Thu, Dec 11, 2008
So what makes pilot Charles "Chuck" Aaron's airshow act so
special? Well, all you had to do was watch his HELI-AEROBATIC act
at Oshkosh to know that something SERIOUSLY DIFFERENT had come to
Wittman Field. The Red Bull BO-105 CBS, made by
Eurocopter/Messerschmitt Boelkow Blohm (MBB), blew everyone away
with a routine rarely seen anywhere, much less at world-class
airshow like Oshkosh.
As noted in our 2008 Oshkosh coverage, how he got there is
enough to write a book on. It almost seems that he was born into
aviation, although Chuck will say he was never pushed into it. For
him, his father (a flight instructor) was "my greatest
inspiration." This ignited the fire... but it was rotorcraft that
gave him that feeling of a "magic carpet ride."
Fast forward several years... to when energy drink company Red
Bull asked him if he could make a helicopter perform aerobatics.
Chuck needed some time to ponder the notion, but he soon came
around to the idea. However, it took one-and-a-half years to
convince the FAA, and several modifications to his helicopter, to
make that dream a reality.
Besides the aerobatic certificate, Chuck also has an aerobatic
move named after him -- similar to the Lomcevak, called (naturally)
the "Chuckcevak."
So what drives Chuck to do what he does? "I really want young
kids to see what I'm doing, take that experience and take their own
dreams and say what can I do that is as big as that is in
aviation."
And what's next for Chuck in all his endeavors? Chuck is working
on making additional modifications to his aircraft so he can hover
upside down. "It's going to take a lot of work and even though I
know how to do it, it's going to take a lot of nerve to do it, and
I'm just not there mentally yet," said Chuck.
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