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 as ...

"Malibu") is an American pilot notable for being one of a handful of pilots holding an FAA waiver 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 "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...

in a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, 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 agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, 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. ...

, 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. Chuck Aaron travels around the world as a keynote and aviation speaker, and was recently interviewed at the Smithsonian'
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 The Hughes/McDonnell Douglas/Boeing AH-64 Apache ( ) is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. Nose-mounted sensors help target acquisition, acquire targets an ...

; 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 flying, formation with several others. Nearly all a ...

s—loop, roll, vertical climb,

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

Cuban Eight A Cuban eight or Cuban 8 is a figure eight aerobatic maneuver for both full-scale and radio-controlled fixed-wing aircraft. Variations include the half Cuban eight and reverse half Cuban eight, intended as directional changes and which are liste ...

Immelman Immelman is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Henry Immelman (born 1994), South African rugby union footballer * Mark Immelman (born 1970), South African sportscaster * Nicolaas Immelman (born 1993), South African rugby union f ...

, and "Chuckcevak" (modified Lomcovak)—at

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

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 ...

, 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 writt ...

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

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

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

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 an aerobatic helicopter. * 2009 Art Scholl Showmanship Award * 2011 became a Member – Society of Experimental Test Pilots * 2013 became an 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

A LIVING LEGEND IN AVIATION
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aaron, Chuck 1948 births Living people American test pilots Aviators from California Helicopter pilots Red Bull people