Danger Zone: What It's Like to Fly in Red Bull's Aerobatic Plane

With the Red Bull Air Race coming to New York City this weekend, I was offered an opportunity to fly in one of the aerobatic planes that will be zipping along the Hudson and buzzing the Statue of Liberty. The idea is to get a feel for the high speeds and intense G forces pilots experience as they negotiate a track that one veteran flyer said was designed by a "bumble bee in a jam jar."

As I ride out to Linden Airfield in New Jersey, I casually ask my contact about crashing.

"It's not...