Bredenbury octogenarian tries wing walking (From Hereford Times)

Bredenbury octogenarian tries wing walking

7:00am Friday 23rd September 2011 in Features By Ian Morris

AN octogenarian with a head for heights has shown that age is no barrier to having fun.

Stanley Davey might have just celebrated his 85th birthday but that did not stop him taking to the skies strapped to the roof of a plane.

The retired human resources manager from Bredenbury decided to try out wing walking after reading about the extreme sport in a newspaper.

And, despite the pilot performing gut wrenching twists and turns, the pensioner described the experience as “plane sailing”.

“The take off was a bit bumpy and I was being shunted about,” he said.

“But once we were up in the air it really was quite exhilarating.”

Mr Davey undertook training before the flight and learned how to communicate to the pilot should there have been any problems.

But the flight near Cirencester was a smooth success with the pensioner strapped to a metal pole by a safety harness.

Mr Davey, who served in the Royal Navy in World War II, has since followed up his wing walking by jumping out of a plane from 12,000 ft.

He added: “I performed a tandem parachute jump.

Heights have never bothered me as long as my feet are somewhere stable.

“I have really enjoyed both challenges and they have certainly kept me busy and shown that your age should not put you off doing something.”