Kirby Chambliss

Kirby knew from a very early age that he wanted to be a pilot and went airborne at 13. 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.

"Our chief pilot was a sharp guy," Kirby says. "He said, ‘Look, all of my guys get aerobatic training. If that jet ever ends up upside down with a CEO on board, I want you to be able to turn it right-side up.'" With the novelty of commercial flight already waning for the young pilot, the opportunity for inversion was a little more than he could resist. Besides, it was his job. "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."

One thing led to another and he started competing and winning. He went on to claim five U.S. National Aerobatic Championships. In 2003 he was approached by officials from the Red Bull Air Race, and was shocked by what he saw. "I was just in awe," he says. "First of all, I didn't know Red Bull was so big. And then the racing—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 in 2009.