Tumbling through the sky at 400km/h means leaving all ego outside the cockpit, even for Australia's top aerobatic pilot.
Paul Bennet has spent decades carving up the skies, as he pulls off torque rolls, double hammerheads and flips to the delight of audiences hundreds of metres below.
Growing up at Old Bar on the NSW mid-north coast, Bennet later moved to Newcastle where he truly fell in love with the sport and began to stretch his wings.
"When you close the cockpit, the world changes," he told AAP.
"It's just you, the air and the airplane.
"You become one with the plane and your wings become your arms - it's pretty cool."
Bennet began competing in aerobatic championships during the 2000s.