From fighter jets to vintage aircraft stunts: The Oregon International Air Show in photos
While pilots showed off stunts and maneuvers in the air, several vintage planes were available for people to look at on the ground.
The roar of fighter jets pounded over the tarmac at Hillsboro Airport Saturday afternoon as thousands of people gathered to watch an hourslong lineup of mid-air stunts at the Oregon International Air Show.
In addition to the opening demonstration by fighter jet pilots from Airforce Base Hill in Utah, spectators watched performances from skywriters, stunt pilots and historic military aircraft as they careened through the cloudy sky.
And on the ground, aircraft enthusiasts and casual spectators milled across the airport grounds to check out the multitude of planes, gliders and helicopters on display.
People got to take a closer look at new and vintage aircraft at the Oregon International Air Show at the Hillsboro Airport on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
Here’s a rundown — in pictures — of what The Oregonian/OregonLive saw at the show, which runs from Friday to Sunday this weekend.
Fighter jet demonstrations
United States Air Force fighter jets brought the show’s opening act, with multiple rounds of fly-bys that shook the airport with noise from the jets’ engines. Thousands of spectators clutched binoculars, cameras and phones as the pilots made their laps, occasionally sweeping close to the ground so that viewers could catch a better look of the hypersonic planes.
People got to take a closer look at new and vintage aircraft at the Oregon International Air Show at the Hillsboro Airport on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
Stunt performances
Nathan Hammond, Renny Price and Vicky Benzing took to the air in propeller planes during back-to-back stunt performances that left smoke trails across the sky.
Hammond — piloting the deHavilland Chipmunk “Ghostwriter” — caught cheers and applause from the crowd as he dived, looped and rolled. At one point, the show’s emcee connected Hammond to the speakers on the ground, allowing the pilot to narrate his stunts to the crowd as they watched from the ground.
Price brought another stunt-filled performance in a purple and white Russian Sukhoi SU-29. At times, the show’s emcee said, Price’s maneuvers subjected him to centripetal force equaling eight times earth’s gravity.
Nathan Hammond pilots the deHavilland Chipmunk Ghostwriter at the Oregon International Air Show at the Hillsboro Airport on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
Vicky Benzing followed up Hammond and Price’s acts in a vintage red Boeing Stearman biplane from 1940. A pilot, skydiver and aerobatic performer, Benzing also has a Ph.D. in chemistry, and once worked for a Silicon Valley tech company, according to her website.
Nathan Hammond pilots the deHavilland Chipmunk Ghostwriter at the Oregon International Air Show at the Hillsboro Airport on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
The crowd cheered and applauded as Benzing took the 85-year-old aircraft into a variety of rolls and loops.
Vintage warplanes and helicopters
Pieces of history also took to the air Saturday, as pilots showed off working Vietnam-era helicopters, as well as fighter planes and bombers from WWII.
The thumping sound of helicopter propellers beat through the air as a Bell UH-1H Huey helicopter — once used in Vietnam — soared above the runway, joined by a AH-1S Cobra Attack helicopter. As “Fortunate Son” and “All Along the Watchtower” blared through the event’s speakers, pilots from the Olympia Flight Museum demonstrated each of the aircraft’s flight maneuverability.
Renny Price pilots a purple and white Russian Sukhoi SU-29 at the Oregon International Air Show at the Hillsboro Airport on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
After the Bell Huey departed, the Cobra stuck around for a race against the ground-based Smoke-n-Thunder jet car, which sent pulsating booms across the airport grounds as it revved up. At the emcee’s mark, the two vehicles took off — with the jetcar leaving the vintage attack helicopter in the dust.
After the race, a small squadron of WWII aircraft took to the skies, puncturing the air with the sound of propellers as the emcee rattled out the technical specifications and histories of each plane.
Aircraft old and new
A row of planes, helicopters and gliders were arrayed on the ground for people to learn about, inspect and — in some cases — climb into.
Nathan Hammond pilots the deHavilland Chipmunk Ghostwriter at the Oregon International Air Show at the Hillsboro Airport on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
Wearing a bomber jacket and aviator glasses, Coy Pfaff, 29, watched carefully as people climbed into the cockpit of a P40N-1 fighter plane owned by Soaring by the Sea Foundation, the nonprofit he works for.
“This one served with the Royal Australian Air Force in World War II, down in the South Pacific,” he told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “It flew in combat in ’43 and ’44 until it was damaged and then abandoned in New Guinea.”
The plane was recovered from the jungle in 1973 and rebuilt by private restorers, according to an informational plaque from Soaring by the Sea. The foundation bought the plane in 2024.
“We don’t want to forget the sacrifices that they made,” Pfaff said of the veterans of WWII. “Keeping their machines alive, we can keep this flying for another hundred years and share it with people who aren’t even born yet.”
United States Air Force fighter jets opened day two of the Oregon International Air Show at the Hillsboro Airport on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
If you go
What: The Oregon International Air Show
Where: Hillsboro Airport (3355 N.E. Cornell Rd.)
When: Sunday is the final day. Gates open at 9 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. The show starts at about 12:30 p.m.
United States Air Force fighter jets opened day two of the Oregon International Air Show at the Hillsboro Airport on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
Tickets: Tickets start at $35 for adults, $10 for children and $25 for members of the military. Buy tickets and find more information at oregonairshow.com
— Tatum Todd is a breaking news reporter who covers public safety, crime and community news. Reach them at [email protected] or 503-221-4313.
©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit oregonlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Vicky Benzing pilots a vintage red Boeing Stearman biplane from 1940 at the Oregon International Air Show at the Hillsboro Airport on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
A Vietnam-era AH-1S Cobra Attack made an appearance at the Oregon International Air Show on Saturday.
The crowd enthusiastically greeted the WWII combat planes and their pilots as they returned to the runway.
A Vietnam-era AH-1S Cobra Attack made an appearance at the Oregon International Air Show on Saturday.
One of the featured events on Saturday at this year's Oregon International Air Show was a race between a AH-1S Cobra Attack helicopter and a Smoke-n-Thunder jet car. The jet car won.
WWII fighter planes and bombers also made an appearance at Saturday's airshow.
The crowds enthusiastically greeted the WWII combat planes and their pilots as they returned to the runway.
Coy Pfaff, 29, was at the Oregon International Air Show at the Hillsboro Airport on Saturday, May 17, 2025, with a P40N-1 fighter plane owned by Soaring by the Sea Foundation.
While pilots showed off stunts and maneuvers in the air, several vintage planes were available for people to look at on the ground.
A United States Air Force jet flies low over the Oregon International Air Show at the Hillsboro Airport on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
United States Air Force fighter jets opened day two of the Oregon International Air Show at the Hillsboro Airport on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
