Chuck Aaron

Charles "Chuck" Aaron (call sign "Malibu") is one of a handful of pilots licensed by the FAA to perform aerobatics in a helicopter in the United States,[3] and one of only four such pilots in the world.[4] In 1980, Aaron worked on the air rescue program for NASA's Space Shuttle, and he founded his own company, FX Helicopters in Westlake Village, California in 1997.[5] Aaron announced his retirement from the airshow circuit in 2015[6] and made his last performance at the 2015 Red Bull Air Race World Championship in Las Vegas.

Chuck Aaron
Born (1948-11-21) 21 November 1948[1]
San Antonio, Texas
NationalityAmerican
Known forTAH-1F Cobra
Helicopter Aerobatics
Red Bull N.A.
AwardsArt Scholl Showmanship (2009)
SETP Member (2011)
Living Legend of Aviation (2013)
HAI Pilot of the Year (2014)
Aviation career
Full nameCharles Aaron
First flight1968[1]
Flight licenseFixed-Wing & Helicopter Pilot,[2]
Helicopter Aerobatics (2005)
(all FAA)

Aaron is also an experienced test pilot, having test-flown a TADS/PNVS Missile Guidance System for the Boeing AH-64 Apache; and an infrared vision system as the first helicopter pilot to deliberately fly into known brownout conditions to test the MAX VIZ IR camera. He is also an FAA certificated Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic, and has assembled many helicopters, including TAH-1F Cobras from surplus parts.[7]

Aaron performed aerobatic maneuvers—loop, roll, vertical climb, Split S, Cuban Eight, Immelman, and "Chuckcevak" (modified Lomcovak)—at air shows and other demonstrations in an MBB Bo 105, with proprietary modifications invented by Aaron, that allow it to perform maneuvers previously impossible for helicopters.[5] This was featured in the opening sequence of the James Bond film Spectre.[8] He once served as Chief Pilot and Director of A&P Maintenance for the Red Bull N.A.[5] One of Aaron's TAH-1F Cobras is flown on the European air show circuit, by "The Flying Bulls".[5] It was heavily damaged/destroyed by the R.B. European pilot in an accident in May 2017. [9]

In 2019, Aaron opened a helicopter aerobatics flight school based at Concord Regional Airport.[10]

Awards
  • 1978 Received the "Sikorsky Rescue" Award for Saving a Life
  • 2006 Built First Ever FAA Certified Aerobatic Helicopter and Received the First Ever Air Worthiness Certificate from the FAA.

REDACTED DUE TO COMPLETE FABRICATION -

          • CORRECT INFORMATION ***** Rich Lee was the first Aerobatic Helicopter Pilot to be certified by the FAA Nearly 20 years before Chuck. Rich Lee was literally the test case for the FAA to issue a Statement of Aerobatic Competency for a helicopter. Additionally, Chuck was taught Aerobatics by Rainer Wilke in 2005. Rainer had been doing helicopter aerobatics since the 1970's. Joe Allen, Thomas Ashe, Gerald Keyser, Brad Donovan and nearly 20 others had a Statement of Aerobatic Competency long before Mr. Aaron. [11] [12]
  • 2009 Art Scholl Showmanship Award – International Council of Air Shows (first helicopter pilot so honored)[13]
  • 2011 Member – Society of Experimental Test Pilots[5]
  • 2013 Inductee – Living Legends of Aviation
  • 2014 Pilot of the Year Award – Helicopter Association International[5]
  • 2016 Awarded "Lifetime Member" by the HAI
  • 2019 "Hot Carl" of the Year Award - From his Aviation Peers

References
  1. "Chuck's Details". Chuck Aaron. Red Bull. 2013.
  2. Fawkes, Gregg (28 January 2003). "Upgraded: Chuck Aaron, Julia Schmitt". Aero News Network.
  3. Paur, Jason (1 June 2011). "Licensed to Loop: America's Only Aerobatic Copter Pilot". Wired.com.
  4. Cotnoir, Stephanie (17 June 2013). "Chuck Aaron: a Living Legend of Aviation". RotorNation.com.
  5. Padfield, R. Randall (25 February 2014). "Pilot of the Year Award: Chuck Aaron". HAI 2014 Heli-Expo News. AINonline.
  6. Aaron, Chuck (27 September 2015). "I am retiring from the "Airshow Circuit"".
  7. Helicopter Association International (26 February 2014). "Salute to Excellence Awards". HAI (rotor.com).
  8. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-04/every-single-expensive-thing-in-james-bond-s-spectre-explained
  9. https://airshowinfo.hu/airshowfeed/2017/05/25/flying-bulls-cobra-crashed-in-tyrol/
  10. Fedy, Dayna (14 March 2019). "Chuck Aaron opens helicopter aerobatics flight school". Vertical Magazine.
  11. . Federal Aviation Administration [www.faa.gov www.faa.gov] Check |url= value (help). Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. "Going Inverted - Vertical Magazine". Vertical Magazine. Vertical Magazine.
  13. "Chuck Aaron". Red Bull Air Force. Red Bull. Archived from the original on 2015-10-12. Retrieved 2014-05-06.
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