Salvelinus

I wouldn't bother with air-layering that tree. You could probably just root the branch you cut off. Ficus root quite easily. In fact, you could (and probably should) root some of what you cut off. That way, you have more stock in development, and they are all free. That's what my tree was.

Having said that, if you want to go with a chop, there is no need to do it now. Rockm has some good suggestions. Just leave it as is, letting the part of the trunk you intend to chop off become the sacrifice branch to grow out the trunk below. Once the lower part of the trunk is near the size you want, cut off the part you don't want. In the meantime, grow out and train the low branch that is to become the new leader.

Keeping the top cut back is something to do once the trunk is nearly done and you're starting to look at branch development. Just think far enough ahead so that you don't have excessively thick branches in the apex, where they should be thinner (because on a mature tree they are younger).

Ficus are great to learn on, because they are so flexible, adaptable, and tolerant. Just remember that this hobby takes time. Ficus definitely take less time than a lot of other species, but you still need to invest time. The tree above was developed in 4 years. That's nothing in the bonsai world. It could have been a much better tree if I had taken even more time, but if you read the story you would realize that it kind of developed itself. I have other ficus which are much older, but they are much farther away from being presentable because I am taking the time to develop them from the ground up.

In a few years, you just might have a little beauty there!

__________________
Namaste,

--Scott ><>

"There seems to be no survivors to interview, but I suspect [kamakazi pilots] did not shout 'traytree' the moment before their personal sacrifice." -Herb Gustafson