Air laying a 11 foot tall renanopsis?

[mjHuntingtonBeach]

I have a renanopsis Lion's Splendor that I've had for over 10 years. It's now too tall to manage, and a lot of the leaves between the top and root base have gotten burned or died so only the leaves in the top 2-3 feet are healthy.

There are new growths down at the base, but those will take years to flower. So what I'm thinking is trying to air layer say 3 feet from the top and if roots form, cut just below that and I'll have a nice manageable plant around 2 feet up from pot level. But there are no roots forming except waayyyy down at the bottom. I don't expect naturally forming roots at that level before the plant is 24 feet tall lol.

So any thoughts as to how to do this, and how successful might it be? I'd like to shorten it to just below where the flower spike is coming out. The picture was from last October, the spike is gone now.

[estación seca]

When I was at the Tamiami Show a vendor was selling top cuts of various Renanthera hybrids. I don't remember whether most or any had roots. Perhaps contact some of the Florida Vanda nurseries and ask for suggestions.