If you're lucky, one day you may have a near-death experience that will make you appreciate the joy of life in the most powerful way imaginable. If you are a Red Bull Air Race pilot, those experiences look like this.


This is Matt Hall at the qualifying day—June 5th—of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship 2010 race in Windsor, Ontario. Matt touched the water after turning on one of the pylons. It looked like it was going to be a fatal crash, but he used his amazing skills to miraculously recover from the accident. It really doesn't get more scary than this.

Next Thursday I'll go to Linden Airport, NJ, to meet Matt and the rest of the 15 genius daredevils flying in the championship, using the fastest acrobatic planes in the world. There, I will do this


to tell you how it feels. Hopefully, I won't have to kiss death on the lips myself, but if I do and she gets me to bed, I just want to publicly say that Matt Buchanan gets all my comics and my iPad.

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Click to viewThe Red Bull Air Race is coming to New York City on June 19 and 20. It will take place over the Hudson River. Tickets prices go from the $1,250 of the VIP area to the $45 to stand at Liberty State Park, in Jersey City, New Jersey. [Red Bull Air Race]