Two totally blind men in their 70s have completed stunning wing walks on top of a 1940s biplane.
The brave duo are raising funds to help Reading Association for the Blind (RAB).
One of them, a bike mechanic known to hundreds of cyclists, went on to perform the loop-the-loop, barrel rolls and stall turns, all strapped to the top of the wings.
The extra aerobatics were a huge thrill for Bob Bristow, 72, chair of RAB and also Reading Talking News, which helps sight-impaired people in Wokingham keep up with local news.
Bob said the climb to 2,500 feet to start the loop-the-loop “took about five minutes which gave me a lot of thinking time”. The pilot waggled the wings to ask if Bob was happy to carry on and Bob gave determined thumbs up from both hands.
“I thought, well I’ve come this far so I went for it,” he said, adding: “The pilot then put the Boeing Stearman plane into a near-vertical dive and, reaching the bottom of the loop, he pulled the joystick back to bring the nose of the aircraft up.
“That increased the G-force on me remarkably. Reaching the top of the loop, I was upside down. All went quiet for a second, then we screamed down with the wind blasting past me as the aircraft went into a dive to complete the loop and come up ready to do the barrel roll,” he said.
Bob gave another thumbs up to go ahead: “In performing a barrel roll, the aircraft maintained a near-horizontal flight path while rolling over in a longitudinal plane.
“For me on the wing the sensation was of going around a corner on a high power bike leaning right over with incredible G-force on me until I was upright again,” he said.
As the plane came in to land, Bob could hear his supporters cheering and clapping and gave them all a triumphant thumbs up.
Asked how he felt, he said: “Just great. Better than riding a super- charged giant roller coaster.”
The money raised will help RAB support people diagnosed with a visual impairment. Members meet for crafts, board games, quizzes and IT help. Wokingham borough people are among RAB’s rambling and lawn bowls club members. Donations to help Bob’s RAB fundraising can be made via this link: rabsightloss.org/supporting-us/donate
Bob, of Reading, worked servicing and building bicycles at UB Cycles, Reading, and Smiths Cycles at Whitley Wood. He continues some work now in his retirement. In his career he has built more than 1,000 bike wheels.
Tony Lawton, 74, of Caversham was Bob’s fellow RAB member who did a wing walk. In addition to being totally blind, Tony also has severe hearing loss. Now retired, Tony worked at the Environment Agency in Reading.
His thirst for adventure developed after his second wife Chrissi died nine years ago. “After she died, I was in a dark place. I was grieving and I lost [all] my sight finally. And being deaf, everything was just too much to cope with,” he said.
“I told myself I had to do something outside my comfort zone.” So, he spent a gruelling three months on one of the Tall Ships, sailing vessels from India to Singapore and Australia.
“I got back and I was still grieving, but it wasn’t as bad. I decided to do something crazy every year.” His scariest feat was a sky dive with a two minute free fall.
He has been working, with writer John Moore, on a book, due out soon, about his life. “I was sent to a deaf dumb school at four-and-a-half… I was brought up in a deaf world. I didn’t want to be in one,” said Tony.
He later went to a pioneering unit for partially hearing children run by a music teacher, Danny Ling, in Reading.
“He was brilliant. Based on vibration, he taught us to talk. I didn’t talk until
I was nine and moved to that unit. I was one of the first pupils,” said Tony.
His wing walk has raised about £2000 so far for RAB.
To make a donation, visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/TonyLawton1/1
