Gallery Update: Oregon International Air Show 2014 Recap

One weekend, I was at the Reno Air Races. The weekend after that, I was back in Oregon in time for the Oregon International Air Show held at Portland-Hillsboro Airport! September really has been the highlight of my air show buzz this year. This year's Oregon Air Show has been one of the best ones I've been to in a long time. Again, compared to last year's sequester-affected season, we had a really good line-up of performers, some of them personal highlights for me.

Event Details and highlights:

• The show headliner was the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, coming back to perform at the Oregon International Air Show for the first time since 1993. This was also the first time I got to see the Snowbirds perform, so naturally, I was waiting to go to this air show all year long. And believe me, the Snowbirds did not disappoint!
• U.S. military performances have returned! This year included the United States Army Golden Knights parachute team, the United States Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II demo, and the United States Air Force's F-22 Raptor demo along with the Air Force Heritage Flight. This year marked the debut of the F-22 Raptor at the Oregon International Air Show; the organizers have spent years trying to get a Raptor to come out to Hillsboro.
• Also a first for me was The Bremont Horsemen Flight Team, flying three beautiful Korean War-era F-86 Sabre jets choreographed to an equally-beautiful composition written by award winning composer James Horner. The team was led by legendary air race pilot, former champion, and current Unlimited Class pace plane pilot, Steve Hinton.
• Other performers include Sean D. Tucker in his new Oracle Challenger III (which is surprising considering that the company that sponsors Tucker, Oracle Corporation is in hot water with the state of Oregon!), two Canadian performances including Redline Aerobatics and Team Rocket (yeah, I know what you're thinking!) Aerobatics, the West Coast Ravens, Renny Price of Hammerhead Aerobatics, John Klatt in his Jet Waco known as "Screamin' Sasquatch" (which I saw the weekend before in Reno), and Vicky Benzing. The Alaska Airlines Group also represented and promoted their service here in the Pacific Northwest by bringing in one of their Boeing 737s as well as Dash 8 Q400 to the show through Alaska Airline's sister carrier, Horizon Air.

Here are the links:

Oregon Air Show 2014 - Civil

Oregon Air Show 2014 - Military

Oregon Air Show 2014 - Flight Ramp

Oregon Air Show 2014 - Static Display

Preview and highlights:

The Royal Canadian Air Force brought their version of the P-3 Orion, a Lockheed CP-140 Aurora (140110) maritime patrol aircraft for static display.

NASA McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A Hornet (N850NA) from the NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center on static display.

Of course, the highlight for me seeing the Canadian Forces Snowbirds for the first time! Photographed here is Snowbird #1, a Canadair CT-114 Tutor (114109) of 431 Air Demonstration Squadron.

Sean D. Tucker taxis back to the flight ramp in his Oracle Challenger III (N260HP) after a warm-up session.

Vicky Benzing taxis back to the ramp after her performance in her beautiful red Stearman (N63529).

The West Coast Ravens flying precision formation with six Van's RV homebuilt kit aircraft.

Brent Handy is new to the air show circuit as this year was his very first air show season! Here he is taxing his Pitts Special S-2B (C-GZPG) out for take-off prior to his routine.

Another personal highlight was seeing not one, not two but THREE F-86 Sabre jets! Steve Hinton leads the Bremont Horsemen in a beautiful display of these Korean War-era icons.

Renny Price taxis back to the ramp after his routine in the Sukhoi Su-29 (N699SU).

Team Rocket Aerobatic's F1 Rocket (C-GLOK) taxiing.

Team Rocket Aerobatic's Harmon Rocket II (C-FZXS) taxiing.

Horizon Air's De Havilland Canada DHC-8-401Q Dash 8 Q400 (N407QX) in University of Oregon Ducks livery doing a fly-by.

Another personal highlight for me was seeing Alaska Airlines bring in one of their Boeing 737-800s (N558AS) mainly because it was an aircraft with the new Boeing/Aviation Partners Split-Scimitar Winglets:

N558AS slowing down with reverse thrust and spoilers deployed upon touchdown. It's a rare sight to see a large, mainline commercial jet at a reliever/executive airport like Hillsboro.

N558AS back-taxiing on Runway 13 in preparation for departure on Runway 31; the taxiways were a little narrow for this bird while there was a crowd line.

Close-up view of the split-scimitar winglets on N558AS.

Spooling up the engines.

On take-off roll.

Gaining speed.

And rotate!

N558AS on its way back to PDX to be returned for revenue service. Thanks Alaska Airlines, for bringing in not one, but two of your planes to the show and representing your dedicated service to the Pacific Northwest!

John Klatt making some noise in his jet-powered Waco ATO (N32KP) known as "Screamin' Sasquatch" sponsored by Jack Link's Beef Jerky.

And now, the military stuff, starting with the Golden Knights:

Since there were a few performances hailing from Canada, a United States Army Golden Knights member presented the Canadian Flag during opening ceremonies.

Another jumper from the Golden Knights presented the American Flag soon after during the opening ceremonies.

United States Army Golden Knight's jump platform, a Fokker C-21A Troopship (military designation for the Fokker F27 Friendship) taxis back to the ramp.

The United States Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II:

Taxiing out for take-off.

Side-view as it's taxiing out.

Coming in hovering.

Hovering while turning 360 degrees.

Taxiing back to the ramp after the demonstration.

Taxiing back, the pilot giving the thumbs-up.

The United States Air Force F-22 Raptor demo and Air Force Heritage Flight:

Same Raptor and pilot that performed at Reno the week before. However unlike Reno, they kept the Raptor over the Air National Guard Base located at PDX, probably for "security reasons." Here she is screaming in over Hillsboro Airport at the start of the demonstration with some afterburner.

View of the belly of the beast, in afterburner!

Once again, I had to get a shot of the pass with internal weapons bay exposed, with much success of course!

Photo pass.

Three icons of American air superiority (and air dominance) in one frame: the F-86 Sabre with Steve Hinton at the controls, with not one, but two P-51 Mustangs (a D and a K variant), and the F-22 Raptor during the first pass.

Second pass of the United States Air Force Heritage Flight.

The third and final pass of the Air Force Heritage Flight.

Formation break! This was by far one of the best Air Force Heritage Flights I've ever witnessed! It just can't get better than two P-51 Mustangs, an F-86 Sabre, and the F-22 Raptor!

North American Aviation at it's finest! While the F-22 Raptor went back to the PDX Air National Guard Base, we got a good glimpse of the P-51s and the F-86 that participated in the Air Force Heritage Flight. Here are the two P-51 Mustangs, the red one in the front is a D-model known as "Val-Halla" (N151AF) and the blue one in back is a K-model nicknamed "Fragile but Agile" (NL98CF).

Steve Hinton brings his F-86 Sabre nicknamed "Hell-er Bust X" (NX1F) back to the ramp, while keeping his distance from the Mustangs in front of him.

"Val-Halla" (N151AF) taxiing back to the ramp.

"Fragile but Agile" (NL98CF) taxiing back to the ramp.

Steve Hinton taxiing "Hell-er Bust X" (NX1F) back to the ramp.

And last but not least, the Canadian Forces Snowbirds:

Air show smoke on, the flight of nine CT-114 Tutors begins their act.

A beautiful display coming out of 51 year old jets.

Another cool angle on all nine aircraft.

All nine Tutors passing with smoke on.

They may not be the loudest, but they make for a different kind of air show routine with how graceful the team flies.

Taxiing back after finishing with their routine. The Snowbirds did not disappoint! I'll take them any day, any air show!

With the 2014 Oregon International Air Show out of the way, that also means that my personal air show season is done as well, making this my last major update for the year. Definitely a good year considering that I've gotten two air shows (the Legacy Air Show and the Oregon Air Show) and the Reno Air Races on my belt for the year. But that doesn't mean I'm done being an AvGeek for the year! No, no, I'm definitely going to take a break from any major aviation photography for the time being but I'll keep shelling out the occasional update from time to time when opportunity allows for it. In the meantime, I'm going to just look through my photos, enjoy my ever growing collection, and start picking out some of my personal favorites for the annual end-of-the-year montage as well as for my PlaneImages.net profile. Anyways, enjoy the photos and keep an eye out for the occasional, smaller photo updates!