RAF Cosford Air Show 2017: Wingwalking wonders in whirlwind show
The world’s only aerobatic formation wingwalking team added daring and glamour to Cosford Air Show in their own unique way.
The Breitling Wingwalkers were back by popular demand with their show-stopping demonstration of aerobatics.
This year has seen two new wingwalkers join the team, 23-year-olds Gina Marshall and Katie Hobbs.
Gina, of Andover, is a qualified freefly skydiver and loves the feeling of being in the sky.
She has spent numerous hours practicing for her skydiving in a wind tunnel so is used to moving in high wind speeds in all types of flying orientations which will help her climbing around the aircraft in flight. She always knew this would be the job for her when she first saw a picture of the team performing over the Palm in Dubai.
Katie, of Cirencester, is a trained florist and a keen netballer who has played in the premier league. She couldn’t wait to start her wingwalking training and travel all over the world entertaining the public.
She said: “It looked like really good fun and it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.
“It has been difficult at times. You have to build up your strength.”
She has recently come back from China where the team took part in a string of displays.
Katie added: “It was definitely an experience and good fun.
“I was really looking forward to Cosford Air Show – it is a really fun show.”
Martyn Carrington was one of the pilots at the display.
He has more than 9,000 hours of flying experience and has taken part in about 1,200 displays. He said: “It is impressive. They do acrobatics and gymnastics while we are doing aerobatics such as loops and rolls.”
The pilot flying the second plane was David Barrell who completed his pilots licence at Cambridge Aeroclub in 1995 and immediately wanted to fly wingwalking aircraft after seeing the AeroSuperBatics team perform.
The team, operated by AeroSuperBatics, have been conducting flying displays for more than 30 years, performing at more than 2,500 different events.
The wingwalking girls perform a sequence of manoeuvres and handstands whilst strapped to the top wings of the team’s Boeing Stearman biplanes.
