Betty Bromage’s adventurous spirit has led her to become a Guinness World Record holder
The 97-year-old grandmother holds the Guinness World Record for being the oldest female wing walker(Image: Collect/PA Real Life)
Betty Bromage, a 97-year-old grandmother and Guinness World Record holder for the oldest female wing walker, is preparing for her sixth wing walk this August. Having discovered the adrenaline-fueled hobby at age 87, she has no intention of stopping.
Bromage, a resident at Pegasus Homes’ Latheram House in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, first tried wing walking—the act of moving along an aircraft’s wings during flight—in 2016. She turned to extreme sports after moving into an assisted living facility following the 2004 death of Donald, her husband of 51 years. The facility’s fully catered lifestyle removed the burden of household chores, allowing her the freedom to pursue new challenges.
Since that first experience, she has completed four additional wing walks, including one to mark her 90th birthday. Her adventurous spirit has also led her to tackle a zip wire in Snowdonia and a 161-foot abseil down Cheltenham’s Eagle Star building. She now aims to surpass the World Record she set at age 93 with her upcoming summer flight.
“I remember, donkey years ago, seeing a Crunchie bar advert, and there was a lady standing on the top of a plane,” Betty told PA Real Life, 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 I’m 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 straight-forward wing walk was “a bit boring”, and asked the pilot to do “something different”. She said: “He did what they called a figure of eight, and I thought, oh gosh, we’re getting a bit near the ground.”
During the Covid-19 pandemic, at age 90, Betty completed her third wing walk. She did it to raise funds for a summer house in her care home’s garden, providing a shared space for residents during lockdown.
Betty’s current penchant for extreme sports is a surprising departure from her younger self. She laughingly describes having been a “townie” with no interest in the countryside. At one time, she quipped, she barely knew what a cow looked like. It was only later in life that she felt the urge to seek out adrenaline-fueled experiences, a shift inspired, in part, by her experience with 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, referring to 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, at the age of 93, Betty officially entered the Guinness World Records as the oldest female wing walker after performing daring stunts—including a loop-the-loop and a barrel roll—to raise funds for Sue Ryder. However, in August 2025, Betty suffered a stroke that resulted in a fractured pelvis.
While she has largely recovered, the lasting impact on her mobility means she now leads a quieter life. She enjoys lunches out with friends, visiting her local social club, and staying active at home, where she keeps busy by moving furniture and tending to her balcony garden.
Despite these changes, Betty hasn’t hung up her flying goggles quite yet. She is preparing to take to the skies once more on August 4 at the RFC Rendcomb Airfield in Cirencester. This sixth wing walk will not only mark another adventure but will also see her reclaim her title as the oldest female wing walker in the world.
This time, she is flying to raise money for the “marvellous” stroke unit at Cheltenham General Hospital, which cared for her when she was sick. 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 a 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.”
