Shirley wing walker Tom Lackey earns second world record
Dec 30 2009 by Diane Parkes, Birmingham Mail
HE’S a DOUBLE record breaker!
Eighty-nine-year-old Tom Lackey has earned a SECOND entry in the Guinness Book of Records for his daredevil flying stunts.
The grandad, from Shirley, has been honoured for being the oldest person to wing walk across the English Channel.
The adventurous octogenarian was previously entered in the book for being the oldest person to do a loop-the-loop on the wings of a plane.
Tom, who has three children and two grandchildren, undertook his latest challenge in July as part of the centenary celebrations of the first cross Channel flight by Louis Bleriot in 1909.
And the former builder was especially determined to succeed during the hour-long flight because he was raising money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.
Tom was inspired to raise money for the charity after his daughter Anne Joynson was diagnosed with precancerous cells in 2008.
Yet the plucky pensioner, who now has 20 wing walks to his name, has no plans to put his feet up.
He is already organising next year’s adventure.
“I have nothing to lose at my age so I will definitely keep on going,” he said. “Lots of people have asked me what I am going to do next so I am looking for something really special.
“When I crossed the Channel I flew in the plane to Calais where I then got all kitted up and came back on the wing.
“And if I can do that then I can’t see why I can’t go on the wing both ways.
“We would stop in France to do interviews and stuff but other than that I would be wing walking on both journeys.” And Tom, who undertook his first wing walk ten years ago after the death of his wife Isabel, is aiming for a special date.
“May will be my 90th birthday but I would like to do it on June 6 to celebrate D-day,” he adds.
Tom’s adventures and the talks he gives about them have raised £1.25 million for various charities.
And he is hoping his next endeavour will raise cash for two causes close to his heart.
“I would like to do something for the guys coming back from Afghanistan,” he says.
“And I would also like to do something closer to home so I would like to give some money to my local church St James the Great in Shirley.
“My brother Harold is buried there. He was killed in the Battle of Britain when he was 25. I was 19 at the time and had just gone into the army and I was hoping to be with him. A lot of people have said they would support me.”
