February 02, 2015: If breathtaking stunts in the cockpit are your cup of tea, you've probably loved a lot of what's up on show at successive Aero India shows. This year, the stunts will be up in the air as usual, but not all of it inside a cockpit. Because Aero India this year features two performances that you cannot afford to misse -- the Breitling Wingwalkers, the world's only formation wingwalking team that features two or four Boeing-Stearman Model 75 biplanes operated by the UK-based AeroSuperBatics, in which the aircraft perform aerobatic manoeuvres while female athletes, attached to a post above the wings, engage in acrobatics. The second is the Scandinavian Skycats, featuring a GRUMMAN G-164A Ag-Cat "CATWALK" SE-KXR.

According to the Breitling team that's headed to Aero India this year, "The airplanes that make up the Breitling Wingwalking team are not standard Stearmans, though. Stearmans originally have a 220 horsepower engine. The ‘Super Stearmans’ of the Breitling Wingwalking team are driven by 450 hp radials. That mighty extra power means the pilots don’t need to gain energy for manoeuvres by continually diving, then climbing for altitude in order to dive again. All the energy they need is bolted to the front of the aircraft. And in order to improve the roll speed of the aircraft an extra pair of ailerons are fitted to the upper biplane wings, slaved to the ones on the lower wings. (‘Aileron’ is a French word that literally means ‘little wing;’ as they move up and down in the airflow they roll the airplane.) Supercharging performance like this transforms a sedate primary trainer into a dazzling circus performer, ready and willing to thrill air show crowds."

The Scandinavian Skycats will perform an aerobatic wing walking act on their specially kitted out aircraft, called the “CATWALK”. With the powerful smoke system and wingtip pyrotechnic smoke the air show pilot Jacob Holländer or Sus Jan Hedén puts on an wingwalking display that is unique in its class. During flight the two SKYCATS will climb up and pose on the wings of the aircraft in different formations like “Lazy Cat”, “Super Cat” etc. while the pilot makes numerous aerobatic manoeuvres like loops and barrel rolls. With the CATWALK, the team also offers a pyrotechnic night show & SKYWRITING, though these last two options may not be available at Aero India because of timing and security constraints.

The art of wingwalking is old, but is has been perfected with the advent if supercharged biplanes, of which the Breitling Airwalkers are pioneers. They've been specialists in display flying for over 27 years and operate one of the best known and loved civilian air display acts in Europe. The wingwalking team has performed at over 2500 different events successfully representing several large brand names in the form of very high profile sponsorship deals -- the latest, of course, bring Swiss watch mater Breitling.

"Our wingwalkers are seen live by over 6 million spectators each year in the UK alone. They perform a breathtaking sequence of acrobatic manoeuvres and handstands whilst strapped to the top wings of the team's beautiful Boeing Stearman biplanes. The team pilots fly the aircraft through a well rehearsed energetic routine of dazzling aerobatics and close formation flypasts as the wingwalkers wave at the crowd. These manoeuvres include, loops, rolls, stall turns and even inverted flight! During all of this, the wingwalkers experience speeds of up to 150 mph and 'G' forces of up to 4G! The world famous AeroSuperBatics team make regular appearances on local, national and international TV channels. They often feature on radio programs, in newspapers and in many magazines. All this publicity helps generate great media exposure for their sponsor each year," says the Breitling team team.

At Aero India this year, the Indian Air Force's Sarang Dhruv helicopter display team will perform, along with Flying Bulls and the Breitling Wingwalkers. All of this, perhaps, will only amplify the void left by the Surya Kiran team, that will be reborn in the coming years operating BAE Hawk jet trainers in place of the HJT-16 Kiran Mk.2s.