Fri, Sep 03, 2021
Chambliss Has Been A Member Of IAC Since 1986
The International Aerobatic Club has named the recipient of its 2021 IAC Hall of Fame Recipient, awarding Kirby Chambliss the honor. The Hall of Fame was formed in 1986, the same year Chambliss joined the IAC.
“I don’t ever remember saying I wanted to be a pilot, I just always wanted to be a pilot,” Chambliss says.
HIs backstory is quite interesting, as he began flying at just 13 years old. At 21 he became a corporate pilot and was sent to a 10-hour aerobatic course with Duane Cole to train in a Decathlon. At that point his love of aerobatics became an obsession.
By 24, he was the youngest commercial pilot at Southwest Airlines and made captain by 28. Flying commercial became a way to finance his aerobatics, although he loved both.
Chambliss placed first in his first contest in a Pitts Special S-2A in 1986, the year he joined IAC. After the victory, he kept flying air shows and training to perfect his aerobatic skills. His hero Leo Loudenslager flew aggressively and that is what inspired much of Chambliss’s style over his career. Loudenslager was a US National Aerobatic Champion seven times and a 1980 World Aerobatic Champion.
Chambliss continued his impressive path by earning a spot on the US Unlimited Aerobatic Team in 1997-2005 where he served as a team captain three times.
He won the US National Unlimited Champion title in 1998 and won four more times between 2002-2005. He has accumulated 13 medals in the world competition and holds the title of 2000 Men’s Freestyle World Champion.
Kirby will join 2020 inductee Verne Jobst at the IAC Hall of Fame induction which takes place on Thursday, November 11 at the EAA Aviation Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
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