 |
| Loving the ride! |
It is only when I am fully
and securely strapped into the harness that the full realisation of the
situation dawns on me. I am currently attached to the outside wing of a small
plane, and ready to undertake a very scary mission – a daredevil flight across the
skies in this very position! Behind me, the pilot sits calmly waiting to go. He
has done this many times before with no incident, and has already flown a
couple of other people before me. Seeing the others complete their flight,
filled with sharp banks and dips, I could feel my bravado drain a little.
“Please” I pleaded to the
captain in sudden desperation. “Keep it a little bit tame for me! Unless I am
whooping and waving like crazy!”
Yup, I just used the word
‘tame’ in relation to Wing-Walking. It is at this very moment that I am cursing
my friend Fiona who first introduced the idea to me. She had casually brought
it up in the prep room at work, followed by an almost instantaneous Jenny
leaping into her lap (metaphorically).
“Wing-Walking?!” I shrieked,
bounding across the room and mildly startling all within it (although only
mildly, as people are used to my unpredictable displays of enthusiasm). “That
sounds awesome!” I continued on. “Can I come? When? Where? Price?!”
 |
| Very scared beforehand! |
I am reminded of this as I
stand on top of the plane with my stomach churning. It is already too bloody
late to back out now, at least without a shame spiral ensuing. Plus, I knew
that as soon as I did it, I would have regretted it.
“In and locked” I hear one
of the expert Wing-Walkers say to the pilot. She has strapped me all in and
explained the safety protocols. If I want to get down all I have to do is raise
both my arms with the thumbs pointed down, and the plane will land immediately.
I will never do that, I determine. Although
once I was shown the incredibly complicated mechanism for opening the harness,
I was a bit worried that I would go mad mid-flight, and just open it for
funsies. Even writing about that now is giving me the shivers.
Finally the engine started
noisily below me, making me glad of the earplugs. The plane turned slowly and
started to chunder away from the main area, across a bumpy field. As it went I
was wobbling about loads in the harness. At my request the Wing-Walker had
pulled it so tight I barely had circulation! But I still felt like it was very
loose.
I needn’t have worried. As
the plane turned and began to make its run up to take off, the wind flattened
me back against the frame with an amazing force. Before I knew it we were
airborne! The ground below us sank down, and we were rushing above it.
Amazing. I
gazed with awe down at the diminishing fields, catching sight of my feet in the
same glance. They were so firmly on the wing I’m surprised they didn’t press a
hole through it! The wind took my breath away as I tried to shout out. It
blustered wildly about my head and streamed past my watering eyes. My hands
were locked onto two supporting metal wires in a death grip as we circled a
building (despite the fact that without the harness, my grip would have done
nothing at all). We did our first pass round near the people assembled on the
ground.
 |
| Our plane |
“Woot!” I shouted rather
inaudibly, and managed to raise one arm for a wave. As soon as we had passed
them, I instantly clamped my hand back down.
We did loads of circles, and
as a few minutes went by, I was feeling braver. I started to raise my arms more
and yell out various enthusiasms and expletives. No one could hear me of
course, but shouting against the ferocious wind was strangely liberating. I
didn’t want to go too mad, though, for fear that the pilot might amp up the
stakes a bit. It was amazing enough as it was! Geed on by my relaxing a little,
we did a couple of sharp banks left and right.
Finally, after ten minutes
stomach dropping, wind whistling, death defying fun, the plane carefully landed
with a little bump. It was a nice, gentle landing, and I can’t deny that I was
pleased that the plane was back on solid earth!
 |
| Me with the two experts |
The Wing-Walker came up to unstrap
me, and I unsteadily made my way down. As I got to the ground I shook the pilot’s
hand gratefully and thanked him. Then I stumbled off back towards the main hut
and the tea!
Now, here are the things you
have to remember if your curiosity has been piqued by the idea of Wing-Walking:
1.
It is very expensive. £400 for a ten minute
flight. That does not, of course, include costs for trains/petrol, food, etc. They
also add a £5 charge if you want to have the video of your experience to keep.
2.
It’s very high. Yes, I know you know this logically,
but it won’t really hit you until you’re up there. So if you have a
debilitating fear of heights it may not be for you. I, of course, ignored this
and did it anyway. ;)
3.
It is awesome – factoid. More people have
climbed Mount Everest than have done a Wing-Walk. You should definitely do
this!
Here is the website to go to
if you want to try this out:
And here is me doing it!
Happy watching!
Flatt7
