Charles "Chuck" Aaron (

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

"Malibu") is an American pilot notable for being one of a handful of pilots licensed by the

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

to perform

aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...

in a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and one of only four such pilots in the entire world. In 1980, Aaron worked on the air rescue program for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...

, and he founded his own company, ''FX Helicopters'' in Westlake Village, California in 1997. Aaron announced his retirement from the airshow circuit in 2015 and made his last performance for Red Bull at the November 2015 Red Bull Air Race World Championship in Las Vegas. Aaron is also an experienced test pilot, having test-flown a

TADS/PNVS The Target Acquisition and Designation Sights, Pilot Night Vision System (TADS/PNVS) is the combined sensor and targeting unit fitted to the Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter. Both systems are independent, but housed together. Lockheed Martin signe ...

Missile Guidance System for the

Boeing AH-64 Apache The Boeing AH-64 Apache () is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night visi ...

; 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. Aaron performed

aerobatic maneuver Aerobatic maneuvers are flight paths putting aircraft in unusual attitudes, in air shows, dogfights or competition aerobatics. Aerobatics can be performed by a single aircraft or in formation with several others. Nearly all aircraft are capab ...

s—loop, roll, vertical climb,

Split S The split S is an Aerobatic maneuver and an air combat maneuver mostly used to disengage from combat. To execute a split S, the pilot half-rolls their aircraft inverted and executes a descending half-loop, resulting in level flight in the op ...

, Cuban Eight, Immelman, and "Chuckcevak" (modified Lomcovak)—at

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air show m ...

s and other demonstrations in an

MBB Bo 105 The Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Bo 105 is a light, twin-engine, multi-purpose helicopter developed by Bölkow of Ottobrunn, West Germany. It was the first light twin-engine helicopter in the world, and the first rotorcraft that could perform a ...

, with proprietary modifications invented by Aaron, that allow it to perform maneuvers previously impossible for helicopters. This was featured in the opening sequence of the James Bond film ''

Spectre Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...

''. He once served as Chief Pilot and Director of A&P Maintenance for the

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...

N.A. One of Aaron's TAH-1F Cobras is flown on the European air show circuit, b
"The Flying Bulls"
It was heavily damaged/destroyed by the R.B. European pilot in an accident in May 2017. In 2019, Aaron opened a helicopter aerobatics flight school based at

Concord Regional Airport Concord-Padgett Regional Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located seven nautical miles (13 km) west of the central business district of Concord, a city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States. According to the FAA's ...

Awards

* 1978 Received the "Sikorsky Rescue" Award for Saving a Life as a civilian flying a Sikorsky helicopter * 2006 Built First Ever FAA Certified Aerobatic Helicopter and Received the First Ever Air Worthiness Certificate from the FAA for a aerobatic helicopter. * 2009 Art Scholl Showmanship Award * 2011 became a Member – Society of Experimental Test Pilots * 2013 became a Inductee – Living Legends of Aviation * 2014 Awarded the Pilot of the Year Award – by the Helicopter Association International * 2016 Became a Board Member of HAI * 2016 Awarded "Lifetime Member" by the HAI * 2018 Started the First Ever FAA approved "Helicopter Aerobatic Training School" known

References

External links

Chuck Aaron - A Living Legend of Aviation
- archive of official site (http://chuckaaron.com/), now defunct, which was always redirected to Red Bull site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aaron, Chuck American test pilots Aviators from California Helicopter pilots Living people Red Bull 1948 births