A grandmother who first tried wing walking at the age of 87 now holds the Guinness World Record for being the oldest female wing walker.
Now 97, Betty Bromage, who lives at Pegasus Homes’ Latheram House later-living development in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, is set to beat her own mark with her sixth wing walk this August, and said she has no plans to stop the adrenaline-fuelled hobby.
Betty first tried the extreme sport, which involves moving along the wings of an aeroplane during flight, in 2016, following the death of her husband, Donald, in 2004, after 51 years of marriage.
Now a widow, Betty found the upkeep of her cottage, where she had lived for 45 years, increasingly challenging and decided to move into an assisted living facility.
The house she lived in at the time was fully catered, so with no chores to contend with, she decided to branch out and try the extreme sport.
Since then, she has completed four more wing walks, including one to celebrate her 90th birthday, and has plans for another sky session this summer to smash the World Record she set at 93.
“I remember, donkeys years ago, seeing a Crunchie bar advert, and there was a lady stood on the top of a plane,” Betty said, recalling a 1991 Cadbury’s advert.
“I moved to a (retirement) house, where they do all the cooking for you and everything, and I thought: ‘What am I going to do? There’s no shopping, there’s no chores’.
“I was 87 then, and then that came to me – I thought I’d like to have a go at (wing walking).
“My daughter-in-law took me to the airfield at Staverton (now Gloucestershire Airport), and I did my first flight there when I was 87.”
By the following year, Betty decided that a straightforward wing walk was “a bit boring”, and asked the pilot to do “something different”.
“He did what they called a figure of eight, and I thought, oh gosh, we’re getting a bit near the ground,” she said.
During the Covid pandemic, when she was 90, she completed her third wing walk to raise money for her care home, so that they could build a summer house in the garden for residents to enjoy during the lockdown.
The same year, to mark her 90th birthday, she also went on the fastest zip line in the world and the longest in Europe in Snowdonia, Wales, and abseiled down Cheltenham’s Eagle Star building, which stands at 161 feet – 49 metres – tall.
Betty has not always had an adventurous streak, however. In her younger years, she said, she had no interest in even going into a field “because I was a townie – I didn’t even know what a cow looked like, almost”, she laughed.
It was not until her golden years that she felt the urge to do some adrenaline-seeking, inspired, in part, by suffering disability.
In her 60s, Betty was left paralysed for three months after a spinal injury, explaining: “I had to challenge myself, then, to walk and push myself.”
“It’s what I want, because I can’t do so many things,” she added of her adventurous hobbies.
“I’m nearly blind, so that doesn’t help, and I can’t read – messages come on my phone, and I can’t see who they are from. It’s frustrating.
“I know if somebody helps me up (onto a plane), I can get up there.
“My grandson helped me before: I rang him, and he said, ‘I’d rather you didn’t do it, Gran, but yes, I will help you’.”
In 2022, aged 93, Betty received the Guinness World Record as the oldest female wing walker when she completed stunts including a loop-the-loop and a barrel roll as part of a wing walk in aid of Sue Ryder.
However, in August 2025, Betty suffered a stroke that left her with a fractured pelvis. While she largely made a full recovery, the lasting impact of the stroke on her mobility means she lives a quiet life.
Betty enjoys lunches out with friends and going to her local social club, and she keeps active around her home, from moving furniture to maintaining her balcony garden – but she has not entirely given up on wing walking.
In August this year, Betty is planning to go up in the air once again. The flight, which will take place on August 4 at RFC Rendcomb Airfield in Cirencester, will mark her sixth wing walk and will renew her title as the World Record holder for the oldest female wing walker.
This time, she is flying to raise money for the “marvellous” stroke unit at Cheltenham General Hospital – who cared for her when she was sick.
After all, Betty said: “The last thing on earth I want to do is lie in bed and have people run around after me.”
Pegasus Homes’ CEO Steve Bangs said: “Betty is a truly inspirational individual and living proof that later life should be about new experiences, with age being no barrier to adventure.
“She is testament to the spirit and active curiosity we aim to foster across our independent living communities.
“We are all looking forward to cheering her on again in her next record-breaking endeavour; though most of us were happy to do so from slightly closer to the ground.”
