Chuck Aaron

Chuck Aaron
Chuck Aaron flying over Marine Corps Air Station Miramar on September 29, 2011
Born (1948-11-21) 21 November 1948 (age 75)[1]
San Antonio, Texas
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)

Charles "Chuck" Aaron (call sign "Malibu") is an American pilot notable for being one of a handful of pilots holding an FAA waiver to perform aerobatics in a helicopter in the United States,[3] and one of only four such pilots in the entire 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 for Red Bull at the November 2015 Red Bull Air Race World Championship in Las Vegas. Chuck Aaron travels around the world as a keynote and aviation speaker, and was recently interviewed at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

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]

Since 2019, Aaron provides helicopter aerobatics training, consulting services and travels throughout the world as a guest speaker.

  1. ^ a b "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. Archived from the original on 3 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d 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"". Archived from the original on 2021-12-26.
  7. ^ Helicopter Association International (26 February 2014). "Salute to Excellence Awards". HAI (rotor.com). Archived from the original on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Every Single Expensive Thing in James Bond's Spectre, Explained". Bloomberg.com. 4 November 2015.
  9. ^ Chuck Aaron, The living legend of aviation and film aerobatics shares his experiences (November 7, 2019). "Chuck Aaron - 11/07/2019". suu.edu. Retrieved November 7, 2019.