An open theatre in the sky

Kavitha S. Daniel meets two brave wing-walkers who entertained the crowds at Al Ain Aerial Fiesta


Meet the girls who walk on the wild side of life - Helen Tempest and Tanya Gaze - two members of the UK-based Utterly Butterly Wing -walking Team who were in Al Ain to participate in the recently-concluded 10-day Al Ain Aerial Fiesta.

These two women had stunned the crowds at the fiesta with their mind-boggling aerobatics on the wings of the brightly-coloured Boeing Stearman aircraft.

Despite being "hooked" to the aircraft, they were involved in "circus tricks" on the wings of a plane flying at 120 miles an hour at a height of anywhere between 30 to 500 feet. This obviously requires audacity and fearlessness.

But for 37-year-old Helen Tempest, a professional wing-walker, and Tanya Gaze, a barrister and a wing-walker on weekends, it's all a bit of a lark really.

They find "huge amounts of fun" in wing-walking and consider it "exciting"- anything but dangerous.

For Helen, a pilot's daughter, there's nothing unusual in balancing herself on the wings of the aircraft as it flies, battling against winds blowing at 100mph against her body. She has been attempting this for 22 years and has become quite adept at walking the clouds. Although her father would like her to get a proper job one day, Helen, a married woman, continues in her chosen profession which she describes as "open theatre in the sky".

However, she does have a proper job. She is the operations director of the Utterly Butterly wingwalking team, and has to be involved in the organisational aspects of the team's activities.

On the other hand, Tanya Gaze, a lawyer by profession, holds a "proper barrister's job" in London and takes time off to "come out and play" in this weekend job.

Having chanced upon a newspaper advertisement seeking new wing-walkers, when she was a law student a couple of years ago, she was prompted by the "uniqueness" of being a wing-walker, Tanya tells the Tabloid. Her boyfriend still refuses to watch her because he's squeamish, but her mother, who was nervous at first, now goes around showing her photographs telling people what she does, Tanya says.

Origins

So how did wing-walking originate?

Wing-walking goes back to the 1920s, explains Helen. Air force pilots did air displays and took people up for a spin in the aircraft in those early days of flying. To get people into their planes, the barnstorming pilots (as they were known) would fly really low over town centres and even climb on aircraft wings, she adds.

Wing -walking was perfected as a "circus act" over time, as most of the "moves" up in the air on the aircraft wings resembled those of circus performers like hand stands, loops, rolls on the wings, Helen points out. Elaborating on their own show, Helen explains, "We climb out from the safety of our open cockpit onto the wings of the aircraft and I mirror every move Tanya makes in front of me. We do plenty of stunts and sometimes we are almost levitating in the air."

Removing one hand from their iron grip on the aircraft and waving to the bemused crowds below seems to be a highpoint for these wing-walkers. "It's fantastic to wave to the crowds below," says Tanya.

They are , of course, hooked to the aircraft by a safety harness for "we do not ever want to slip".

Tanya's best moments are waving to the cowds below and watching their reaction. She recalls memories of her very first trip, which she feels was her best one.

"After training for three weeks I was ready to fly. But, when I got on top of the aircraft with the wind pressing against my body, I felt completely exposed. Holding on to the aircraft made my pectoral muscles ache for days, but when I looked down and saw the people waving, the tears sprung to my eyes. It was amazing, and when I came down on earth, kids came running up to me wanting to say hello."

Being a wing-walker since 1987, Helen carries many memories. Funny ones of being dressed as an Easter bunny and preening on the wings holding a basket of Easter eggs. "I've dressed up as a fairy, Father Christmas and once even wore a tutu," she says.

One special moment was a wedding on aircraft wings organised by the Utterly Butterly team in England.

"We had three aircraft -one carrying the vicar, another the bridegroom and the third the bride. The vicar's aircraft flying backwards was stationed at the front of the other two aircraft flying next to each other.

"All the three participants were wired and the entire ceremony could be heard down in the ground. While the vicar read the sermon the couple were actually standing on the wings of the aircraft. It was such an emotional moment that we were all crying below on the ground," she reminisces.

Memorable incident

Another memorable incident, which she hopes to put down in her memoirs of a wing-walker, involved holding hands with her wing-walker partner in another aircraft as their two aircraft, one flying upside down, came really close. Flying at 6,000 feet above the clouds in England is also amazing, she says.

Her Al Ain stint was special as well, she adds. "The view from the top was spectacular and new. We were flying with the sand dunes and the setting sun in the backdrop, and the wind like silk was caressing our face," says Helen.

So what do you need to be to become a death-defying stuntwoman up in the air?

Replies Helen, "You need to be petite because your weight can create a drag on the wing, slowing down the aircraft. You have to be strong and supple for the grip on the aircraft should be very tight. You should also be PR-oriented and be able to deal with journalists and also get a cloth and clean the oil."

The founder-member of the Utterly Butterly team is Vic Norman, an experienced display pilot in the UK who has been flying for over 35 years. He has performed at more than 2,000 public displays and is the one of the pilots responsible for reintroducing professional wing-walking displays to the UK.

This team is usually booked for displays in the UK or other countries. Two years back they were in China doing stunts. But sometimes, they don't fly for months. In fact, their last show was in September 2002. "I's like knowing how to ride a bicycle, you cannot forget," explains Helen. For every display, each aircraft uses over eight gallons of fuel and pumps 10 gallons of diesel through the exhaust system to create the smoke trailing behind the aircraft, which also adds to the spectacle of the display.

The team comprises four pilots, the same number of wing-walkers and aircraft. But just two wing-walkers and two aircraft were in Al Ain for the air show. "The aircraft were brought down here in a 20-metre-high Russian-built Antonov," says Helen.

Happy with the response they received from the crowds here, Helen and Tanya promise to be back.