Wing Walking Experience

Have you ever thought about wing walking? I haven’t and never will (cause I’m scared of heights) but I’m fascinated by people who do things I don’t. I’m starting a new series called, “They did that!” which will highlight people doing amazing travel related things.

The first interview is with Ɍëtëp Ʌrëvir, a travel enthusiast and adrenaline  junkie.  He fits in his need for travel between his job working with the Dept. of Defense and distributing Indian hair (aka the weave man). He normally travels every two weeks. 

 I didn’t even know wing walking was possible, how did you hear about this or was this something you’ve always wanted to do?

•  I’m not sure when it was exactly but I came across a Wing Walking advertisement while browsing the internet leisurely. I tend to lurk on sites centered around atypical travel activities, excursions and travel locations so it likely was a targeted advertisement.

What training was necessary before you did this?

• There are several hours training the day before and the day of. It’s not as simple as jumping on the plane and just taking off. For anyone considering it should be taken very seriously. The training consists of going through the flight walk routine while the plane is grounded. During the routine they are covering safety, communication protocols and expectations so you are in sync with the pilot throughout the flight.

 On a scale of 1-10, how scared were you?

•  Eight! This ranks as one of the scariest activities I’ve ever done. The worst part was looking down over the wing while transitioning from the cockpit to the wing. It got very real when you veer over the wing and see the earth. Having hang glided, bungee jumped, flown an ultra-light, experienced aerial acrobatics in an engineless glider and skydived in the past I was able to control my nerves and push through.

 

Did you have second thoughts as the day approached or were you excited?

• Definitely excited. I had it on my bucket list for a while.

When you were standing on the plane, what was going through your mind?

•  When I initially stood up and made sure I was locked in securely all I could think about were the acrobatics which were about to ensue . I had told the pilot on the ground I wanted the works w/heavy aerial stunts, Loops, Hammer heads, rolls etc etc.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about doing this?

• Make sure you are in good physical shape, take the training seriously and make sure you are comfortable with high altitude activities. I.e.: Skydiving, Base jumping, hang gliding etc. Those all will help prevent freezing up mid-flight.

Where were you and how long did this ride last?

• It was about 25 mins. I’ve only found two places in the world where you can do this. I did my walk in Washington with West Coast Spin Doctors.

 

 Is this something you would do? 

 

 THE NEXT STEP: If you’re interested in travel please stick around and explore!  There is so much information here for you! You can click on “recently popular” to the right or click one of the blog posts underneath. Thank you for stopping by and please come back!