In flight repair

[Exfso (Peter)]

Absolutely amazing! This lady got (had) bigger ones than me. Not even wearing a parachute.
Note she doesn't even climb into the back seat for landing.
Guess there were no rules in those days, eh?
Fabulous footage although pretty grainy due to time and bad equipment in those days compared to today, but geez, what nerve this gal had.
Gladys Ingles was a member of a barnstorming troupe called the 13 Black Cats in the 1920s. Ingles was a wing walker; in this film, she shows her fearlessness in a classic barnstorming fashion to save an airplane that has lost one of its main wheels.
Ingles is shown with a replacement wheel being strapped to her back and then off she goes as "Up She Goes," a duet from the era, provides the soundtrack. In the video, Ingles transfers herself from the rescue plane to the plane missing a landing gear tire. She then expertly works herself down to the undercarriage only a few feet from a spinning prop. It's certainly a feat many mechanics wouldn't even try on the ground with the engine running.
Oshkosh 365 - Discussion Boards - Video: Mid-Air Repair

[Lester]

They don't make women like that anymore. Bigger B...s then Ben-Hure.

[mozzie (Peter)]

great video thanks peter!!!! braver then me....

oh wouldn't oh&s kick up a stink about that

[koputai (Jason)]

Entertaining yes, but totally staged.

Cheers,
Jason.

[TrevorW]

Originally Posted by koputai

Entertaining yes, but totally staged.

Cheers,
Jason.

in the early days of films there where no stunt men, no hidden wires, no greens screens, no CGI,

actors did all the own stunts and yes this is real nothing staged about this it was

"action"

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by koputai

Entertaining yes, but totally staged.

Cheers,
Jason.

Hehe... good ole' days when a plane could land with a bicycle replacement wheel.

[JimmyH155]

thats got to be staged - hasn't it ? When she is standing on top of the wing, I cant see her clothes being blown about. The plane would have to be doing at least 60 mph ??
Never mind though, great entertainment

[koputai (Jason)]

By 'staged' I don't mean 'faked', I mean not a real emergency, but a stunt done for the camera's.

Those old planes didn't carry enough fuel to stay up to wait for three planes to bring up a spare wheel and two camera's.

They also didn't have radio's, so would have had to do a couple of flypasts for people on the ground to notice what was wrong. When the 'repair' is happening, they are back up at about 10,000 feet, which the plane wold not have had enough fuel to do.

Cheers,
Jason.

[TrevorW]

Some facts about the plane they were using. They were a stunt group so you are probably right in that it was staged but definetly nothing fake about it. The plane could stay aloft for 5 hours at its cruising speed

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 27 ft 4 in (8.33 m)
• Wingspan: 43 ft 7¾ in (13.3 m)
• Height: 9 ft 10½ in (3.01 m)
• Wing area: 352 ft2 (32.7 m2)
• Empty weight: 1390 lb (630 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 1920 lb (871 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Curtis OX-5 V8 piston, 90 hp (67 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 75 mph (65 kn, 121 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 60 mph (52 kn, 97 km/h)
• Service ceiling: 6,500 ft (2,000 m) Varies depending on where you read
• Range: 300 miles

[rcheshire (Rowland)]

The bit they left out, was taking off with one wheel. Quite a feat, even in those days

I'm not sure about not having radios?

They would be below their service ceiling of 6500ft, for aerodynamic reasons. It's easier to achieve greater dynamic pressure/indicated airspeed and better control effectiveness. Helpful with someone on the wingtip.

At about 2:30 into the video, as Gladys is making her way toward the fuselage, along the trailing edge, aileron deflection can be seen reducing, as the pilot corrects for the imbalance in roll - in layman's terms.