Plane Crash Stopped by Mechanic

[@wfemp_4730]

The lady was Gladys Ingle of the 13 Black Cats. The fourth woman to earn a pilot license (according to Wiki).

[@Mamaki1987]

Ohhhh, thank you for the information. I first thought that this is Bessie Coleman.

[@sailorstu]

Very interesting, With all the camera angles I am guessing it was staged. Even so, that was some amazing flying and one Brave woman.

[@mjb9176]

Defines bravery.

[@satoshimanabe2493]

Makes sense that she's a pilot. She was very careful of her weight shift going from the first plane to the second. Takes someone who actually understands how a plane flies to do this "safely."

[@KerbalSpacey]

even if it's staged it still happened without any less danger than if it weren't @@sailorstu

Great stuff! Two points of not much significance: 1) She was not wearing a parachute. 2) I actually met her. She was a friend of my grandmother. GI visited grandma in Tujunga, CA and a few times I was there when she came by.

[@TruckingToPlease]

Gladys Ingle was the female pilot/ wing walker that changed out this tire. She was a member of the 13 Black Cats stunt team. Also, she was the 4th woman in America to certify as an aviator.

[@Rosarium2007]

Thank you.

[@yuglesstube]

That's teriffic. Thanks for the information!

[@28mayhem]

What a boss.

[@pozzee2809]

She was Amazing

[@ianhelyar6383]

Yeah, I was thinking that was a woman...

[@bobbyadams7502]

My Dad used to own and fly a Tiger Moth.. it is owned by an aircraft museum now.. I got to fly in it just after he passed away in 2007 .. it was an honour and a privilege.. the most elegant aircraft ever .. R.I.P. Dad 💜🙏🏼

[@uqyfabew]

Hi there , as a youngster in the then Rhodesia I was a learner glider pilot in a town called Bindura at the Bindura Gliding Club and our tow plane was a Tiger Moth , I flew in that more than a few times with our Tow Pilot Ray Smith and was lucky to do some aerobatics with him in that plane ... amazing times ...

[@unclerojelio6320]

Gladys performed this stunt regularly as part of a show in the 1920s and 30s. It’s a pretty good bet that the other pilots in this stunt group were WWI veterans with thousands of hours of flight time.

[@dfeuer]

That stunt person was also *really* gentle about shifting weight from one plane to the other. That took loads of skill on top of everything else they were dealing with.

[@bobblaine1437]

Yeah, I think there was a special move that she did with her left leg to keep the plane's wings from banging together until her weight was totally on the second plane.

[@pchantreau]

Agreed. It looks like she is sort of tying the 2 planes together while at the same time operating a smooth and progressive weight transfer. I am thinking that back when wing walking was a thing, they had perfected the techniques for these kind of stunts.

[@olenilsen4660]

@@bobblaine1437 planes´

[@jamiesuejeffery]

The old time wingwalkers were absolutely insane.

[@oddshot60]

Don't mention that to Tom Cruise. He'll want to do it on a Tomcat.

[@ailivac]

Kinda makes fighter pilots doing probe-and-drogue refueling look like amateurs

[@Justwantahover]

No safety standards back then. They made the Empire State building with no harnesses. I wonder how many workers fell hundreds of feet to their death.

[@janemiettinen5176]

For sure. Still, some weird part of me misses all the craziness from pioneering days, when people tried to figure out where the limits are. I dont mean the lack of safety aspect, but the inventiveness and just pure curiosity.

[@JonathonBarton]

Eh... The maximum speed of the JN4D Jenny (as pictured) was only 75 mph under ideal conditions (and having a big 'ol draggy person standing on your wing is far from ideal). Moving around on the wing or attaching the wheel isn't _too_ much more difficult than doing the same in the back of a pickup truck (which isn't _that_ difficult - the big difference is that the consequences for, say, dropping the wheel, are a lot more significant.

[@JO-xt3om]

Awesome film! My mother was a "great stick and rudder" pilot, working for an FBO as a commercial pilot, taught by a WW2 pilot. She soloed in 1963, and I found out from the local newspaper! My first flight was in the luggage compartment of a Cessna 150...lol...

[@Zamiroh]

Hi Kelsey, I hope all is well. I just wanted to let you know I have appreciated your content over the last 12 months. I know last year you let us know it was a struggle pushing content, in addition to your job. I hope all is okay on that end, but I certainly wanted to take a moment and thank you for producing the content you do. It is much appreciated!

[@Xsiondu]

Yeah what they said. I appreciate you also.

[@grant6173]

I didn't know that. Thanks. Good stuff.

[@ac9110]

I love the way she just stood coming into land. No crouching or anything. Total trust in the ability of the pilot.

[@kevin_6217]

She's holding on to the flying wires.

[@tomr3422]

"we are out of snacks sir" Kelsy - "get me a sack and pull up next to that plane, Im going out on the wing"

[@bryana7163]

No snacks! Pull the ejection seat!

[@utubehanna]

Kelsey! The graphics in the video are top-notch! Not just the quality of the work, but the thought that went into their creation and placement was just so well done! I am so impressed- have been watching you for a long time and always pretty well understood the things you were describing, but this makes everything so clear now. Glad to see the channel continuing to improve …

[@coffeeshangarworkshop8051]

AAA used to provide the very best service! And let's not gloss over the fact that the Stunt Mechanic was a Woman with balls of Steel.

[@larrybe2900]

No parachute and not even a rope to somehow tie off with. There was no backup protection. Perhaps that concept had not evolved back then.

[@jort93z]

Surprised the planes could carry balls this heavy. lmao.

[@hueginvieny7959]

I think you would say lips of steel

[@bobd2659]

"Airside" assistance is the higher tier of their roadside assistance plan!

[@AccidentallyOnPurpose]

@@larrybe2900Tbh most mechanics on their regular jobs forgo safety measures, that is why so many injuries happen, it checks out.

[@wayneroyal3137]

What you said is true, imagine being a person that has lived long enough to see the evolution of flight. It is hard to fathom that it’s only 100 years. Great footage

[@shable1436]

Biplanes are designed different so the center of gravity has more stability in counter balance. I remember growing up and flying in my dad's Waco cabin series biplane, that old thing was a beast, and yet agile, and the stability was mind blowing especially for the years they built them

[@shadowprince4482]

Yeah the reason biplanes got phased out was because of lighter materials so the extra wing wasn't needed. Biplanes are generally really heavy so it's likely this very petite woman wouldn't move the wings very much.

[@sailorstu]

I was wondering about that. I remember seeing one at an airshow with a landing gear mounted on the top. The pilot landed upside down, parked it and walked away. I wonder how he got back in.

[@eltonwiltshire6904]

@@sailorstu He probably would have called the mechanic woman

[@dr.threatening8622]

Yeah was gonna chime in that a biplane has superior roll stability.

[@dimitri1515]

@@sailorstu My thoughts too. The two wings increase stability making them less susceptible to dipping.

[@hhtrichard]

Back in the 80's, I was a ground controller at RAF Wildernrath, and we needed to jump-start a C130 from another. We pulled the dead C130 out behind a fully serviceable aircraft. Unhooked and watched while the front pilot gave it full beans meanwhile, the rear windmilled until they had enough speed to fire the turbine. Worked a treat, they both taxied down for a close pair take off back to the UK.

[@CanopyFlyer150]

As a skydiver, I've climbed all over the wings and fuselage of various airplanes... For fun. Of course, I had a fully functional and checked sport skydiving rig on my back the whole time and I never landed with the airplane. What this person did, putting a tire on a plane in flight is well beyond anything I can do.

[@jamesogden7756]

Jumped a few times.... the tools need to do this on a modern aircraft???? Yeah. No. 😂😂

[@crissd8283]

Yes, she had a lot of practice. I think she transfered between aircraft at least 300 times in her wing walking career. The Black Cats performed this exact stunt at dozens of air shows across the country. Well rehearsed and practiced. Wish I could have seen it.

[@murdo_mck]

@@crissd8283 So it was a planned stunt, they had a setup to jettison the wheel?

[@crissd8283]

@@murdo_mck Yes, the original wheel was designed to fall off for the show.

[@The_ZeroLine]

Have you ever sky dived directly into intercourse?

[@janicewawrykow6114]

Love that you make time to post regularly, My family farm was 5miles at the end of an operational runway training pilots then it became the race track the Gimli Glider "landed" on. I saw it (empty) after work. My brother flies a biplane ,he's certified on multiple engines as a mechanic/ engineer . We are truly addicted :) And i love your channel and this stunt ,& woman, is just mind blowing . So glad you chose it .

[@kyleknight9686]

Pilots: "How brave are you?" Lady Mechanic: "Yes."

[@TimHayward]

"All of it"

[@ccrider3435]

Mechanic: "Can you even change a tire?" 🙄

[@NikolaiUA]

Was that actually a female? 🤔

[@crissd8283]

​​@@NikolaiUAYes, she is a female. She is part of the Black Cats that did this stunt dozens if not hundreds of times. The original tire intentionally fell off and they rehearse having her wing walk over and install the tire. It was all part of the airshow they put on. She was an amazing wing walker.

[@andrewdalgarno5322]

Pilot: How confident are you that the wheel will stay on? Mechanic: I will stand on the wing, behind the wheel, as you land.

[@davidhood6967]

My grandfather flew for united. He retired as a 747 captain in 1995. I think he mostly flew 747 100 and 200 series crafts. I talked to him a couple years ago about his experience learning to fly in the Navy in the 60s and then working as a pilot. I got the impression that loading any kind of autopilot on to those airplanes was pretty complex because he said he really just preferred to fly by hand, especially if it was a short flight. He flew all around, but said he particularly used to like to fly to Japan and Seoul.

[@jackielinde7568]

Kelsey, I can answer one thing question you posed about the wing-walking stunt to put a wheel back on a plane. In the days of the biplanes, there were aerobatics circuses that used to travel around the country. And with barn storming and other stunt flying, you'd see wing walkers. These were usually young ladies who'd climb out on the lower wings and do crazy things while the plane was flying. So it was a common enough thing that, yeah, the pilot probably had lots of hours practicing. I don't know how much they practiced for this film, but it would be something everyone involved would have had time under their belt doing.

[@Catpanl]

The fact that it’s on video is why this is clearly a stunt. You know that cameras back then weren’t just on every airplane. It’s a stunt not a real mechanical problem.

[@flysport_tedder]

@@Catpanl yeah, video and four planes in formation.

[@GigsTaggart]

@@flysport_tedder not just video. film. film wasn't cheap. these days we forget that it used to cost hundreds of dollars per minute, inflation adjusted to make moving pictures

[@TonboIV]

@@GigsTaggart And the cameras were large, heavy, highly specialized devices that only specialists could operate.

[@tomd.43]

I figured it was a stunt when she did not climb into the rear cockpit prior to landing and just stood on the wing.

[@azcardguy7825]

What’s really amazing about aviation is how little it’s changed in the last 50 years…. It’s actually sad. I love flying and hope we start to see more innovation and get back to the days where people were excited to fly.

[@garrnk]

Hasn't changed in 50 years? We went from bi planes that only fly for a min or two to massive jets holding 300+ passengers that can fly anywhere in the world not to mention drones and stealth technology autoflight ect only in 120 years

[@rhymeswithorange6092]

Airshows were different back then. These pilots would have been very experienced with people getting on/off the wing and moving around on it. Looking at these planes, It's strikes me how fast airplane technology advanced. Charles Lindberg lived to seem men on the moon, and 747s flying. A decade after the Wright brothers' first flight, the first bomber was built. 11 years after the first flight, the first scheduled airline was founded. About 15 years after the US started airmail service, and at about 35 years, the first jet was built. Crazy pace.

[@darksu6947]

Aliens bro 👽

[@jackspringheel9963]

The first powered flight was shorter than the wingspan of a 747

[@Dave_McKansas]

Barn Stormers and Wing Walkers. That was a stunt. I've seen a Sopwith Camel fly backwards in a head wind. The bi-plane, if light enough, could be landing at 20mph. Applause for the woman. She was great.

[@sanandaallsgood673]

The plane spotter, Jerry, is very animated during his streaming most of the time, and there are many things that 'are crazy' to him. He's fun to listen to. lol

[@suegardner]

BOSH! 😂🎉

[@maryeckel9682]

"Steady there lad!" I can only handle about 15 minutes of Jerry at a time; he's a little too loud for me. But he is enthusiastic!

[@mikoto7693]

I remember that clip. I watched it live. And while Jerry is a bit excitable we all knew how unusual it was in chat. We were a little concerned about the Malaysian aircraft. We wondered if the jetblast could introduce FOD, heat or damage to the wings or flaps. We were happy to see it takeoff safely a few minutes later.

[@edwardcoe7293]

@@maryeckel9682 Yeah, small doses. "Eaaasy" - could do with some presenting training!

[@robh8814]

Fun to one person is a pain in the arse to others. Ever since Flight Focus 365 was launched less than a yr ago & they get nearly a million more views every 30 days than BS TV. It have shown there is a large Audience for people who just want to watch planes & not listen too someone having a private Conversation with Gilly while Bulls***ing his way through 4 hours & still not figuring out why he gets all those "Focussing issues" 6 years on.

[@jameslederer6465]

You can watch the ailerons deflect and adjust on the upper plane when the stuntwoman steps from one wing to the other. It was just good, practiced piloting that kept the wings level.

[@petermiddo]

A friend of mine recently retired from flying A320s out of Hong Kong and was telling me about getting his private pilots licence. I laughed at him and questioned why. He just looked at me and told me that there is 'more stick and rudder' with the small planes. I thought back then it was a weird phrase. Now I know. (My mate is now having a ball flying gliders of all things and is learning more about thermals and updrafts, all the stuff he avoided during his commercial piloting.)

[@martinwade9421]

One of the pilots at our microlight (Light-Sport) club turned up with his son-in-law a few weeks ago.The son-in-law was a 747 jockey.He was persuaded to fly a few circuits from the right seat. He flew the circuits ok, managed trim & flaps but couldn't (or wouldn't) land.

[@Magravated]

I've seen bi-planes and tri-planes do amazing things. I believe it was Sean Tucker who once "walked" a tri-plane nearly vertically from one end of the runway to the other. He would pick it up with that massive engine and put the tail down, nearly touching, before pulling it up and doing it repeatedly until he passed the whole grandstand in Reno. The plane acted like it was built to do that. They are amazingly stable and the fact that the man stood on the wing to land, even though there was a perfectly empty seat behind him, says a lot about how amazing they are.

[@MaxiTB]

Yeah, that video was made by professional stunt performances, both the "mechanic" and the pilots. That's the reason why you don't see the weight affecting the wings a lot, they did dozens of try runs before they filmed the stunt ;-) Sadly I lost the source, but I read an whole article about this one including the name of the stunt performer and interview with the pilot just a few years back. Maybe someone can dig it up 🙂

[@maifantasia3650]

@wfemp_4730 41 minutes ago The lady was Gladys Ingle of the 13 Black Cats. The fourth woman to earn a pilot license (according to Wiki).

[@TheAtheist22]

You wanna keep your skills sharp Kelsey? Keep flying general aviation planes in your free time. And do a basic aerobatics course too. Love your channel.

[@Kjtravels40]

Good morning Kelsey! Thanks for the mini physics lesson with the first video. That was wild. And they changed the tire so effortlessly.

[@grahamcrabb7714]

Heya Kelsey, the plane spotter you refer to in your 2nd clip is a UK You Tuber who live streams aviation and is a regular observer at Heathrow. His name is Jerry and his channel is "BigJetTv" and has a huge following. I was watching his channel yesterday (10 Dec 23) and at midday to 1pm local time he had around 6000 viewers and while live streaming there were 2 separate emergency incidents that happened at Heathrow on 27R. His knowledge of aviation is great as are his followers and he makes the stream enjoyable to watch with his 1 liner quirky comments like "Go on Son, get it down". Do check him out, but the clip you've highlighted is a few months old I think. I love the way you explain things too and wish you well with your content which I do enjoy watching too (and yes I've hit the like and subscribe too!😉). Keep smiling and the blue side up 👍🏼

[@Pooneil1984]

BIG JET TV has some fun content and part of that is Jerry is very excitable. Often over playing the drama of a situation

[@grahamcrabb7714]

@@Pooneil1984 absolutely agree with you on that one 👍🏼👍🏼 He's a great guy with sense of humour for good measure. Well worth the watch.😉

[@nightrock4713]

Enjoyable clearly wouldn’t be the word I’d use to describe this guy 😅

[@hsbvt]

"Rosie the riveter...the early years. " I love the history aviation videos!

[@mita6010]

That was no ordinary plane spotter, that’s Big Jet TV, one of the best on KZbin. I’m continually impressed by your videos. Thank you for keeping us thoroughly informed and entertained.

[@mikoto7693]

Yes, I was introduced to aviation by BigJet TV.

[@chrisjfinlay]

You misspelled "one of the most annoying and doesn't know when to shut up and let us focus on the actual planes" Seriously. He just yells all the time.

[@mikoto7693]

@@chrisjfinlay Different tastes I guess. I find him quite entertaining.

[@Deltarious]

Think others have caught it but I also want to add that the wing walker video really was a deliberate stunt, they did this on purpose, it was not responding to an accident or someone 'happening' to loose a wheel. Think about how many camera angles there are and how hard those were to set up at that point in history. This was something that was rehearsed and practised, and the woman doing it, Gladys Ingle, was one of the most legendary wing walkers of all time This was a performance, and a damn good one, even if it's kind of insane, but it was still something that they planned for and which they did as an act so it was a very controlled set of circumstances

[@AlexIsModded]

Omg, the feeling of riding on the wing of a biplane must've been amazing. Go Gladys! I can't believe I've never seen this before! As I understand it, lift passes dead center between biplane wings. The center of gravity would also have to be dead center between the two wings, not on one wing more than the other. That would explain why she's on her knees, and crawling along the very edge, and only standing close to the cabin. She's staying below the center of gravity, or staying below where the lift current is strongest. She's not interrupting lift, so the plane stays in the air and remains level. Maybe the pilot had to adjust slightly for her weight too, but I'm not sure on that.

[@glennchartrand5411]

A professional wing walker knows how to use their body to help control the aircraft She used the turbulence from her body to slowly reduce the lift on the other planes wing, giving the other pilot time to react, then when she grabbed the spar she manually held the wings in position until she very slowly transferred her weight. And when they landed , she leaned her body forward like an Olympic ski jumper to help provide some lift. If you rewatch the video you'll see that at one point she is the "lead pilot" of both aircraft for a few seconds.

[@regularguy3665]

So in effect she’s being like a racing sidecar passenger - interesting side note: search IOM TT sidecar

[@sheilam4964]

@glennchartrand5411 - thanks for explaining in detail how the wing-walker, 13 Black Cat Pilot, Gladys Ingle was able to do this feat by what she could control with her body, aiding in accomplishing this safely for both planes, both pilots and herself.

[@glennchartrand5411]

@@regularguy3665 Another good analogy is she's doing the same things a sky diver does . She's the one maneuvering the wing she is on and she also uses the turbulence from her body to maneuver the other wing down to her. It's THREE pilots working together.

[@kiknchiknstudios8901]

You and your channel really helped me with my anxiety of flying. Such professionalism and expertise is apparent in your videos when you talk about flying.

[@teddymartinii1979]

BTW, bi-planes are amazingly controllable planes. I've photographed bi-plane stunt pilots in the past, and they can do incredible things. I photographed while a guy stalled the plane, did a freefall for hundreds of feet, and recover like it was no big deal. The pilot told me it is because of the ratio of wing surface area to weight of the plane.

[@safa4786]

Her transference of weight is meticulous. Hence very little movement of the roll axis of each aircraft. She's a real pro.

[@etrimbleable]

Another interesting, informative video. I always look forward to seeing your analysis of all types of flight. Thanks Kelsey. KTBSU

[@3040-f9g]

A few years ago, I had a 'flight experience' day in a Tiger Moth. One thing that really stood out was the effect of wind and difficulty of keeping level flight with constant adjustment. It was real seat of the pants stuff.

[@Ulrich.Bierwisch]

After WWI a lot of the pilots used old warplanes and did stunt shows. They had to increase the risk and do more dangerous stunts to keep attention up. Walking the wing and switching planes was part of this. This was of course a prepared and well trained situation, staged for the cameras but it was still extreme dangerous. "The Great Waldo Pepper" is a movie with Robert Redford about this time. Today we have people take such risks for TikTok or Red Bull advertising. People who fly wing-suits close to mountains or thru holes and such.

[@markg.4246]

Sounds like TV Evangelism. "Increase the crazy", to keep "attention up".

[@adskluczinsky5979]

Not only is "The Great Waldo Pepper" a film about the barnstorming era - the aerial stunts in it, including air-to-air transfer, crashes, etc were all done live (just like this old film) and without 'modern' safety equipment (e.g. parachutes, ...) and many of the stunts were also done by the main cast. Well worth a watch.

[@SBCBears]

@@markg.4246 You don't even need look that far. Ordinary TV "news" and weather will show you enough drummed up emotion to see or experience for a lifetime.

[@wolf310ii]

Only that the stuff on TikTok arent well prepared and trained situations, thats more like "I have very stupid idea, start recording"

[@StoneysWorkshop]

RIP KingOfRandom

[@jimhenderson387]

Holy moly, my fear of heights was in full panic mode while watching the first video! I just cannot understand how some people can do that kind of thing. And no safety equipment that I could see!

[@Jigsaw407]

Obviously a planned stunt. They didn't have GoPros lying around to just willy nilly mount to aircraft with the perfect angle. And they obviously planned and trained for the weight shift during the transfer, compensating it perfectly timed. Nonetheless: what a bad ass move by a brave woman. Excellent pilotage too.

[@trespire]

Now that's a real air borne mechanic ! Gladys Ingle was one heck of an aviator. I was a structural technician in the Air Force. In class we used to joke around who would get to be an "in flight" structural technician.

[@richardbudd5334]

"Just mechanics doing mechanic stuff." Signed A Mechanic

[@throbbinwoodofcoxley6830]

Sure bud.

[@Catpanl]

“Stunt woman”

[@crissd8283]

Ya, she was a wing walker and made her living performing stunts for crowds. She performed this exact same stunt dozens of times across the country. Wish I could have seen it.

[@razbitom]

wing walkers were a different breed of human. they always fascinated me as a kid... and in this case, they still do. she's an absolute champion.

[@UnshavenStatue]

My thought is that such a line up is at least a bit dangerous. "Sandblasted" is fairly accurate imo, there's considerable risk of damaging some of the smaller stuff on the MY A350, for instance all the data probes exposed to the air etc, could take a grain of sand or other FOD by sheer dumb luck and get themselves into trouble. Also damaging the paint is possible, which would cost a lot of money to fix (if not causing danger as such). I imagine maintenance and execs were both very displeased to see that footage

[@ImperrfectStranger]

I can just imagine if there had been a change in wind direction and the runway had just opened up. There may have been maintenance vehicles depositing debris on the runway. However, on a regularly used runway at Heathrow, I doubt there would be much sand and a single grain of sand probably wouldn't affect the pitot/static system. Pitot/static sensors usually have places to catch water and other small contaminants, if they hadn't already fallen through the drain holes in the probes themselves. I don't think the passengers would be happy though, with the buffeting and also with the jet fumes being sucked into the cabin.

[@suesmith5746]

I expect they were practising at the time and filming so they could send out a bit of footage with information on when the air show would be in such and such a town The movie theater would love to run promos with good footage. Usually they just had a static billboard type ad saying buy bleach x for cleaner whiter clothes. In the old days they did not run previews, they ran ads before the movie. I think whoever put the wheel on that fell off was unhappy, but the execs were thrilled.

[@Dirk-van-den-Berg]

I was thinking that the heat from the engineblast could damage the cockpitwindows, like melting glue or composites.

[@Ganiscol]

​@@Dirk-van-den-Berg at that distance, there would be no heat worth mentioning. Even at half the distance. Most of the air volume coming out of the engine ist cold air mixed into the exhaust of the combustion stage anyway.

[@ImperrfectStranger]

@@Dirk-van-den-Berg With high bypass engines, you have a lot of cold air coming from the "fan" mixing with the heat from the engine core. I doubt there would be much heat at that range. Even on an older GE CF6-powered aircraft you have a cold/hot mix of 5 :1

[@codyking4848]

This is not a mechanic heroically preventing a crash, this is Gladys Ingle, a stuntwoman. Part of her show was a wheel would conveniently fall off of an airplane, and she would make a big show of changing the wheel. Doesn't take away from the badassery of it, but it is a completely planned and practiced stunt.

[@debrabaker1009]

I had to watch this first part of the video 2 times so I could watch your face, Kelsey, and the other to watch what was going on on the plane😂 obviously I love the expressions on your face❤

[@karljamieson8573]

Kelsey! You've gotta fly a biplane! They're so slow and you're out there with the air. It's such a different experience to a jet. Go get tailwheel in a biplane! Also, when aircraft were new, we didn't have beautiful grooved tarmac runways back then, pilots would land in a field, in the town's oval etc. So they always landed into wind, no crosswind at all. This means two things - back in the day a greaser was easier, but these days biplanes are quite often terrible at handling even 10kts cross, which is why they ground loop. But seriously, go fly a biplane. A Tiger Moth or seeing as you're a Boeing guy then grab a Stearman.

[@kelsthemod]

Always enjoy your videos! From a fellow Kelsey, with far less aviation skills.

[@gzk6nk]

This was a deliberate airshow stunt. The aeroplane that 'lost' a wheel was done by the pilot getting airborne then pulling a string that released the wheel retaining pin and allowing the wheel to come off just after take off, thus setting up the stunt. This was a 'Barnstormer' stunt. These guys learned their stick & rudder skills in WW1 and post war bought cheap ex-air force biplanes to go barnstorming with. The lady was quite light, and though she was on the end of the wing - so is the aileron. Skilful use of ailerons by both pilots enabled her to transfer from one aeroplane to the other without inducing much disturbance in roll of either machine. As a pretty experienced tailwheel and aerobatic stick & rudder pilot I think I could do either pilot's job there. I could never in a million years do that lady's job! Respect!

[@BethanyAitch]

I got a ride in a WWII biplane a number of years ago, and the pilot (who was an Air Canada pilot that did this for fun) let me take the stick for a minute or two (I’m 100% sure his hand was a millimetre away at all times haha). The thing felt super responsive and turned on a dime. We flew around a hilly escarpment area in the fall and it was slow and gorgeous. I’ll never forget it. Thankfully, we landed with all the parts we took off with.

[@dewiz9596]

At Rockcliffe?

[@BethanyAitch]

@@dewiz9596 No, Edenvale. :)

[@mrthingy9072]

You mention how much aviation has changed in 100 years, I think back to my maternal grandmother who was born in the late 1800s and lived long enough to see Neil Armstrong walk on the Moon. There weren't television sets when she was a child, and all the technology changes she saw as time went by, I often wonder just what she honestly thought about it. Her watching Neil Armstrong walk on the Moon, on her television set... and that was all just fantasy when she was a child.

[@737captain4]

Bravo! 👏 👏 Courageous lady

[@phyphor]

Just catching up with this video after watching your most recent one and I wanted to congratulate you on getting your fourth stripe. Congratulations, Captain!

[@CAPTAIN_JERRY05]

Congrats on being upped to captain 🎉🎉🎉🎉 super proud of you man!!!!

[@Pointlesschan]

Did I miss something? He’s not wearing captains stripes (4)….first officers wear 3 stripes and that’s what he wears

[@CAPTAIN_JERRY05]

@@Pointlesschan I just know people man that’s why he hasn’t uploaded in a while

[@davimatt7301]

I think it’s pretty obvious the concern wasn’t that the A350 would be flipped over. The concern with being lined up that close to a departing jet would be FOD, and I think that’s a totally valid concern in this particular instance.

[@iknklst]

Kelsey some of those barnstormers who flew their air shows from one town to the other had thousands of hours of airtime, if not more. Many were former WWI pilots who still loved flying and made a living doing air hsows. Those Jennys they flew in that vvideo were surplus trainers and the government sold them off for a dime on the dollar. They were no longer needed and obsolete, cheap to maintain and easy to fly. Many were sold the military pilots who flew them. My maternal grandfather was one of those guys, not a pilot but a mechanic for the famed 94th Aero Squadron in WWI (Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker's squadron) and made a living for a while with a flying circus until the Great Depression. I have a picture taken of my grandparents with my mother being held by Capt. Rickenbacker when he was one of his visits to Cleveland for the National Air Races. it was taken in 1934 if I remember correctly when she was five years old.

[@maryeckel9682]

What a cool family story!

[@bob1505]

Well I knew they were surplus Jennys.. Jimmy Stewart told me. In case the joke needs explaining see "The Spirit of Saint Louis" (1957). I could be wrong but it is my recollection near the beginning of the film Stewart as Charles Lindburg purchased a surplus Jenny.

[@spacemanmat]

It looks like she actually slowly transfers her weight over a few seconds giving the pilot a chance to adjust. As she puts her full weight the pilot over corrects and the plane banks. They’ve definitely practiced this many times.

[@Bmx807CA]

I am pretty sure her name is Gladys Ingle.

[@hsbvt]

Yes! She lived to 82 years! She was a member of the 13 Black Cats areal stunt team!

[@LeifNelandDk]

I know you are only a pilot, not a mechanic, but it's not a tyre, it's a complete wheel. Changing a tire midair would have been really impressive

[@suesmith5746]

Kelsy you are correct in your physics and comments, except you are too young to remember barnstommers who flew in a group of 4-6 planes and put on stunt bi wing air shows in the 30's and 40's full time for a living. They went from town to town, It was like going to the circus, the high wire acts and trapese were unbelievable. My grandfather became a pilot in the late 1920's. In the early 1950's he took me to one of the last old time air shows, in Chicago. I was 8 or 9 yrs old but I remember, They had a plane with 6 girls 3 near the cockpit on each side when it took off they were trained acrobats. then all 6 of them were at the outer end of lower wing. Their show ended with all 6 of the girls in the center of top wing and side by side with each one with an arm around the next girl, they then did a dance where you all together stand on one leg and swing the other straight out and then switch legs. The other act I remember most is they had 5 planes side by side and a guy in end plane got out of second seat and walked all the way across all 5 planes. When I asked gramps if he could do that he said no. He had a modern plane with single wings made out of metal. The old planes were wood and for a stunt plane it had extra wood in certain places where the circus people would do their tricks, then the wings were covered in a special strong cloth that did not strech and for trick planes they put sand or something in the paint so it was not slippery and the circus people had special rubber on their shoe or boot bottoms. He then said but the bi-wing planes could fly very very slow which new ones could not. He then let me turn the ingition on and he spun the prop by hand to start it and he took me for a ride to look down at all of Chicago, in his modern 1952 whatever. I think the reason these planes could maneuver like that is the double amount of wing surface and they were usually flying less than 30mph. Thank you for the memories.

[@seeratlasdtyria4584]

By the way, I was on a MEA 737 flying from Rome into Beirut the day the Lebanese Civil War blew up into a full on shooting war. As we began to land on the runway, the Druze Militia began firing what I think were 105 Howlitzer rounds from their vantage point on the adjacent mountain side. Only seconds after we touched down they scored a hit in front of the plane and the starboard gear was ripped off. In an incredible display of skill, our pilot crabbed a bit into the prevailing wind keeping what was left of the gear, from impacting and digging into the runway: at the last moment, with the ground speed about to run out, he dropped the wing, the gear stub spiked into the runway, and we spun around as if he had 'dropped anchor' and came to full rest. We were immediately surrounded and evacuated from the plane and escorted by armed members of the Christian faction to a waiting protective wired enclosure, while I, and others , awaited the arrival of an emergency replacement (also a 737) to continue on to Amman, Jordan. One hell of a pilot, is all I have to say (I was also a pilot). Two humorous stories- while in the enclosure I was approached by a 7 or 8 year old boy who wanted to sell me a brick of Hashish:), AND, talk about a small world, my name, which NO one on the plane knew, was suddenly called out by a voice I knew but which I couldn't immediately place. As I scanned the area, I spied a young Christian Militia Major waving vigorously at me from the outside of the enclosure. Upon seeing his face, I immediately smiled and waved back, followed his motions towards the exit, and embraced him warmly as we had both taken the same Airborne training class at Ft. Bragg some years before:) This was some 50 years ago and , "Life's inexplicable coincidences" have never ceased to amaze me.)

[@amadeuss3341]

That's amazing that only 100 years ago , those planes were cutting edge progress. Today, people complain that the seat doesn't go back enough.

[@lsswappedcessna]

That's the downside of having the general public involved in anything at all. They don't understand (because they choose not to) just how much goes into building a plane and how much goes into making sure it's fit for passenger services. The seat not going back enough is also a, possibly intentional but probably unintentional, way that the engineers force people to be a bit considerate to the person behind them.

[@Cantav]

Hi Kelsey. The person you referred to as a 'plane spotter' in your video, is none other than our very own, in the UK, Jerry Dwyer. He has his own channel called Bigjet TV which is subscribed to by 378k people. Jerry can be knowledgeable and also talk utter crap but I find him entertaining and his heart is in the right place.

[@GrouchierThanThou]

To me it looked like that guy wasn't just stepping from one plane to the other at once. Instead he was gradually moving his weight from one plane to the other first by pulling himself up with his arms and later by pushing himself up with his knee. I think that helped a lot for the pilots to keep their wings level.

[@rl7012]

*She, *her, It was a lady doing the stunt.

[@rickkieffer5028]

Watch how she transferred her weight from one to another wing. That talent helped those pilots make the smooth weight transfer. Still, that was a couple of pilots that are smooth.

[@hamburgerjung3505]

My concern would not be that my A350 would be tipped over by the A320. My concern and why I find this "strange behavior" from the Malaysian crew is possible FOD that could be thrown towards my aircraft

[@ahooogerhuis]

Came here to write exactly this. The fod shower behind the BA spooling up would be my main concern.

[@markgallagher1376]

How much FOD could there really be with plane after plane taking off?

[@ahooogerhuis]

@@markgallagher1376 You don't need a lot, remember that velocity of the FOD could be significant, and in managing risk that is a question you don't want to test out sitting on the start of a 10+ hour flight. Leave that to either engineers, or better yet, a YT comment stream.

[@hamburgerjung3505]

@@markgallagher1376 Probably a very low risk unless the previous aircraft lost a part or threw FOD onto the runway during takeoff. But there is no reason to take this risk.

[@markgallagher1376]

@@ahooogerhuis don’t judge. You are also part of the YT comment stream.

[@jcmount1305]

Crazy part, she remained standing during landing. Plane to plane transfers were common for the barnstormers. This wasn't the first transfer for either pilot, they were ready for and adjusted for the weight transfer.

[@Sadlander2]

Hey Kelsey, I was wondering... I assume that you watch a lot of videos. When you're in the air with another pilot, are you like _"Hey, have you seen that video...?"_ and, the pilots that know you, are they expecting you to tell them about some video you saw?

[@KantiDono]

Notice when transferring wings she doesn't lift herself up right away. She keeps one foot on the original aircraft for a few seconds. This is to let the new plane lift her, rather than transferring her weight onto it all at once.

[@danschultz4870]

I remember when they would pump your gas and wash your windows. Service was just so much better back in the day,

[@tookitogo]

Well for a long time you had the choice of self-service or full-service, and the market clearly spoke since most people chose to save the 20 cents per gallon and pump it themselves. The main reason why full-service used to be common was because back in the days, oil needed to be changed more often, and often topped up. So the full service included checking the oil, since that was critical vehicle monitoring. As cars and oil filters got better, the need to check oil frequently disappeared.

[@maifantasia3650]

In Thailand, due to safety regulations, they "pump the gas" at every filling station.

[@tookitogo]

@@maifantasia3650 That’s how it was in a handful of US states until very recently. When I was at university, I remember us all (lovingly) making fun of our fellow student from New Jersey, because he didn’t know how to pump gas! (Since New Jersey was one of those states that mandated full service.)

[@barrymerrill6282]

You thought how funny it is watching the biplane and then getting into the 767.....It's amazing to me that it was only 78 years from the Wright Brothers flight to the 1st space shuttle, AND we had already been to the moon 12 years before that!

[@Bacon-Robloxian]

Boeing 747 forever

[@azcardguy7825]

These are clearly stunt performers but it doesn’t change how impressive it is… and how much trust these guys must have had in each other. If he drops that tire that pilot is SCREWED LOL

[@michaelchartres]

I love the way you say "Keep the Blue side UP." During WW2 our fighters were painted BLUE under the wings and fuselage therefore "Keep the BLUE side up" would have meant flying inverted (UPSIDE DOWN!!!!)

[@alandaters8547]

Definitely a performer first and "mechanic" second. Yes the airmanship is great. Not only did each pilot compensate for any change in the bank angle as the weight was transferred, they also would have dealt with the tendency of YAW changes as the significant drag of the person near the wingtip was transferred from one plane to the other. As you said, stick AND rudder skills were needed!

[@lsswappedcessna]

The stunt performer was also a pilot, so she more than likely understood what the pilots in that stunt had to do and what to do herself so everything goes smoothly.

[@maxsmodels]

That was a well-rehearsed stunt by Gladys Ingle, the only female member of the 13 Black Cats. She lived to age 82.

[@danielmartins1367]

When you rely upon safety measures, instincts are lost.

[@joeshepard]

My grandmother was alive for both the Wright brother’s first flight and men landing on the Moon. Also the Wright Brother’s first flight was shorter than the wingspan of a 747. So much in so little time. Crazy

[@nikiTricoteuse]

Whether it's staged or not isn't going to switch off gravity! Incredibly skilled flying and an unbelievably brave woman. I get the collywobbles at the top of a ladder!

[@12345directioner]

My Dad was an Air Force Pilot and flew the F4D in Vietnam. He later had the pleasure of flyer a Cetabria for pleasure. Some of my best memories are when he took me up and did aerobatics over the Chesapeake Bay.

[@hauntedshadowslegacy2826]

For anyone wondering *why* Gladys did that (put the tire on the other plane mid-flight) when modern single-engine planes typically just eat it and land with the missing gear: That plane is a tail-dragger. When modern planes land with an unsafe or missing gear in the front, they can hold the nose off to extend their landing and slow down before planting the bad gear on the ground (as doing so may cause the plane to veer off the runway, and you don't wanna do that at high speeds). You can't hold the nose off with a tail-dragger quite the same way- largely because you're not supposed to. Modern planes are designed to land on the back gear first, then pivot onto the nose gear. Tail draggers work the opposite way (forward gear, then pivot onto tail). Imagine trying to land a Cessna on the nose before pivoting to a busted set of rear wheels. Exactly. And it'd be even worse in a large jet. It'd be a risky landing no matter what if they'd tried landing with that wheel still missing. And, hey, it was still kinda the early days of aviation, so people were a lot more 'lmao, fck it' anyway. So why *wouldn't* they give it a shot, fixing the gear mid-flight?

[@BloeingBlog]

Kesley. last week in GRU we had a similar setup as the history you said in this video about the a A380 and your 17 seat turboprop. The EK A380 had just landed in 10R and was followed by an Passaredo ATR-72, both cleared the runway at CC and the controller cleared both to cross 10L into parking. The ATR pilot response (in portuguese) was something like: "We're gonna wait for a little bit, if the big guy accelerate we'll be back airborn in no time"

[@KircardProductionsAustralia]

Another great video Kelsey. The Heathrow commentator (Jerry Dyer) from Big Jet TV, is very entertaining. If you ever get to see his "best of" video, the comments are so funny and interesting to watch. Good Flying Mate. 🙂

[@marc21256]

It looks like the upper plane sees she is holding on, then banks right to lift her, rather than her climbing up. The lower plane has a small wing rise as the weight lifts, then dives gently to make space without having to bank right, which would move them closer. It was a well choreographed maneuver, and, like a good magician, the move isn't easy, but the person doing it makes it look easy.

[@Luannnelson547]

If you’re interested, Glenn Martin and parachute jumper Tiny Broadwick would make a fascinating video. She started out at age 15 parachuting from hot-air balloons at fairs in 1908 and ended up parachuting from Glenn Martin’s plane when he was a barnstormer. She was the first person to demonstrate parachuting to the U.S. Army, in 1914, to show that providing parachutes could save pilots’ lives. She’s credited with inventing the ripcord, when during one of the Army jumps, her static line (I hope I’m phrasing this correctly) got tangled in the tail of the plane and she had to cut herself loose. The pilot for those jumps was Lt. Walter Taliaferro, if I remember correctly. (Pronounced Tolliver.) Tiny was from Henderson, NC, and lived into her 80s, unlike many parachutists of those days. I think she was an amazing woman!

[@yambo59]

I imagine the fact these were stunt pilots and wing walkers doing this meant they had mad stick and rudder skills and this was a huge plus in their situation.

[@lbicknell]

Gladys Ingle, and this was not an "accident". This was a standard part of their traveling show, the plane "accidentally" lost a tire every time they went up! The big clue is the multiple camera angles -- there were no cell phones in the 1920's and film cameras were huge. The high quality multi-angle footage is almost as impressive as the wing walking. There are several articles about her online, a true pioneer! I recommend going to a stunt show like the Flying Circus Air Show in Bealton VA. They do a lot of the old stunts, but I've never seen them replace a wheel. When do we get to see Kelsey wing walking on his 747?

[@58efd]

Hi Kelsey, great video, wow. As a young guy in the early 70's, I worked for Anchorage Paving & Asphalt, we got the job of repaving the airport in Cold Bay Alaska, and the Flying Tigers DC Stretch 8's would land there overnight, in the morning at the end of the runway, doing runups they'd blow the fresh pavement right off the end of the runway, so we had to repave every day. Cold and foggy most of the time, I remember being out in the middle of the runway when a truck came speeding out and told us to get off the runway, a Reeves Aleutian Airlines was landing in near zero vis (which was normal for them), they came down, lifted right over us and continued their landing. Same exact thing happened when an AF C141 Starlifter came in, we got out of the way in time, but it was foggy as all heck, yet he was able to hop over the paver and land. Crazy aviation out there. Out of the whole summer working we had two days of sunshine, that's it, all weather comes from this area I swear. Moral of the story, jet wash is real and I knew to respect it after seeing how powerful it is. 71 and safely in Iowa now.

[@MorrisseysMonkey]

Nice one that lass! And BTW its a 'Stunt Woman'.

[@motivationindrive8514]

The craziest thing is the footage from that long ago.. without GoPro… how big of a camera was mounted on them lol…

[@gcorriveau6864]

"So, what did you do at work today, dear." ... "Not much - had a RUSH order for a tyre change ... not much else." 🤣 The way she transferred her weight slowly accounts for the minimal wing-waggle (imo). This certainly looks like a well-rehearsed (or planned, at least) stunt with cameras standing by. Still and awesome feat of bravery.

[@cseguin]

My grandfather on my mother's side was a biplane pilot - I never met him - and the only photo I've seen of him is of him standing beside his biplane. I think he did a bit of barnstorming as well.

[@905Alive]

In 1926, GLADYS INGLE - the only female member of Hollywood’s 13 Black Cats aerial daredevil stunt troop - was filmed changing planes in mid-air to replace a lost wheel! (Jan 1926) The 13 BLACK CATS flew “Jennys” - Curtiss JN-4 biplanes with an abundance of struts and wires to grip, making it ideal for stunt-riders and wing-walkers. Gladys earned her fearless reputation by changing planes in mid-air without a parachute or safety gear. Legend has it she performed her wing-walking stunts hundreds of times. In the video, she’s a young and spry woman of 25 or 26 years old transferring from Bon McDougall’s airplane to Art Goebel’s airplane with no parachute or safety gear. In 1927, after several aerial stunt and wing-walking deaths, parachutes were finally required by law. Gladys went on to live a long and healthy life, passing away in 1981, at 82 years of age. The 13 Black Cats were founded in 1924 and performed together for 5 years. The official member list is: Ronald “Bon” MacDougall, Ken “Fronty” Nichols, William “Spider” Matlock, Jerry Tabnac, Heard “Herd” McClellan, Paul Richter Jr, Lieut. Jack Frye, Al Johnson, Ivan “Bugs” Unger, Sanford “Sam” Greenwald, Colonel Art Goebel, William “Bill” Stapp, Gladys Ingle. Casualties were commonplace in this dangerous field, where your life was literally on the line with each death-defying performance, and the history books are fuzzing on if any official or unofficial members of the 13 Black Cats ever died performing. The group was first organized in 1924 with 13 members, headed by Bon MacDougall. Their home base was the Burdett Airport located at Western Avenue and 102nd Street, now the site of a huge department store complex. Their uniform was a black sweater with the cat and number 13 patch on the front, and their names on the back. Originally the group was made up of pilots, motion-picture stuntmen and automobile racers who wanted to “corner the market” on all movie stunt work that involved airplanes, automobiles, and motorcycles. They advertised that they defied all superstition and the odds, and their services were also available for air shows or meets and any other audience that would pay their fee. Except for trains, they would supply the equipment needed and their fleet consisted of war-surplus Curtiss “Jennies” and “Cannucks”. Until 1927, when it became a law, they used no parachutes.

[@suegardner]

Interesting - and beautifully edited as always. Thank you for continuing to make videos

[@b0tterman]

What I'm amazed at is the the technical genius of the cameras with the tech of the time. It's a amazing. It means this is a carefully planned stunt. Still, incredible. Plus the stunt person is a woman? So cool for the time.