Stearman PT-17 - Bob & Pat Wagner Air Show. The two-seat Stearman biplane trainer was developed from the Stearman Model 70 prototype which was first flown on New Years Day 1934. Despite being an already obsolete design it gave yeoman service in training pilots for wartime and has found a devoted following post-WWII. In civilian duty this PT-17 was flown for many years by air show performers Bob and Pat Wagner. It is fitted with a substantially larger engine for performance aerobatics, a smoke system, and a wing-top stand for a wing walker.
This plane currently resides at the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum in Hood River, OR. The attached video was produced by my new friend, Roy Pettit as a promotional video for WAAAM. Copy and paste this link into your web browser: https://youtu.be/0xBLIHTVW2o
Woman makes living 500 feet up in the sky
By Melanie Spencer
Missourian staff writer
Pat Wagner makes a living hanging upside down while 500 feet up in the air. Pat and her husband, Bob Wagner, of Dayton, Ohio, were one of the main attractions at Sunday's Mooh-lah Air Show at Columbia Regional Airport. Bob pilots the Wagner plane, a re-vamped red and white striped 1941 Stearman. While Bob maneuvers spins, rolls and flips, Pat - with her feet and hands free - is strapped to the top of the double-decker wings. An elaborate safety belt with a metal rod attached is her only connection to the plane. Pat, a veteran pilot herself, says that being upside down while moving 130 mph is unlike anything else. "You're just hanging there, and everything is rushing to your head. All you've got holding you there is a harness." The couple has been doing the wing-riding act since 1971. Although Pat was smiling and calm while climbing onto the wing Sunday, she admits occasional apprehension. "If the weather's bad, or there are lots of trees and little space, it can be scary," she says. The Wagners have flown in air-shows in Canada, Venezuela and all over the United States. From May to late October, they perform an average of 28 shows a year all on weekends. In the winter, they buy and sell antiques and run a weaving business out of their home in Ohio, which is complete with airstrip. But for both of them, flying is a first love. Bob has been flying for 26 years, and Pat has been a licensed pilot since shortly after they met in 1966 - at an airport. Pat had spent all her savings on flying lessons, and Bob was airport manager and flight instructor. Despite the risks, Pat says she loves everything about flying. "True, there's danger in it, but if it's what you like to do, you accept the risks," she says.
Date of article: unknown
To install: Extract the .rar file to a location of your preference on your computer. Paste the extracted folder into your community folder.
Dreadwings
great job! thank you
fStopper
Nice, thank you.