Quite literally. The concept of what's going on here will be familiar to many Airshow aficionados. For those of you who can't quite believe what you're seeing in these photos, yes, those are people on top of the aircraft.
They're called wingwalkers. The first time someone decided this was a good idea was in 1918. It caught on and we've managed to book the best wingwalking team in the World, AeroSuperBatics. We can't lay claim to being unique in this respect, every year this lot display in front of seven million people, all over the globe.
Lets start with the aircraft; they're WWII Trainers, fittingly, and pilots who flew from Old Buckenham in the 1940's would be more than familiar with them. The examples they would have flow didn't, however, have a contraption on top of the wing. They did have 450hp Pratt and Whitney engines and the tips of the Propellers did make the distinctive sound you'll hear because they go so fast, they're supersonic. 10,000 Stearman were built, were used as crop dusters and movie props (North by Northwest, for a start).
They're also ideal if you want to carry a passenger who knows no fear, doesn't really feel the cold even in a 100mph wind and also regards having an actual seat on a flight as an unnecessary luxury. Such passengers exist, they're called Kirsten, Emma and Libby. They'll be waving at you, please wave back, but bear in mind that when you put your arm up in a 100mph wind, it takes some considerable effort. So it'll come as some surprise to you as they whizz past, often upside down doing all sorts of gymnastics which would exhaust most people, all whilst effectively in a hurricane force wind.
So, finally, after quite a wait, the Old Buckenham debut of the World's greatest wing walking team.
Photos: Paul Johnson, Neil Draper, Sean Dockerty, Lee Anderson
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