How can a helicopter do that?

MARCH 31, 2008 — There are some things you just shouldn’t be able to do. And the maneuvers of the Red Bull Aerobatic Helicopter top that list. The helicopter is the only aerobatic helicopter performing in North America, and will fly the first several days at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2008, held July 28-Aug. 3 at Wittman Regional Airport. Red Bull's BO-105 CBS helicopter, a stock Eurocopter/Messerschmitt Boelkow Blohm, is flown by Chuck Aaron, who holds the distinction as the only pilot authorized in the United States by the FAA to fly aerobatics in a helicopter. His performances feature aerobatic maneuvers achieved previously only in fixed-wing aircraft, including loops and rolls, but also nearly the entire regimen of maneuvers reserved for fixed-wing aircraft. Among those are the Split-S, Immelman, Half Cuban Eight, and even the challenging Lomcevak, slightly modified by Aaron for the helicopter. "Generally, people absolutely can’t believe what they’re seeing," Aaron said. "How can a helicopter go upside down and flip over backwards and do all those crazy things?’ It’s because the helicopter is categorized as experimental, allowing Aaron to push the envelope of the aircraft’s flight capabilities. “Originally, it scared me to death!" Aaron said. "I’d seen airplanes do loops and rolls and back flips, but not helicopters!" After a couple of years of experimentation, often with Eurocopter’s factory test pilot instructor, Rainer Wilke, in the seat beside him, Aaron found ways to tease aerobatics out of the helicopter, powered by two 425 hp Allyson Rolls Royce C-20B turbine engines, that were previously unimagined. Aaron has been flying helicopters for more than three decades and has more than 17,000 hours of total flight time. But he is also a respected member of the United States’ brain trust of helicopter experts, researching, designing and improving military applications of rotorcraft.

The Red Bull Aerobatic Helicopter will amaze crowds at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2008. Photo: Red Bull. Pilot Chuck Aaron has more than 17,000 hours flight time in helicopters. Photo: Red Bull. See it fly! Click here to see the Red Bull Aerobatic Helicopter fly and do back flips on YouTube.

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