Fans flock to Wings Over Camarillo

Warbirds pass over the Wall of Fire: Representing the Pacific theater were a PBJ-1J Mitchell bomber, a Vought F4U Corsair, Grumman F6F Hellcat, and a very rare Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero.

One of my favorite air shows is Wings Over Camarillo at Camarillo Airport (KCMA) in California — and I’m not the only one, judging by the fans who attended the 41st show in 2022.

One reason is the fly-in ambience found with smaller scale events. Without the overwhelming presence of a headliner jet team, local talent get their day in the sun.

With the Planes of Fame airshow cancelled in 2022, Camarillo was the next best thing for warbird fans. Camarillo Airport is home to the Southern California chapter of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), so there was no shortage of historic aircraft in the sky, especially with several Planes of Fame aircraft joining the fun.

“Pretty Polly” is a Bell P-63 Kingcobra, a fighter that was not accepted for combat use by the United States Army Air Forces, seeing combat with the Soviet Air Force instead. This is one of five airworthy survivors.

The Planes of Fame Lockheed P-38J Lightning “23 Skidoo” on final approach after the World War II flight demonstration. Of the 10,000 produced, this is one of 10 airworthy examples.

The completion of the warbird flight demonstrations was punctuated with the much-anticipated Wall of Fire.

A quartet of T-34 Mentors perform during the 2022 Wings Over Camarillo airshow.

For 2022, the slate of performers was 100% civilian, including John Collver, Vicky Benzing, Judy Phelps, and Red Bull’s Aaron Fitzgerald.

John Collver soars overhead in his 1944 North American SNJ-5 Texan “War Dog.”

Judy Phelps brings her Pitts S-2B past show center during the 2022 Wings Over Camarillo airshow. Judy flew her very first airshow performance here in 2011.

Aaron Fitzgerald in a controlled inverted descent with the Red Bull MBB Bo-105 helicopter.

It’s always a treat to see a performer for the first time or with a revamp, like Sammy Mason, having upgraded from a Pitts Special to a new Edge 540.

Sammy Mason makes an inverted pass in his new Edge 540 during the 2022 Wings Over Camarillo.

Sammy Mason flies his Edge 540 past a fireball, note the dust kicked up from the shock wave from the explosion.

Sammy also performed with Edan Shalev as a dissimilar duo called the Clipper Aviation Aerobatic Team, making their debut at this show.

The Clipper Aviation Aerobatic Team made their airshow debut in Camarillo, comprised of Sammy Mason in the red Edge 540 and Edan Shalev in the blue GB1 Gamebird.

Tom Larkin also performed in his diminutive Subsonex jet.

Former F-15 pilot Tom Larkin performs in the Subsonex jet, inspired by watching BD-5J performances as a child.

The Ventura County Sheriffs did an impressive water drop demonstration with one of its new Firehawk helicopters.

The Ventura County Fire Department’s new Sikorsky Firehawk.

Another notable premiere was Jason Somes piloting his latest acquisition, a huge chunky AN-2 Soviet-era biplane. Jason returned later in the day in his fan-favorite scarlet MiG-17F fighter.

Jason Somes rumbles past show center in “Big Panda II,” a huge Soviet-era Antonov An-2.

Jason Somes roars by the hometown crowd during a high-speed afterburner fly-by in his Polish-built MiG-17F. Jason is type rated in 17 aircraft, many of them warbirds.

You can always count on a strong kit plane presence at Camarillo, with fly-bys of general aviation aircraft including the Dawn Patrol RV Formation Team with seven RVs.

The Chino-based Dawn Patrol RV Formation Team performs with a variety of Van’s RV aircraft during the 2022 Wings Over Camarillo airshow.

The last flight performance was by the Condor Squadron, a group of T-6 Texan pilots who performed a Missing Man tribute to veterans.

Founded in 1962, the Condor Squadron is a nonprofit group honoring veterans through flight demonstrations with their collection of AT-6/SNJ Texans.

A good variety of aircraft were on static display, including one of NASA’s T-34 Mentor chase planes, which was interesting to visit.

A NASA operated T-34C Mentor, used for pilot proficiency and low-speed chase duties.

The weekend airshow not only featured skydivers and aerial demonstrations, but there were also science, technology, engineering and math exhibits, as well as a classic car show and a World War II re-enactment camp, among the many displays and activities.