A daredevil grandmother has become Britian’s oldest female wing-walker – aged 88.
Betty Bromage soared into the record books at 140mph when she balanced on the wings of a yellow plane at 200ft.
The retired nurse took on the death-defying stunt to raise funds for a new MRI scanner for a local medical charity.
She donned goggles and a woolly jumper as she was strapped to the top of the vintage biplane at Gloucestershire Airport.
Betty, who lives in a retirement home in Cheltenham, Glos., beat the record she set for the same feat last year when she was 87.
The gran-of-two, who worked as an A&E ward sister for 45 years, said the ride was a “bit windy” and a “bit wobbly” – but she loved every minute.
She said: “I have always been a little bit of a daredevil and I decided to do it after thinking, ‘What will I do when I’m 90?’
“Then I thought of wing-walking and there was no reason why not, and I thought I might as well do it at 87.
“If you had asked me two or three years earlier I would have said no, but something said I should do it. I had never done anything like it before.
“The most difficult thing about it is climbing up onto the wing because it’s hard on the knees, but I had knee pads.”
Pilot Mike Dentith, of Wingwalk Displays, said: “The main thing is that anybody at Betty’s age, the great difficulty they would have is climbing up, but Betty managed it.
“I think it is grit and determination.”
Betty, a widow whose husband died 13 years ago, said she’ll be back again next year.
She said: “I will keep on going until I can’t go any more, if I’m fit and well enough to do it.
“My doctor said, ‘You’re 88, what do you call old?’ But age is just a number.
“I didn’t even realise I was the oldest, I didn’t do it for that, but it does make me proud. I think it’s funny.
“I hope it inspires other people. You are never too old.”
Betty has so far raised more than £1,700 for Cobalt Health.
To support her, visit: justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/cobalt/bettyflieshigh
