Retired army major Donald Harrison, 94, has completed a daring wing walk, strapped to the wings of a biplane at speeds of 120mph and an altitude of around 1,500ft. The challenge, undertaken at Sleap Airfield in Wem, Shropshire, raised nearly £1,000 for the care home where he now lives.
A Lifelong Adventurer Takes to the Skies
Donald, who served in the British Army for more than 20 years and completed parachute training at Sandhurst, described the experience as "exhilarating." He said: "You only get one life so I thought I might as well go for it."
Reflecting on the flight, he added: "It was rather exciting. You really feel every moment of it. It was more demanding than I expected, but you certainly knew you were doing something and it was extremely exhilarating. The experience is very different from parachuting. It feels much more personal, if that's the right expression."
From Sandhurst to the Open University
Donald joined the army straight from school in 1950, passed the exams to attend Sandhurst in 1951, and was commissioned in 1953. He served with the Border Regiment (later The King's Own Royal Border Regiment) across the Middle East, spent two years on exchange with the Canadian Army, and attended staff college courses with the Navy. He also oversaw the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace on seven occasions.
He saw active service in the Middle East twice, including during the troubles in Aden in 1967. After 21 years of service, he left the army due to his children's education needs. He then spent seven years running a Vauxhall dealership, followed by 12 years with the Scottish Office, including a four-year posting to America to attract business investment into Scotland.
Raising Funds for a Charitable Cause
Donald was raising money for the Bushell House Charitable Trust, which runs Bushell House Residential Care Home in Preston, Lancashire. He said: "I had to stop doing a lot of the voluntary work I was doing because of my age, so I decided to do a degree instead. At 78, I earned a History degree from the Open University. Since then, I've always looked for different challenges. I did a zip wire in Snowdonia when I was 86."
His son, Matthew Harrison, said his dad took the wing walk in his usual off-hand manner: "It was great, although he was his typical reticent self and just said it 'was fine', but I could tell he loved it. He told the pilot that he used to parachute back in the day when there wasn't a reserve chute - so it either worked or it didn't so he took the wing walk in his stride."
Donald has raised nearly £1,000 from his wing walk, and the GoFundMe sponsorship page remains open.
