2025 Hunter Valley Airshow
Report and photos by Ryan Imeson
March 17, 2025
Nestled in the heart of New South Wales is the Hunter Valley. A place best known for its wine and its picturesque views of the countryside.
On February 8 and 9, it was to be home for one of Australia’s premier aviation events.
Held at Cessnock Airport, approximately 50 minutes from Newcastle CBD was the Hunter Valley Airshow (HVA). This biennial show has become a must-attend for aviation enthusiasts from across the nation.
Previous iterations of the show have seen beautiful sunny Saturdays, followed by Sundays consisting of pouring rain and freezing temperatures. That was not to be the case in 2025.
Whilst humidity and temperatures were high, the sun was out for a large portion, much to the delight of all attendees. And with a crowd line that faces east, it also meant the sun spent most of the show behind the crowd, certainly a welcome change for photographers!
Paul Bennet Airshows were able to put together another world-class lineup of flying machines, ranging from the modern day F-35A Lightning II to the Zivko Edge 540 high performance aerobatic monoplane. Of course there was everything else in between; P-51D Mustangs, Yak 52’s, R22 helicopters, there was something for everyone.
Opening up the show was the famous flag drop featuring parachutist Paul Smith gliding back to earth with a giant Australian flag dangling below, all while being circled by Paul Bennet in his Wolf Pitts Pro, the highest performing biplane in the world.
This was the first display of the day to feature Paul, one of eight. An absolutely incredible feat considering the high temperatures and the variety of different aircraft he was to pilot.
The Wolf Pitts, P-40E Kittyhawk, P-51D Mustang, Sea Fury, Piper Cub and the F4U-1D Corsair all had Paul at the controls for portions of the weekend.
A debut act for an Australian airshow was the two-ship Yak 52 formation aerobatic display by Glenn Graham and Michael Newby. Their display consisted of graceful aerobatics and plenty of tight formation passes including an extremely close mirror pass, replicating that made famous in the movie Top Gun. The phrase ‘keeping up international relations’ springs to mind.
Jeff Sparkes and Levi Wagner showed us that you don’t need to be in an aircraft to put on a fantastic airshow display. Their approximate 1:6 scale F16C and F/A-18 RC fighter jets looked every bit like the real things as they weaved through the sky on a number of occasions throughout the weekend.
Paying homage to Royal Australian Air Force training aircraft of the past is often seen at any airshow throughout the country.
Displays by the Wirraway and CT/4 did exactly that. A variety of solo and formation displays were flown throughout the weekend by Matt Henderson, Glenn Collins, Stephen Guilmartin and Matt Denning.
When an aircraft makes its airshow debut it is always an exciting time, especially when it’s a Spitfire.
The Queensland-based Spitfire Mk.IX piloted by Cameron Rolph-Smith was flown like many have never seen a Spitfire flown before.
Low to the ground and extremely fast, the Spitfire display was regarded by many as one of the highlights of the weekend. It also appeared in formation for a number of passes with Paul Bennet in the Pays Aviation P40E Kittyhawk.
‘Flying it like it was stolen’ was Glenn Graham throwing the Cessna O-2 Skymaster around. This push/pull Vietnam-era aircraft isn’t usually seen at an airshow like this.
A previous Advanced and Unlimited Australian aerobatic champion, Glenn performed a solo display in the O-2 and an aerobatic display in his beloved Zivko Edge 540.
Another highly impressive solo aerobatic display was Jesse Jury in the Pitts Model 12. Powered by a big M14P radial, this monster of a biplane can perform manoeuvres with absolute ease and was demonstrated beautifully.
Known as the Harley Davidson of the skies is the T-28 Trojan. To hear two of them fly together sounds like something out of Sons of Anarchy with those two R-1300 radial engines screaming overhead.
Everyday-civilian aircraft were excellently demonstrated throughout the weekend too, with solo displays by the Robinson R22 helicopter, the Lancair Legacy and the Beech Bonanza.
The Lancair in particular is an absolute rocket. Good luck to any photographer out there trying to chase this thing.
Live stunts are always popular at any airshow, so when two of the best you are ever likely to see take place at the one event, it makes for an impressive story.
Combine a Piper Cub and a Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD and you get an aircraft landing on the world’s smallest runway.
With the Cub flown by Paul Bennet, and the Chev driven by Tim Geluk, the ‘truck top landing’ requires unbelievable timing, communication and skill to execute.
If that doesn’t get the heart racing, then witnessing a motorbike backflipping over a low flying aircraft probably will.
Paul Bennet was back in the Wolf Pitts Pro at a near 0-feet altitude while Australian motocross rider Jackson Strong backflipped his motorbike over the top, a truly incredible feat.
Solo displays by Paul in the Wolf Pitts Pro and the Sea Fury show why he is one of Australia’s premier airshow display pilots. Further demonstrating this was the announcement during HVA that Paul would be performing at OSHKOSH 2025, arguably the world’s greatest airshow held in Wisconsin, USA.
Another airshow debutant was the Pays Aviation P-51D Mustang, a recently acquired warbird from New Zealand. It was flown in formation with the Bishopp Aviation P-51D, with a series of aerobatic manoeuvres and beautiful topside passes making up the demonstrations.
If you hadn’t read his name enough, Paul Bennet also took to the skies in the F4U-1D Corsair, the only one flying in the world.
A genuine veteran of the Battle of Okinawa conflict, this exact Corsair served with the US Navy as part of the VF-10 Grim Reapers squadron.
The Corsair made up 1/5th of the ‘Balbo’ formation at HVA, flying alongside the Avenger, the Spitfire Mk.IX and two T-28 Trojans. A Balbo is always a crowd favourite, which consists of a large formation of aircraft completing a flyby.
Paul wasn’t done yet.
Leading the Sky Aces over the skies of the Hunter Valley in the Wolf Pitts Pro was also on the agenda. Fellow Sky Aces Jett Bennet, Glenn Graham and Glenn Collins make up this world famous aerobatic team.
Four variants of Pitts aircraft looping, rolling, tumbling and crossing one another in close formation is worth the price of admission alone.
Father-son duo Paul and Jett had only performed together once previously at an airshow, so to do it at their home airport of Cessnock was quite special.
We spoke to Paul and Jett about their time in the Sky Aces together.
“It’s nice to be able to fly with your son. I’ve done all his training from the start. It’s enjoyable watching him excel at it” said Paul.
“A lot of father and sons don’t get to do this type of thing with their kids”
Jett spoke of his lifelong wish to fly with the Sky Aces.
“It’s been a dream for a very very long time. It’s pretty cool (flying with his father). I wouldn’t know any different, I’ve only ever flown with him”.
Closing off the display schedule each day was the Royal Australian Air Force F-35A Lightning II.
With the official demonstration pilot unavailable for the weekend, the keys were thrown to number 2 Operational Conversion Unit Commanding Officer, Wing Commander Phil Eldridge.
With a variety of minimum radius turns mixed with low and high speed passes, the F-35A handling display had many in awe, and was an incredible way to close off what was a truly great airshow.
APD wishes to thank Paul Bennet Airshows for their hard work in making the Hunter Valley Airshow happen, as well as hosting us for the entire weekend.
