Lady Liberty should plan to duck.
Fifteen stunt pilots will zip through New York Harbor at hair-raising speeds for an unprecedented air race that will turn the waters off Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty into an obstacle course of giant inflatable pylons.
The event will take place June 19 and 20, and organizers have promised not to fly alarmingly close to city landmarks, as Air Force One did last year. That ill-planned photo op terrified New Yorkers with memories of 9/11.
“I think you’ll see subdued photo flights around the landmarks, but you won’t see any crazy buzzing; that’s for sure,” said Michael Goulian, one of two American pilots competing in the race.
Organizers of the Red Bull-sponsored event hope the scenic backdrop will help the fledgling sport go mainstream.
Getting permission for the competition required approval from 16 agencies over three years, race director Jim DiMatteo said. ‘‘They made me prove every step of the way what we were doing to keep the crowd safe,” the former Navy fighter pilot, told The Post.
In the first air race in New York Harbor, the pilots will spend 70 seconds flying a cloverleaf-shaped route at up to 255 mph. They’ll zip through and around 13 gates.
The hairpin turns cause the pilots to pull g-forces that feel “like a house sitting on your chest,” said the other American pilot, Kirby Chambliss.
Up to 35,000 spectators will fill Liberty State Park in Jersey City.
“We’re superstoked to be coming to New York,” said Chambliss, a Texas native.
Qualifying races will occur June 19, with the finals, broadcast live on Fox the next day.
“Flying an airplane at 1,000 feet is very different than at 50 feet,” Goulian said. “The margin of error is gone, and the safety cushion isn’t there.”
There have been crashes at a Red Bull air race. Yesterday, a plane ditched in the Detroit River during a qualifying race in Windsor, Ontario. The Australian pilot was unhurt.
“The reality is if you were even to hit a building in one of these airplanes, you probably wouldn’t even break a window; they’re pretty light.” Chambliss said. “But you have to be sensitive to what’s going on there in New York.”
The Planes
* Top speed: 255 mph
* Engines: 6-cylinder; about 350 horsepower
* Weight: 1,150 pounds
* Fuel in each plane: about 10 gallons
* Specially designed, US-built aerobatic airplanes
* 24 feet in length with a wingspan of 22 feet
* No ejector seat
The course
* Contenders: 15 pilots, including two Americans
* Course length: 17,700 feet
* Course time: about 70 seconds
* Race Format: The pilots fly the course one at a time, with the fast pilots advancing to the next heat. The winner will have flown the course five times over two days.
* Penalties: 6-second penalty for clipping a pylon; 2-second penalty for flying over a pylon
* Other rules: Planes cannot reach more than 12 g-force.
