Who is Ormer Locklear ~ Master Wing Walker

That quote pretty much summed up how Ormer Locklear lived and died. He truly lived every moment as if it were his last as he became master over that natural and innate fear of death inherent to human existence.

The Texas born farm boy was a daredevil as a youth, climbing onto moving vehicles and performing all manner of stunts with them. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Service, and in 1918 set out to prove his superior officers wrong. The officers and instructors taught that no substantial weight could be put on the leading edge of an aircrafts wing without disrupting the aerodynamics of the craft.

Ormer, a flight instructor himself, promptly walked out onto the wing of Curtiss JN-4 biplane that was piloted by an student. He walked to the edge, and to the amazement of the observers, the plane didn't dive, roll, pitch, or move in any other catastrophic way. What he wanted to prove was that guns could be mounted on the wings, and away from the fuselage.

After his honorable discharge, Locklear toured the airshow circuit and billed himself as the "King Of Wing Walkers". It wasn't long before he became the most popular attraction on the circuit. Some days he would make as much as $3000 for about 30 minutes of work.

Ormer developed the 'transfer'. He was the first person to transfer from one plane to another. He went on to develop the transfer from a moving car to a plane. Other acrobats expanded on that move by transferring from boats and trains.

Other poses he developed and were practiced by fellow Wing Walkers included trapezestyle stunts. Hanging upside down from the landing gear, headstands, hanging by a rope by clenching the rope with his teeth. Eight Wing Walkers perished while trying stunts that Ormer perfected, but this didn't deter others from trying to perfect them.

Ormer was a true pioneer and professional.

The Roaring Twenties were not only the fertile earth of aviation, but filmaking was beginning to expand it's footprint as well. Staging action sequences to sell to the public would not only include Westerns with the natural action of horse riders chasing and shooting, but also recreation of WWI dog fights.

It was only natural to lure pilots and acrobats such as Locklear to the Silver Screen. Filming his daring and death defying stunts could prove to be a major draw in the theaters. Locklear was hired along with his partner "Skeets" Elliot by Fox Studios.

August 2nd, 1920 both men were killed while filming a stunt for the movie Skywaymen. The scene was a night shoot and Elliot was the pilot. The scene was scripted to have the plane dive towards some oil derricks and fake a crash. Elliot had instructed the lighting crew to turn the lights off before the dive was completed so he could see when to pull up. The lights remained on, the plane crashed. Both men died in the crash which was caught on film and used in the final cut of the movie's release.

Ormer Locklear was dead less than two years after becoming a professional.

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Doesn't that feel good?

I am as drawn to impending disaster as most people. We all cover our eyes during a train wreck, only to sneak peeks between the fingers. That's what make men like Locklear so popular. That and a glimpse of invulnerability.

I think we all like to watch someone cheat death. I gives us hope. And Locklear cheated death as long as he could. But, death has the deck stacked when it comes to statistics, and the more times a person plays the slim numbers, the sooner that death gets the draw on him.

But still, people will play those slim numbers and the rest of us will stand on the side lines cheering for a gasp, then a cheat.

It's our hope that we watch.