Aerobatic Flyer Kirby Chambliss Wins a World Series with his Lycoming

The 300,000 spectators who lined the banks of the Swan River in Perth, Australia November 19th were treated to a spectacular aerobatic show. Moving at incredible speeds, six pilots maneuvered their planes along the arduous course, darting in and out of inflated pylons strategically placed on the water. They performed rolls (where the plane literally flips over) and loops. The crowd was mesmerized.

A healthy respect for gravity

"It's dangerous," says pilot Kirby Chambliss. "You're flying very fast, around 260 miles per hour often only 10 – 20 feet off the water, and you're doing these outrageous things with your plane. If we weren't highly experienced, it wouldn't take much of a mistake to kill us."

Chambliss, from Arizona, was the odds-on favorite to win the Red Bull Air Race World Series. Out of the previous seven races, held this past year at locales around the world, he had accumulated the most points – 34. He only needed to place third to earn the extra points needed to become champion. He did it with a time of 1:20 to become the overall winner of the Red Bull Championship.

In the DNA

The son of a sky diver, Chambliss has flown more than 60 different kinds of planes. At 28, he was the youngest Captain for Southwest Airlines. When he was 24, he started training for competition aerobatics. "It's so mental. You really have to stay focused and become one with the plane."

That can be a challenge. "I hit the water at 170 miles per hour during an air show in China. The ailerons (moveable flaps on the wing that are used to control rolling and banking movements) jammed. It was like driving down the road and your steering wheel won't move," says Chambliss. "Everyone said I was very lucky. I said I was sort of lucky. If I had been really lucky, it wouldn't have happened." Chambliss adds that setbacks make him work even harder. "When I don't win a competition, the guy that beat me was myself."

Chambliss' Edge 540 plane spans 24.4 feet by 20.7 feet and is lightweight. It climbs at the brisk rate of 3,700 feet per minute and its wings are able to withstand up to 20 G's of force. He says it looks and feels like a rocket with wings.

The 47 year old pilot has won 8 aerobatic races. In 2000 he won the men's World Aerobatic Championship (freestyle). He's taken 11 medals for international aerobatic competition and he's a five time winner of the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships. "Everything I've ever done has been with a Lycoming engine. It's the only engine of its kind that can stand up to the torture of unlimited aerobatics."

In fact, most of his competitors use Lycoming engines. "The Lycoming 327+ hp is strong. My life really does depend on my Lycoming."

His respect for Lycoming extends to the people he works with as well, like Dennis Racine, who have supported and sponsored him over the years. "They don't come any better," says Chambliss.

What's next?

He says he's already made his fingers raw from signing thousands of autographs and there will be more visits with fans and the press.

On December 19th, the Fox Sports Network (FSN) is planning to air the final leg of the Red Bull Air Race World Series. "It will be nice to sit back and relive that day," says Chambliss with a grin.

Then he'll be back to his regular schedule of practicing two to three times daily at his Arizona home. It boasts a private airport with a runway where he can take off and do all the loops he wants, in his own back yard. But, isn't that exactly what you'd expect from the champ?

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