It's Red, It's a Classic, It's a Stearman

**Gary Williams** · #1 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 01:08 AM

Apologies for putting this non Alfa in this thread, but the pictures are worth a look. We live next to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, on the Olympic Pensinsula west of Seattle.

On Saturday, our neighbor took off in his red 450hp Stearman and made a lazy turn, then headed back parallel to the runway. It was flying slow and steady so my neighbor could climb onto the top wing while another neighbor flew the plane. They had a wing-walking rig on the airplane and were going out to have some fun over the Strait.

It was an absolutely stunning day, sky so clear the blue looked unreal, and the first warm air in months. Flying off shore, but still clearly in sight, the Stearman proceeded to do loops and rolls for several minutes. Why? My wing-walking friend said they just felt like playing around.

It's not often you get a wing-walker's view of things. Here are links to YouTube videos shot from both the lower and upper wings, plus stills taken from the upper wing. The YouTube clip from the tip of the lower wing is especially stunning:

YouTube - Stearman external load 2

and

YouTube - Stearman external load

.

Photo 1 shows our daring Stearman owner's feet in the thin straps that help him stay on the wing when the airplane goes vertical or upside down. Below him are the bluffs at the end of our little airstrip.

Photo 2 is looking back into the cockpit at a grinning pilot, who is probably glad he isn't having to do what he was doing in Photo 3, which was taken at a 1996 air show. Yes, he's the dude in the red suit, hanging on for dear life.

Photo 4 is an aerial view of our neighborhood. There are easier ways of getting one, but to each his own.

**soccersimon** · #2 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 02:43 AM

wtf? craziest photo ever! I'm afraid of heights! Yikes!

**Geezer** · #3 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 03:32 AM

I love watching Stearmans in flight. For my money it takes superior skill to handle one of those big birds at the speeds that they fly. Not to mention the guts it takes to be a wing walker. BRAVO for some wonderful images.

**Alex Csank** · #4 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 05:36 AM

Gary,

You bring a whole new meaning to living with dangerous neighbors!!

**Nicola** · #5 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 05:45 AM

I think Gary probably fits right in!

**nero** · #6 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 07:49 AM

Wow, i thought alfas were an expensive and crazy hobby, these guys take things to a whole new level. I get vertigo just walking up to the edge of a balcony. Lovely looking neighborhood looks like a beautiful place to live overlooking the ocean.

**Gary Williams** · #7 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nicola

I think Gary probably fits right in!

**Gary Williams** · #8 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 09:09 AM

Check out the YouTube clips. In one, he's out at the end of the lower wing looking back to the pilot. No safety wire, no toe clips.

This guy is a third generation professional flyer (No names because he's a corporate pilot for a living). His grandfather was a barnstormer and test pilot.

My neighbor got in trouble from his father for walking the wing of a biplane when he was in high school. But he says that wasn't fair because his father once got out on the wheel strut of a high-wing plane when he was up in the air by himself. Obviously, the Flying Wallenda thing runs in the family.

Putting this neighbor in a neighborhood with the guy who was flying on Saturday, a professional wing-walker and airshow pilot, is like a teacher putting her two biggest cut-ups next to each other. You just know they're going to egg each other on constantly and keep the class in stitches.

**Gary Williams** · #9 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 09:09 PM

And the wing-walking hits just keep coming! Check out Marilyn, mother of four young children, wing walking for the very first time on the upper wing of the family Stearman:

YouTube - Marilyn's first wing walking

The video is pretty tame at first, then the Stearman does a couple of loops with Marilyn still on the wing. My palms are still sweating just from watching. Glad we missed the live performance.

They were flying over Dungeness Spit, which juts out in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, here in beautiful, sunny Sequim.

**Gary Williams** · #10 (**permalink**) 06-26-2008, 07:02 PM

... with guest appearance by Lee Oman, as pilot and stunt director.

Now the Mason family is moving into movie production, as Mike produces his first YouTube short feature of his wife Marilyn's wing walking adventures. The new clip is from last week and adds new tricks and even some music appropriate to the airplane's age.

YouTube - Flips and Twirls

By the way, this is the red Stearman that Randy Quaid's character flew in Independence Day and the James Garner character flew in Sunset, with Bruce Willis as passenger.

Grant · #11 (**permalink**) 06-26-2008, 07:31 PM

The person is always tethered to the plane right? Including when she climbed onto the wing to strap in? As a pilot, do you have to account for the disturbance of the airflow over the wing with someone STANDING on it in mid-flight, or is the effect not noticeable?

**Gary Williams** · #12 (**permalink**) 06-26-2008, 11:07 PM

The first time she went up, it was with no safety cable. The second and third times, Lee rigged a thin steel cable. He's been an airshow wing walker for years. If Marilyn fell, however, the cable would cause her to hang below the airplane. Not exactly ideal for her on landing, unless she can run really, really fast.

Anything that disturbs the airflow across the wings and cockpit requires correction by the pilot, according to Lee, even leaning out to take a photo. A person walking out to the wing tip is a real test of the pilot's skill.

Did you notice how smoothly the plane flew at all times, even when looping and rolling? The guy is really good, which is why Mike lets Lee fly his Stearman.