Kirby Chambliss | |
|---|---|
 Chambliss in 2010 | |
| Born | October 18, 1959 |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Spouse | Kellie Chambliss |
| Website | teamchambliss.com |
Kirby Chambliss (born October 18, 1959 in Corpus Christi, Texas) is an American world champion aerobatic and air race pilot who raced in the Red Bull Air Race World Series under the Red Bull brand.
Chambliss was born at Corpus Christi, Texas, United States. As a boy, he wanted to be a pilot. Chambliss became inspired by watching his father professionally skydive growing up, and was fascinated with the aerial stunts the plane would undergo while chasing the divers as they fell. [1] During his high school years, he fueled aircraft to earn money. By December 1975, at the age of 16, Chambliss debuted in solo flying after formal flight training, [1] and earned his private license the following March. In the beginning, he earned his living as a certified flight instructor and then as a night freight pilot.
His later job as a business jet pilot enabled him in 1985 to take aerobatic flight training and to buy his own aerobatic plane. Winning top honors in his very first contest, Chambliss worked his way up to the elite "unlimited" level. [1] In 1997, he became member and then captain [2] of the US Aerobatic Team. He won five U.S. national championships and 13 medals at the world championships. He holds the title 2000 Men's Freestyle World Champion, [1] and has logged over 27,000 flying hours. In 2013, Chambliss lost power performing a high Alpha pass at the Illopango El Salvador Airshow. Chambliss exited his aircraft with minor injuries after a forced landing on a rocky embankment. [3]
Chambliss enjoys performing in traditional airshows throughout the year when he is not training or competing. Since 2003, he takes part at the international aerobatic competition Red Bull Air Race World Series as a member of the Red Bull team along with his teammate Hungarian Péter Besenyei. He was the champion of 2004, [2] and finished the 2006 Series as the champion again with four wins of eight rounds in his Zivko Edge 540 aircraft. [2] To stay in shape for enormous g-forces and exact timing, he runs four miles five days a week.
He lives with his wife and fellow pilot, Kellie, and their daughter, Karly Nicole, at the Flying Crown Ranch in Arizona, United States.
On January 24, 2020, one of Kirby’s planes was involved in a fatal aircraft crash at Iztapa Airport in Escuintla while under control of his friend Steve Andelin. Steve and two ground spectators were killed in the crash. [4]
| Kirby Chambliss at the Red Bull Air Race World Series | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Points | Wins | Rank |
| 2003 |  DNP |  3rd | 4 | 0 | 3rd | ||||||||||
| 2004 |  1st | 1st | 2nd | 17 | 2 | 1st | |||||||||
| 2005 |  9th |  4th | 4th |  DNS | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 21 | 0 | 3rd | |||||
| 2006 | 1st |  3rd |  1st |  CAN |  1st | 5th | 3rd | 1st |  3rd | 38 | 4 | 1st | |||
| 2007 | 4th |  6th | 4th | 3rd | CAN |  5th | 5th | 2nd |  5th | 2nd |  CAN | 6th | 28 | 0 | 4th |
| 2008 | 5th | 3rd | 1st |  CAN | 4th | 1st | 12th | 2nd | CAN | 8th | 46 | 2 | 4th | ||
| 2009 | 9th | 12th |  3rd | 3rd | 8th | 5th | 34 | 0 | 4th | ||||||
| 2010 | 6th | 8th | 5th | 3rd | 3rd | 6th | CAN | CAN | 41 | 0 | 4th | ||||
| Series not held between 2011 and 2013 | |||||||||||||||
| 2014 | 11th |  10th |  9th |  4th | 10th | 10th | 11th | 7th | 7 | 0 | 10th | ||||
| 2015 | DNS |  7th | 11th | 10th | 12th | 3rd | 11th | 12th | 9 | 0 | 11th | ||||
| 2016 | 4th | 6th | 3rd | 4th | 9th | 8th | 14th | CAN | 30.25 | 0 | 8th | ||||
| 2017 | 11th | 4th | 8th | 1st | 1st | 4th | 6th | 10th | 53 | 2 | 4th | ||||
| 2018 | 3rd |  12th | 13th | 10th | 3rd | 7th | 8th | 3rd | 34 | 0 | 6th | ||||
| 2019 | 8th | 11 | 0 | 8th | |||||||||||
| Total | 229 | 8 | |||||||||||||
Legend:
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 gliders for training, recreation, entertainment, and sport. Additionally, some helicopters, such as the MBB Bo 105, are capable of limited aerobatic manoeuvres. An example of a fully aerobatic helicopter, capable of performing loops and rolls, is the Westland Lynx.
Patty Wagstaff is an American aviator and U.S. national aerobatic champion.
The World Championship Air Race is a series of air races sanctioned by the World Air Sports Federation (FAI). Originally established in 2003 as the Red Bull Air Race, and created by Red Bull GmbH, the event involves competitors navigating a challenging obstacle course in the fastest time. Pilots fly individually against the clock and have to complete tight turns through a slalom course consisting of pylons, known as "air gates".
Beverly "Bevo" Howard was an American aerobatic pilot and aviation businessman.
Michael Eugene Mangold was an American aviator whose career spanned the United States Air Force, commercial airlines, and aerobatics. Mangold competed in the Red Bull Air Race World Series from 2004 through 2009, where he repeatedly placed first and won the World Championship in the 2005 World Series, as well as the 2007 World Series. His nickname and call sign in the military was "Mongo".
Frank Versteegh is a Dutch aerobatics pilot. He is also an airshow organiser, a flight safety committee member, a FAI judge and a freestyle aerobatics competitor.
Alejandro "Álex" Maclean was a Spanish TV film producer and aerobatics pilot, who competed in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship under the number 36. Maclean was nicknamed "The Flying Matador".
Michael George "Mike" Goulian is an Armenian-American aerobatic national champion aviator who raced in the Red Bull Air Race World Series under the number 99.
Glen Dell was a South African commercial airline trainer and aerobatics pilot, who was qualified to race in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in seasons 2008 and 2009.
Sean Doherty Tucker is an American world champion aerobatic aviator. He was previously sponsored by the Oracle Corporation for many years, performing in air shows worldwide as "Team Oracle". Tucker has won numerous air show championship competitions throughout his career, was named one of the 25 "Living Legends of Flight" by the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in 2003, and was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2008. He has led several efforts to assist youth in learning to fly or becoming involved in general aviation, and currently serves as co-chairman of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)'s Young Eagles program, a role he has held since 2013.
Leo Loudenslager was an American aviator. He is one of two aviators to have won seven national aerobatic titles and is one of only three Americans to win the World Aerobatics Championship title.
Charlie Hillard was an American aerobatics pilot, and the first American to win the world aerobatics title.
Pete McLeod is a Canadian professional aerobatic pilot whose first competitive flight was in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in 2009.
Matthias Dolderer is a German professional race pilot. He is the 2016 champion of the Red Bull Air Race.
Matt Hall is a third-generation pilot, a former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fighter combat instructor, international unlimited aerobatic competitor and the first Australian to be selected to compete in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, starting in 2009. He won the championship in the final season of Red Bull Air Race in 2019.
Roland Archer Nicholas Turvey was a champion aerobatic and air show pilot in South Africa.
Tamás Nádas was a Hungarian aerobatics pilot and world champion air racer. He was born on 20 March 1969 in Hungary, and died when his plane crashed at an airshow in Qatar on 7 March 2014.
Charles "Chuck" Aaron 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, and one of only four such pilots in the entire world. 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. 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.
Jimmy Marshall Franklin was an American aerobatic pilot. He performed at airshows, both solo and as part of teams, for over 38 years until his death at an airshow in Moose Jaw. Born and raised in Lovington, New Mexico, Franklin learned to fly at age 8 and bought his first airplane at 19 and flew his first airshow the same year.
| Current pilots (Master) | |
|---|---|
| Current pilots (Challenger) |
|
| Former pilots | |
