Wingwalkers (Barnstormers)
Wingwalking initially arose out of practicality — pilots would sometimes need to venture onto the wings in flight to make technical adjustments. The earliest documented case was around 1911, but it was Army pilot Ormer Locklear who first saw the commercial potential.
At its peak, wingwalkers played ping pong, chess, and tennis, swung from wing to wing, and rode bicycles on the upper surface of biplanes in flight, in front of crowds below. The barnstorming era was a traveling circus of the impossible.
The Law That Ended It
Wingwalking below 1,500 feet was outlawed by the U.S. government in 1936. This forced any audience to use binoculars — which effectively killed the spectacle. Regulation ended the show more thoroughly than any crash.
Today, wingwalkers use safety harnesses and cables attached to the aircraft. They do not carry parachutes; if a parachute deployed near the aircraft, it could become entangled and cause a crash. The safety system is the opposite of the escape system.
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