As driver/pilot of the World’s Fastest Jet Powered Truck, Neal has been involved in the Air Show Business nearly 10 years
After being involved in Motorsport Production most of his life Neal and wife Marilyn turned over the business to son John in 1999. Neal had also been involved in several types of racing over the years and had always been interested in Jet Engines. In 2002 the decision was made to purchase a Truck with a Jet Engine. The deal was made and after intense training and licensing with both NHRA and IHRA Drag Racing, Neal & Marilyn were on the road with the newest Jet Truck on the circuit – the Flash Fire Jet Truck. With Neal’s interest in flying and Air Shows it didn’t take long before he was racing airplanes at Airshows with the truck.
In 2005 Neal and two of the Top Aerobatic Pilots in the Airshow Business started an Act called Team Chaos Extreme Airshows. The Team now includes Neal Darnell, Randy Harris and Gary Ward. Team Chaos has become one of the Top Acts in the Air Show World today. With over 20 years in the Promotion Business as the Producer of many major events, Neal understands the importance of Showmanship. He knows how to handle the Media to help get that front page photo and story in the newspaper and that very important coverage on the Evening News.
Back in 2005 Neal set the Airshow Speed Record of 375 miles per hour racing an Airplane at a Military Base in Florida. This Record still stands today and makes Flash Fire the “World’s Fastest Jet Truck”.
Kirby Chambliss knew from a very early age that he wanted to be a pilot and went airborne at 13. By 21, he was a pilot for a business jet company; at 24 he became the youngest commercial pilot at Southwest Airlines; and he made captain by 28. It was that very first job that led him into aerobatics.
"That first time we turned the airplane upside down, my whole focus changed," he remembers. "To me, flying was about being upside down and cart wheeling the airplane, taking an airplane and just ripping the guts out. That's what I still love to do." He went on to claim five U.S. National Aerobatic Championships, which caught the eye of officials from the Red Bull Air Race. "I loved aerobatics, I loved speed, and I did low-level flying anyway, so to me it was a natural fit." By 2006, he was the Red Bull Air Race Champion, a title he's gunning to reclaim again.
If there are limits to everything, no one told Chuck Aaron. Chuck is the first and only civilian pilot to be licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration to perform aerobatics in a helicopter, which he does 25 times a year across the U.S. in a tricked up BO-105, courtesy of Red Bull.
"People absolutely can't believe what they're seeing," Chuck says, laughing. "How can a helicopter go upside down and flip over backwards and do all those crazy things?" After flying 33 different helicopter models for more than 18,000 hours of flight time, you'd think Chuck, with his laid-back demeanor, handlebar mustache and surfer blond hair, would have absolutely no fear of flying.
"I'm nervous every time I get in an aircraft for an air show," Chuck says. "I have this ritual where I sit in the helicopter for 30 minutes and redirect my thinking to the maneuvers and the safety mechanics. But risk is what it takes in life."
He's been in charge of NASA's Space Shuttle Air Rescue Program and done stunt flying in films like the Rock and television shows like NCIS. He helped the U.S. Department of Defense develop and test night-vision systems and rebuilt three Cobras from leftover military parts. He's been a crop duster and traffic reporter and has flown banners at the beach. But it's what he does these days in a helicopter: back flips, 360-degree rolls, and a heart-stopping combination known as the Chuckcilvak that has earned him daredevil status.
The future is likely to find Chuck hovering upside-down in the Red Bull helicopter, "I've pretty much figured out the mechanics, I just need to convince the pilot," he says. Whatever we catch him doing next, one thing is certain: The sky is the limit.
