web02.fireside.fm Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:47:40 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) The WorkNotWork Show - Episodes Tagged with “Wingwalking” https://the.worknotwork.show/tags/wingwalking Sat, 31 Mar 2018 11:00:00 -0600 Have you ever met someone who seemed to have the dream job? Ever wonder how they managed to get it? Has it turned out the way they had planned? The WorkNotWork Show tracks down people with interesting jobs which in many cases started with a lifelong passion for the subject which they have managed to make into their career. Each episode, we talk to one person who is 'living the dream'. en-ca episodic I Can't Believe I Get Paid for Doing This Terence C. Gannon Have you ever met someone who seemed to have the dream job? Ever wonder how they managed to get it? Has it turned out the way they had planned? The WorkNotWork Show tracks down people with interesting jobs which in many cases started with a lifelong passion for the subject which they have managed to make into their career. Each episode, we talk to one person who is 'living the dream'. no Terence C. Gannon the@worknotwork.show Carol Pilon: Wingwalker https://the.worknotwork.show/015-pilon-wingwalker 7a18e2f9-34aa-4b9e-96d3-a9595d503aee Sat, 31 Mar 2018 11:00:00 -0600 Terence C. Gannon full Terence C. Gannon Imagine climbing up and out of the cockpit of a Stearman biplane into the hurricane propwash. You then climb up and onto the top wing, secured only by a small metal frame. Then imagine that once you're there, the experience is so transformative you decide then and there that's what you want to do for the rest of your life. Unlikely? Well, it's just the beginning of the story of Carol Pilon's life. 58:17 no Sometimes life changing inspiration comes in an instant and from an unexpected source. In Carol Pilon’s case, it was the split second clip of a wingwalker she saw advertised for a local airshow in 1993. She was transformed by the experience and knew that it was something she simply had to do. Little did Carol know that it would take <em>seven years</em> for her to get her first opportunity to step out of the cockpit of a Stearman biplane and climb up onto the top wing. It was a life changing moment for her—she knew at that precise second it was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. But the wild ride on the top wing was not the only wild ride she would encounter. For seventeen years, she has waged a day-to-day, moment-to-moment campaign to stay out there in the slipstream. After working with other teams for a time, Carol eventually concluded the only way she could control her future was to <em>own</em> her future. She bought her own plane—in fact, the very plane used for her wingwalking debut—and she and her bright red Stearman have been on the airshow circuit ever since. You may also recognize Carol as the main characters from the 2015 Discovery Channel series <em>Airshow</em>, in which she was prominently featured. You’re going to love Carol’s story and she is a great storyteller. It’s all about the tenacity, perseverance, persistence and downright stubbornness it sometimes takes to do what you were born to do. It’s a wild ride in so many ways. <div>*     *     *</div> Thank you so much for listening and, by all means, please leave a comment below with any thoughts you have. We love listener feedback. Also, we have a companion publication on Medium (https://medium.com/the-worknotwork-show/carol-pilon-39b158bb68c2), which has its own unique material related to this and all of our episodes. (photo: Martine Giroux) Sometimes life changing inspiration comes in an instant and from an unexpected source. In Carol Pilon’s case, it was the split second clip of a wingwalker she saw advertised for a local airshow in 1993. She was transformed by the experience and knew that it was something she simply had to do.

Little did Carol know that it would take seven years for her to get her first opportunity to step out of the cockpit of a Stearman biplane and climb up onto the top wing. It was a life changing moment for her—she knew at that precise second it was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

But the wild ride on the top wing was not the only wild ride she would encounter. For seventeen years, she has waged a day-to-day, moment-to-moment campaign to stay out there in the slipstream. After working with other teams for a time, Carol eventually concluded the only way she could control her future was to own her future. She bought her own plane—in fact, the very plane used for her wingwalking debut—and she and her bright red Stearman have been on the airshow circuit ever since. You may also recognize Carol as the main characters from the 2015 Discovery Channel series Airshow, in which she was prominently featured.

You’re going to love Carol’s story and she is a great storyteller. It’s all about the tenacity, perseverance, persistence and downright stubbornness it sometimes takes to do what you were born to do. It’s a wild ride in so many ways.

*     *     *

Thank you so much for listening and, by all means, please leave a comment below with any thoughts you have. We love listener feedback. Also, we have a companion publication on Medium, which has its own unique material related to this and all of our episodes. (photo: Martine Giroux)

]]> Sometimes life changing inspiration comes in an instant and from an unexpected source. In Carol Pilon’s case, it was the split second clip of a wingwalker she saw advertised for a local airshow in 1993. She was transformed by the experience and knew that it was something she simply had to do.

Little did Carol know that it would take seven years for her to get her first opportunity to step out of the cockpit of a Stearman biplane and climb up onto the top wing. It was a life changing moment for her—she knew at that precise second it was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

But the wild ride on the top wing was not the only wild ride she would encounter. For seventeen years, she has waged a day-to-day, moment-to-moment campaign to stay out there in the slipstream. After working with other teams for a time, Carol eventually concluded the only way she could control her future was to own her future. She bought her own plane—in fact, the very plane used for her wingwalking debut—and she and her bright red Stearman have been on the airshow circuit ever since. You may also recognize Carol as the main characters from the 2015 Discovery Channel series Airshow, in which she was prominently featured.

You’re going to love Carol’s story and she is a great storyteller. It’s all about the tenacity, perseverance, persistence and downright stubbornness it sometimes takes to do what you were born to do. It’s a wild ride in so many ways.

*     *     *

Thank you so much for listening and, by all means, please leave a comment below with any thoughts you have. We love listener feedback. Also, we have a companion publication on Medium, which has its own unique material related to this and all of our episodes. (photo: Martine Giroux)

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