Although I did not managed to obtain my own photographs of the World's only formation wingwalking team at the 2010 Windermere Air Show, the Rendcomb based Breitling Wingwalkers were described by the North West Evening Mail as "this year’s most hotly-anticipated arrival" and I felt that they really deserved their own article here at Gloucestershire Transport History.

Chief wingwalker Sarah Tanner, 28, has been performing with the Gloucestershire-based team for five years, and says that the 150mph routine still gives her the same adrenalin rush after hundreds of performances.

“You still get that same feeling every time you go up on the wing,” she says.

“I don’t get scared, although it can be a bit terrifying when it’s raining, because at the speeds we travel it really hurts – it feels like you’re being pelted with small stones.

“The routine we will be doing for the Windermere Airshow starts at about 1,000ft for a big loop, and most of the routine takes place a few hundred feet up.

“When we get lower to the ground I can see the crowds waving, and when the crowd are enjoying it, that makes me enjoy it too.”

The team is made up of three wingwalkers – Sarah, who is the only full-time wingwalker, Stella Guilding and Danielle Hughes – and three full-time pilots in Martyn Carrington, Vic Norman and David Barrell.

As the only team in the world doing this, they are obviously in high demand, both in terms of airshows wanting to book them, but also from people wanting to give wingwalking a go.

For their last vacancy more than 100 girls applied for the extremely exclusive role – in history there have only been around 20 professional wingwalkers.

It doesn’t seem like an obvious career choice, and neither does it seem like one you can really prepare for.

Sarah was inspired to take to the skies after seeing the team in action at an airshow, and after making an enquiry she was told there was a vacancy. “When I saw them at an airshow I felt quite inspired by the women who were doing it,” she says.

“I liked the idea of dancing in the sky.

“When I contacted them I was told there was a vacancy, and I was the right height and weight.

“You need to be five foot five or under, and eight and a half stone or under.

“Obviously you’re not out on the wings straight away – you learn all the hand signals indoors and then you move to the hangar to climb around on the planes.

“There’s no wind machine to practise with, but when they think you’re ready you go out and do it for real.”

During a routine, wingwalkers start in the cockpits of the bright orange 1940s biplanes, before receiving the tap on the shoulder from the pilot that signals the start of the routine.

From there, it is a terrifying climb to the wing with nothing more than a waist harness for safety, and then strapping into a static harness on a rig in the centre of the wing.

At speeds of 90mph upwards, the wingwalker will rotate through 180 degrees until they are doing a handstand upside down.

The show culminates with the girls undoing their harnesses for the impressive ‘Windrider’ pass, which sees the wingwalker sit on the leading edge of the top wing directly above the plane’s propeller.

“Every time I unclip the harness and sit on the leading edge, it’s a great feeling,” says Sarah.

“The whole routine takes a lot of concentration, and it can be hard work.

“It is tough, but I can’t imagine doing any other job and having the same challenges.”

It is a spectacle that really needs to be seen to be believed.