Page 11 - Twin and Turbine June 2017

In 2003, the Red Bull Air Race held its inaugural contest, securing its place as the fastest and most challenging motorsport series in the world. In 2004, Chambliss won his first Red Bull Air Race World Championship, a feat that he repeated two years later. Chambliss has competed in every Red Bull Air Race since its launch in 2003.
“At its inception, you had to be one of the top 15 aerobatic pilots in the world to compete. I fell into that category, so I got an invite. I’m an adrenaline junkie and have always had a need for speed. Low-level flight, passing through air gates at 230 mph seemed appealing. There was still some elements of aerobatic flight involved. I think all those elements rolled into one are what really got me involved,” Chambliss explained.
The air race took a three-year hiatus starting in 2013 for safety improvements and reorganization. Chambliss returned to the Air Race and has been competing ever since. His race airplane is a modified Edge 540 V3 powered by a Lycoming IO-540 engine and sporting a maximum speed of 265 mph.
“The race plane is always a work in progress. Our team has an aeronautical engineer on staff that designs mods and we are constantly tweaking to gain performance from the plane,” he said.
As the races take place at venues around the world, Chambliss’ race plane must make the journey to the next location, sometimes halfway around the world. “That’s probably the No. 1 question I get: How do you ship a race plane?” he laughed.
For his airshow routine, Kirby is working on several new elements, including the Red Bull Air Force skydivers, a helicopter and some new maneuvers.
After the team takes the plane a part, the wing is placed in a cushioned box that resembles a giant suitcase. The tail goes into its own suitcase and the two fuselages are wrapped in bubble wrap and strapped to what Chambliss calls a steel “cookie sheet.” The components are then shipped via air or sea freight to the next locale where the team is waiting to reassemble the plane.
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June 2017
TWIN & TURBINE • 9