Who’s the pilot doing the midair stunts over the Columbus airport?

No, that is not a plane on a crash course in the airspace over the Columbus Metropolitan Airport.

Since December, Columbus real estate developer Marty Flournoy has been practicing in his stunt planes during the late afternoon hours. Many people who live near and frequent that part of north Columbus have noticed Flournoy and several other local pilots working on stunt moves.

“There is a great deal of structure to this,” Flournoy said Wednesday morning when asked about his pursuit. “This not someone saying, ‘Hold my beer and watch this.’ What we are doing is similar to figure skating moves.”

Flournoy, 61, is one of eight members of the U.S. national team preparing to participate in the international championships in Romania this summer. He flies a number of planes, but owns a 1971 Pitts Special aerobatic biplane.

Until late last year, Flournoy was practicing in southern Harris County over a large tract of private timber land before moving to the airspace over the airport three months ago.

“There were some kids flying drones in that area and they were at 3,000 feet, which is highly illegal,” Flournoy said.

Most of his work in the small planes is done between 1,500 and 3,500 feet. He petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration and the Columbus Airport Authority to permit him to practice over the airport runways.

That permission was granted by both entities, Flournoy said.

Because of the altitude in which he practices, Flournoy said there is a lot of margin for error.

While practicing, he usually has a ground spotter and additional set of eyes with the air traffic controller in the Columbus tower. He is in communication with the tower so he knows when private planes are taking off and landing. Most days, he does not take off until after the last commercial flight leaves Columbus about 6:30 p.m.

Flournoy has been a licensed pilot since 1979 and an aerobatic pilot for the last 23 years.

“I want people to know that I am not some daredevil out there and I don’t have a deathwish,” Flournoy said.

This story was originally published March 21, 2018 at 3:25 PM with the headline "Who’s the pilot doing the midair stunts over the Columbus airport?."