots looking for work, it was a simple transition to pilots performing acrobatic displays at flying circus shows.

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