No fear, "one hundred million percent trust" in her partner and strong stomach and arm muscles are the keys to success for German wing walker Peggy Krainz, who yesterday wowed crowds at the Warbirds Over Wanaka practice day at Wanaka Airport.
The red-and-black spandex-suited aerial acrobat enthusiastically hugged her partner and pilot Friedrich Walentin (47) when they had taxied their Boeing Stearman biplane to a halt and reached the ground.
Ms Krainz (39) felt tired but was excited about getting back in the air today and tomorrow to repeat their routine.
"I just do normal gym work and special neck exercises. But some muscles here [she tapped her stomach] I didn't know I had," Ms Krainz said.
Ms Krainz and Mr Walentin live in the German town of Mengen, between Stuttgart and Lake Constance.
They have a busy display schedule overseas, but came to the Wanaka airshow "because it is famous", they said. It is their first visit to New Zealand.
Their 10-minute routine occurs at speeds between 130kmh and 240kmh and includes loops, rolls and turns.
During the start and landing, Ms Krainz is in the cockpit. She then climbs on to the upper wing and between the left wings, communicating with Mr Walentin using hand signals.
She is attached to the aircraft by a safety wire but relies on muscular strength to stay between the wings. When standing upright on the upper wing, she straps herself to a rack.
Ms Krainz and Mr Walentin said they concentrated fully while in the air and did not have time to be afraid.
If they became afraid, they would not fly, they said.
"We must be highly concentrated and have respect for what we are doing," Mr Walentin said.
They practise their routines on land for weeks before taking to the air, with Ms Krainz taking the same exact and precise steps every time. An hour before the routine begins, they practise again.
They need more than 100% trust in each other, she said, "because if I do something wrong, then he is also in trouble".
Both said life without flying was unimaginable and they would do it as long as possible.
Ms Krainz, who has a pilot's licence and an aerobatic licence, began wing walking in 1999 for fun and had done more than 600 displays.
She asked Mr Walentin to be her pilot five years ago and four years ago they became partners.
Ms Krainz said she had never had any mishaps, but wing walking was a full-on assault on the senses.
She once tried earplugs to counter the wind and engine noise, but found the experience unsettling. She wore a cap and goggles to stop her eyes from streaming.
Ms Krainz's 15-year-old daughter Julia is learning to fly, but had not yet expressed an interest in wing walking.
Later this year, the couple planned to reverse roles - Mr Walentin would take his first wing walk while Ms Krainz flew the Stearman.
"I will do that one walk this year. That is in our schedule. I only want to climb out of the cockpit and on to the upper wing and back to see how I can make it better," he said.
Wing walking has been performed only once previously at the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow - in 1988, by the Tiger Top team using a de Havilland Tiger Moth piloted by Tony Renouf.
The wing-walking display takes place between 10.10am and noon today and tomorrow.
