![\"Corliss](\"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Corliss-155646_124832054244956_4755617_n.jpg\")
<\/a> So proximity flying is the act of flying an airplane or a part of that airplane very close to or touching something.\u00a0 If that something is a runway, it really should be a very specific part of that runway.\u00a0 If not, the pilot is not really proximity flying\u2026 he\u2019s just plopping on the runway\u2026 somewhere.<\/p>\nOne of my favorite examples of a proximity flyer is Jeb Corliss.\u00a0 Jeb Corliss is a wingsuiter.\u00a0 He is somewhat famous for flying through a 100-ft wide archway in\u00a0Tianmen Mountain<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Zhangjiajie<\/a>,\u00a0Hunan<\/a>\u00a0Province,\u00a0China<\/a>.\u00a0 He was also severely injured while proximity flying off\u00a0Table Mountain<\/a>,\u00a0Cape Town<\/a>,\u00a0South Africa<\/a>.\u00a0 Because what he does is considered extremely dangerous and because he has suffered some consequences of that danger, lots of Whuffos say he\u2019s \u201ccrazy\u201d.\u00a0 Jeb Corliss is not crazy.\u00a0 He\u2019s a life-lover, who challenges himself to do things that are incredibly difficult and which have serious consequences.<\/p>\n I personally think that every truly dedicated pilot should put proximity flying in his bag o\u2019 tricks (my mother always referred to our cat\u2019s scrotum as his \u201cbag o\u2019 tricks\u201d.\u00a0 This is a different bag).\u00a0 Lately, I\u2019ve realized that my own ability to proximity fly has declined. \u00a0I first realized it when Bert Garrison and I were attempting to As a teacher of flying, I\u2019m working on, and will eventually figure out a way to teach, proximity flying.\u00a0 The twin objectives of teaching and protecting will have to be utmost, allowing the student to practice on a tree top while the teacher protects him from too low a hit or any other mistake that can create a hazard.<\/p>\n Since most modern flight instruction and regulation is dedicated to making sure that pilots are only marginally capable, virtually all proximity flying is illegal. \u00a0There are FAR\u2019s which specifically prohibit such acts or, at the very least, condemn such flying as \u201ccareless and reckless\u201d.\u00a0 Those who have drunk the Kool-Aid of the government\u2019s need to regulate everything will also condemn those who practice it.\u00a0 They\u2019ll also condemn wingsuiters, some aerobatic pilots and other stunters as being \u201ccrazy\u201d. \u00a0 When my father was younger, he had a trademark stunt which involved jumping a horse over an old car.\u00a0 I\u2019ll bet there were a lot of people who, seeing that stunt, remarked that he was \u201cCrazy\u201d.<\/p>\n In fact, any time you hear someone say, \u201cThat guy\u2019s crazy\u201d, you may assume that what they are actually saying is \u201cI\u2019m a wuss-puss\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0Those whuffs will place the importance of long life high above the importance of living an exciting and fulfilling life.\u00a0 That\u2019s interesting, because most of those folks will be forgotten.\u00a0 They\u2019ll never be quoted.\u00a0 Jack London will never be forgotten and he\u2019s the guy who is often quoted:<\/p>\n \u201cI would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>And\u2026<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cI’d rather sing one wild song and burst my heart with it, than live a thousand years watching my digestion and being afraid of the wet.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>photograph an airplane smacking the top of a pine tree which edged the runway at Sisters.\u00a0 I think I made a half dozen passes on that tree for one in which I barely touched it.\u00a0 I\u2019m still practicing. \u00a0Years ago I performed a stunt flying routine for a PBS pilot which is now on the Tailwheeler\u2019s Journal (https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/\/2012\/flight-part-1\/<\/a>\u00a0 at 4:25).\u00a0 Doubling for Dennis Sherwood, who did a masterful job of playing the part of a new ultralight pilot, I bounced off the top of a parked DC8 and smacked the top of a lone tree while flying an ultra light.\u00a0 The performance of those acts really wasn\u2019t the object.\u00a0 Well, it might have been the object for that show, but now the practice of proximity flying has a totally different purpose.\u00a0 Sure, the smacking of a tree-top with one of my wheels may look cool and may be exciting, but the object is to improve and try to perfect the placement of that airplane\u2019s tire exactly where I want it to be.\u00a0 Like so many things that are worth doing, I will never perfect it.\u00a0 I\u2019ll improve, but I\u2019ll never be perfect.\u00a0 That makes it worth doing.\u00a0 To constantly improve, when perfection is out of reach is a very worthwhile pursuit.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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