Something for everyone at Wings Over Camarillo

A Howard DGA-15 on final approach to Camarillo.

After missing it for several years, I was eager to attend the Wings Over Camarillo Air Show again.

One of my favorite West Coast air shows, 2025 marked the 44th year of this event. I really like the friendly, local ambience of this show, with a busy flight schedule filled with local pilots.

A sea of chairs surrounds one of the last U.S. Navy Lockheed P-3C Orions. The last active-duty P-3 squadron transitioned to its replacement, the Boeing P-8A Poseidon, in 2020.

With more than 100 aircraft to see, and more than 50 taking to the air during the day, there was a lot for the 20,000 attendees to see over the weekend of Aug. 16-17 at Camarillo Airport (KCMA) in California.

A quartet of T-34 Mentors perform during the air show. The T-34 Mentor was a military adaptation of the Bonanza Model 35 design, capable of +10g and -4.5g loads.

KCMA happens to be the home of the Southern California chapter of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), so there was no shortage of historic aircraft to see, especially with several aircraft from the Planes of Fame in Chino, California, attending.

A pretty warbird duo comes by show center for a photo pass. The P-38 Lightning is from Planes of Fame and the P-51 Mustang is part of the Palm Springs Air Museum collection.

“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 six airworthy survivors.

The Pacific Theater warbird formation photo pass with “Wall of Fire” pyro display was spectacular for the attendees and probably unnerving for local residents.

The ever-popular Wall of Fire. As a T-shirt at the show proclaimed: “An Air Show Without Pyro Is Just Another Fly-In.”

The Ventura County Sheriffs used one of its Firehawk helicopters for an impressive water drop demonstration.

Anyone on the announcer stand ask for water? A Ventura County Fire Department HH-60 Firehawk conducts a demonstration water drop. This is one of three former military Blackhawks acquired by VCFD and retrofited with a 1,000 gallon external fixed water tank with a retractable snorkel system.

A notable premiere was Pivotal conducting a flight demonstration with its unique eight-rotor Helix eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft.

A Pivotal Helix eVTOL conducted a flight demo at the Wings Over Camarillo air show. Apart from the rotors, there are few moving parts (no landing gear either). The Helix eVTOL can be yours for $190,000.

Aaron Fitzgerald impressively rounded out the rotorcraft performances with the Red Bull Bo-105 helicopter doing maneuvers that are unnatural but impressive nonetheless.

Aaron Fitzerald flings the Red Bull Bo-105 helicopter across the skies of Camarillo. This highly modified helicopter has a rigid rotor system that allows it to perform maneuvers that are impossible for most other helicopters.

For 2025, the slate of aerobatic performers included John Collver, Judy Phelps, Tony Higa, and local favorite Jason Somes.

Judy Phelps brings her Pitts S-2B past show center during the 2025 air show. Judy flew her very first air show performance here in 2011.

Tony Higa streaks through blue skies in his Pitts S-1S. In 1996, Tony participated in the 18th World Unlimited Aerobatics Championship for Japan as the country’s first ever competitor. He has been performing in air shows since 2016.

Jason Somes taxies out to perform for the hometown crowd in his Polish-built MiG-17F. Jason is type rated in 17 different aircraft, many of them warbirds.

It’s always a treat to see a performer for the first time or with a revamp, like Sammy Mason, performing this year with a classic Stearman.

Sammy Mason makes an inverted photo pass in his classic Stearman. Perhaps Sammy will paint his name on the side upside down as he has on his other aircraft.

Proving size isn’t everything, Torrey Ward performed in his diminutive Subsonex Microjet.

Torrey Ward zips by in his Subsonex JSX-2 MicroJet. Torrey is the only pilot to have flown a SubSonex microjet coast-to-coast in a single day

Garret Willat was on hand for a quiet routine in his Grob G-103 sailplane.

Garret Willat pilots his Grob G-103 glider “Sailplane Magic.” The Willat family have been performing air show sailplane routines since 1979.

Besides Jason Somes and his popular Mig-17, there was also The Pink Jet. The latter is a Czech L-39 Albatros with a very distinctive pink livery, on a mission to raise breast cancer awareness and fundraising using aviation.

An Aero L-39 Albatros, AKA “The Pink Jet,” makes a photo pass. The Pink Jet made its world debut last year at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

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

The Dawn Patrol RV Formation Team in action. Based in Chino, these ex-military and civilian pilots fly Vans RV airplanes with over 5,000 hours of combined formation time.

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

The Condor Squadron make a formation fly-by in their North American AT-6/SNJ Texan aircraft. Founded in 1965, the Van Nuys-based team has flown with as many as 10 Texans.

A good variety of aircraft were out on static display — with the aforementioned warbirds intermingled with modern military, and a ramp was thick with general aviation both modern and classic.

A Davis DA-2A homebuilt with a flat-sided “box” fuselage and angular appearance, deisnged intentionally for ease of construction. First flown in 1966, it won several awards at Oshkosh that year, including “most outstanding design.”

Among the aircraft in Jason Somes’ collection is this huge Soviet-era Antonov An-2. This is one of the world’s biggest single-engined biplanes.

A Travel Air 4000 tries to blend in with two D-4-D siblings. Only six of these 1929 Travel Air D-4-D aircraft were built.

Two noteworthy static displays were the Parker AlienAir, an unsuccessful experimental VTOL aircraft powered by a Toyota engine, and an Ampaire Cessna Skymaster flying hybrid testbed with piston power in the rear and an electric motor up front.

The Parker Alienair was a unique, Burt Rutan-designed, experimental VTOL aircraft created by Parker Aerospace. The rear ducted fans pivoted for vertical thrust and a vertical fan is enclosed forward of the cockpit. Completed in 2007, it could taxi and perform a brief hover of a few inches at the time.

What appears to be a Cessna 337G Super Skymaster is actually a hybrid, with an electric forward motor and a battery in its belly pod. Flight operations for Ampaire’s experimental aircraft take place here at Camarillo.

The weekend air show not only featured skydivers and aerial demonstrations, but there were also science, technology, engineering and math exhibits, as well as 200 cars of all types exhibited on the tarmac.

A car parade is part of the festivities at Wings Over Camarillo. This year’s show honored several comminuity organizations and nonprofits.

Yes, 2025 was another enjoyable show put on by the organizer, the Camarillo Wings Association. Since 2010, CWA has donated more than $750,000 to local organizations and non-profits, promoting local aviation and youth STEM activities.

A sleek Globe GC-1B Swift taxies by patriotically. Introduced in 1946, more than 1,500 were produced before production ended in 1951.

Next year’s show is slated for Aug. 15-16, 2026.

For more information: WingsOverCamarillo.com

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