Gladys Ingle was an American aviator and wing walker whose career belongs to the most extreme chapter of early flight. Born on March 28, 1899, she later became known for aerial stunt work in the 1920s, including a filmed mid air wheel replacement that remains one of the most famous pieces of barnstorming footage still circulating today. She died on October 27, 1981, in Arroyo Grande, California.
Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons (Gladys Ingle)
Early life and how she fit the barnstorming world
Ingle’s story is tied to the post World War I boom in public aviation entertainment. After the war, surplus aircraft and trained pilots helped fuel flying shows across the United States. This world became known for barnstorming, where pilots performed aerobatics and stunt performers carried out dangerous demonstrations to draw crowds. The Smithsonian has documented how this postwar barnstorming surge created a market for adrenaline driven aerial entertainment and made wing walking performers into major attractions.
Credit: British Pathé / newsreel footage (AIR CRASH AVERTED, 1926)
Museum collections and archival files preserve photographs and records connected to Ingle’s career and confirm her identity as a wing walker and stunt performer. The Museum of Flight maintains a dedicated Gladys Ingle biographical file in its digital collections and archives, reflecting her place in aviation history and the existence of preserved source material about her work.
The 13 Black Cats and professional stunt flying
Ingle became associated with a Los Angeles based group of aerial stunt performers known as the 13 Black Cats, also called the 13 Flying Black Cats. The group performed aerial stunts at air shows and also did stunt work connected to film era aviation culture. Their reputation was built on performing dangerous maneuvers for set fees, and newsreels of the era helped spread their fame.
The 13 Black Cats are documented in museum materials and aviation history references, including the San Diego Air and Space Museum, which notes the group’s shifting membership and the fact that many participants did not always receive full credit in the historical record. This matters because it explains why some details about specific stunts are repeated through newsreels and later summaries rather than official centralized paperwork.
The 1926 wheel change in mid air
The event most closely associated with Gladys Ingle is the mid air wheel replacement stunt filmed in 1926. British Pathé holds the key archival clip under the title AIR CRASH AVERTED, describing it as an aerial stunt in which a woman pilot changes planes and fixes a new landing wheel on a disabled plane in mid air.
Credit: British Pathé / newsreel footage (AIR CRASH AVERTED, 1926)
The premise shown in the Pathé reel is straightforward. A spare wheel is prepared and strapped to Ingle. An aircraft takes off while she clings to it, then flies beneath another aircraft that is missing a wheel. She transfers between aircraft in flight, reaches the landing gear area, and installs the replacement wheel before the aircraft continues toward landing. The location is presented as Los Angeles in the Pathé catalog entry.
This stunt was not just preserved on film. Contemporary newspapers also reported on the feat in 1926. The Fresno Morning Republican ran coverage describing the mid air plane to plane transfer and the wheel replacement, providing period confirmation that the stunt was part of the public aviation spectacle of the time rather than a modern internet invention.
Some modern summaries describe the wheel loss as an emergency and others treat it as a planned performance element. What can be stated safely from the record is that the newsreel documents the wheel replacement stunt and the 1926 newspaper coverage confirms it was recognized as a remarkable feat in that era.
What made the stunt historically important
The wheel change footage stands out because it captures multiple features of the barnstorming period in one short sequence. It shows how wing walking and aircraft transfers were performed on biplanes with external struts and wires that made gripping and climbing possible. It also shows how stunts were staged for cameras and crowds, and how early aviation entertainment often accepted extreme risk as normal practice.
The Smithsonian has highlighted Ingle among wing walkers in its archival selections, including imagery that shows her preparing to execute a mid air transfer between aircraft. These curated archival references help confirm that her work is preserved and recognized within major institutional collections, not just reposted on social media.
Career footprint and preserved records
Beyond the wheel change stunt, Ingle is documented as a wing walker and stunt performer connected to the broader culture of aerial exhibitions. The Museum of Flight’s biographical materials and related items include archived photographs of her performing wing walking stunts, which supports that her public identity was not tied to one isolated clip.
The 13 Black Cats and their performances have also been discussed in aviation history writing that emphasizes how these performers worked in an environment where professional stunts were marketed openly and filmed frequently for newsreels.
Later life and legacy
Gladys Ingle lived a long life compared with many performers of the era, passing away in 1981 at age 82.
Her legacy today is built on two things that are rare together. First, her stunts were genuinely extraordinary within the context of early aviation entertainment. Second, at least one of her most famous acts was captured clearly enough on film to remain understandable to modern viewers. British Pathé’s catalog record, paired with newspaper documentation and museum archival files, makes her story unusually well supported compared with many other barnstorming names that survive mostly through anecdotes.
