2022 Art Scholl Memorial Showmanship Award - Kirby Chambliss

Air show performer Kirby Chambliss was named the 2022 recipient of the Art Scholl Memorial Showmanship Award last Thursday. Presented each year by ICAS to recognize excellence in air show entertainment and showmanship, the award is intended to exemplify the qualities of showmanship demonstrated by Art Scholl throughout his long career as an air show performer.

During the presentation ceremony on December 15 in Las Vegas, Chambliss was recognized for more than three decades of air show excellence, combining precision aerobatic maneuvers with an entertainment flair that has made him one of North America’s top air show performers. Chambliss was lauded for his many years of work as a solo performer, as well as his involvement with the Red Bull Air Force aerial circus that combines his performance in the Edge 540 monoplane with parachutists and the aerobatic MBB Bo 105 helicopter.

Chambliss becomes the 37th recipient of the Scholl Award, joining perhaps the air show community’s most exclusive club with air show legends Bob Hoover, Gene Soucy, Leo Loudenslager, Les Shockley, Jimmy Franklin, John Mohr, French Connection Air Shows, and the Canadian Forces Snowbirds.