Wing-walking stunt woman thrills North Jersey crowd - NorthJersey.com
“The most important thing here is this is absolutely blissful, and it’s a joy to do,” said Pilon. Photos: Greenwood Lake Air Show in West Milford. Pilon, 46, is a professional wingwalker, an endeavor that conjures images of the 1920s, when barnstorming aviators risked all to entertain large crowds of people, many of whom were seeing airplanes for the first time. Yet there Pilon and her pilot, Marcus Paine, were on Saturday, performing at this weekend’s air show at the Greenwood Lake Airport in West Milford, where they attracted the largest crowds of any of the performers. “Wingwalking is rooted in the early days of aviation,” Paine said. With Pilon strapped on the wing, Paine pulled the 75-year-old biplane into a hammerhead spin, in which it climbed to an apex, stopped dead in the air, and began to fall tail first. As it fell, banked and climbed, Pilon raised her hands into the air. The 10-minute performance ended with a human flag, a trick she said she invented, in which Pilon stood atop the cockpit, wrapped her arm around a post, sent one leg and one arm off behind her, and beamed a smile. “It’s probably the most dangerous thing you could do. ”. Wingwalking reached its height of popularity in the early days of flight. Big names included Clyde “Upside-Down” Pangborn, Gladys Ingle (who performed archery tricks while standing on a wing), and Mabel Cody, a niece of Buffalo Bill Cody. Source: www.northjersey.com
