This past weekend we attended the Rhinebeck Aerodrome,  an amazing outdoor (and indoor) display of vintage aircraft, which not only serves as a museum of flight but which also offers an air show consisting of stunt flying of vintage planes by some very very very brave, well trained pilots. As my interest in all things involving aviation increases,  I find myself watching a lot of old 1920s/1930s stunt footage–all I can say is people were a lot more badass back in the day then they are now. Which brings us to today’s special guest.

Meet Gladys Ingle, the fourth woman to receive a  pilot license in the United States and one of the most badass of all stunt pilots. In addition to being a pilot, she was also a wing-walker and a member of the aerial stunt team the 13 Black Cats ( a subject for further research…like later this afternoon.) She began performing jumps from balloons for the C.P.O. Aerial Circus in 1921. By 1922, she had begun doing stunts involving airplanes. Through her performances in the 1920s and 1930s, she became world-renowned for her aerobatics and wing walking. Some of her stunts included moving from plane to plane in mid-air, and flying on the wing of a plane while it passed under a bridge.One of her most daring stunts was to stand on the wing of an aircraft while it “looped the loop”. But the apex of Ingle’s stunts involved replacing a wheel in mid-air. A wheel would conveniently fall off an airplane, Ingle would strap a spare wheel on her back and rendezvous with the “stricken” plane. In mid-air, she would climb to the top of the upper wing of the second plane and transfer to the bottom wing of the plane in distress. She would then climb down to the landing gear and install the wheel.

And guess what? This astoundingly cool and very difficult to watch stunt was filmed for posterity. I’ve posted it above. You won’t believe what you’re seeing–assuming you can make it all the way through the video. Warning: Please don'[t try this at home. And don’t watch while eating a meal. Ingle lived until 1981, dying at the age of 82. When asked where she got the courage to do these stunts she simply said: ‘Nothing to it at all…nothing to it…” Now that defines badass, don’t it?