Summary
Kat and Jethro Gilligan-Toth discuss outsider artist Henry Darger, whose 15,145-page illustrated manuscript was discovered posthumously in his tiny apartment, and the story of 1920s aviator Gladys Ingalls, a pioneering wing-walker who performed high-altitude archery and replaced a wheel on a plane mid-flight at 2,000 feet. Despite the title referencing high altitude, this episode is about historical oddities and art rather than altitude training or physiology.
Key Points
- Henry Darger created a 15,145-page illustrated manuscript in total isolation over four decades
- Gladys Ingalls was the fourth woman to obtain a pilot license and performed wing-walking stunts
- She replaced a landing gear wheel mid-flight at 2,000 feet without a parachute
- The 13 Flying Black Cats performed aerial stunts including wing-walking and plane-to-plane transfers
- Episode is about historical oddities rather than altitude training physiology
Key Moments
Gladys Ingalls performs mid-air wheel replacement at 2,000 feet
In 1926, pilot Art Goebel lost a wheel mid-flight. Wing-walker Gladys Ingalls strapped a replacement wheel to her back, transferred between planes at 2,000 feet, scooted down to the chassis, and attached the new wheel without a parachute.
"Gladys straps a plane wheel to her back and they head up. This story is wild, but the situation, is it everything that it seems? As Andy Zhang mentions in his TikTok, Gladys had done this before."
Wing-walking and archery performed without parachutes
Gladys Ingalls performed blindfolded wing-walking and mid-air archery on biplanes over Los Angeles. Until 1927, there was no law requiring aerial stunt performers to wear parachutes.
"She proved her worth when she walked blindfolded on the wings of a Curtis JN4 biplane as it flew over Los Angeles. And also, she mastered mid-air archery."
