A Hint of Australia Headed to Oshkosh 2025

Multiple Australian National Aerobatic champion Paul Bennet headed to Oshkosh Airshow 2025 as the first Australian invited to perform at the event.

Article: Ryan Imeson
Images: Ryan Imeson & Paul Bennet Airshows

Ask any aviation geek around the world to name an airshow that sits at the top of their bucket list to attend, and chances are that one show will spring to mind.

That is Oshkosh.

Widely regarded as the world’s greatest airshow, Oshkosh (or AirVenture 2025) takes place annually at Wittman Regional Airport in Wisconsin, in north-eastern United States.

This year’s airshow has seen a little Australian flavour added to the line-up.

Never before has an Australian pilot performed in front of the near-700,000 strong crowd.

Enter Newcastle local and multiple Australian National Aerobatic champion Paul Bennet.

A name synonymous with the Australian airshow scene, Paul has jetted off to the United States to showcase his talents to all and represent Australia at Oshkosh 2025.

APD spoke to Paul in the lead up to his debut performance about what it means to be the first Australian pilot invited to display at Oshkosh.

“It is an honour to be invited” he said.

“Oshkosh is the largest airshow and aircraft gathering in the world by a long way. I think it is the pinnacle of display flying”.

The July 21-27 event is expected to see 10,000+ aircraft descend on Wittman Regional Airport, while crowd numbers are predicted to reach around 650,000-700,000 people.

Paul will fly numerous displays throughout the week at Oshkosh in the Wolf Pitts Pro, a custom built biplane capable of reaching speeds close to 250 knots, with the aircraft limited to +10/-10g. It has an incredible roll rate of 380 deg/sec and is powered by a 400-horsepower Lycoming IO-54A 6-cylinder engine.

What sort of routine can visitors to Oshkosh expect to see from the Wolf Pitts Pro?

“They will see my solo display consisting of torque rolls, forward flips, double hammerheads and heaps of other cool stuff”, Paul said.

Getting an aircraft such as the Wolf Pitts Pro to an overseas airshow is not easy, however Paul Bennet Airshows are no strangers when it comes to a task such as this. For Oshkosh, the aircraft was loaded onto a cargo plane and flown from Sydney to Atlanta, and then made its way to Georgia.

Previous years have seen aircraft from the fleet perform regularly at airshows in locations such as South Korea and China.

“We are very used to packing aircraft to head around the world”, Paul explained.

“I normally try not to send the Wolf Pitts overseas however in this case it needed to come back to where it was designed and built”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year Oshkosh is celebrating 80 years of the Pitts Special, and it is thought that Paul Bennet Airshows might just have one of the largest private collections of Pitts aircraft anywhere in the world.

From the Wolf Pitts Pro to the two-seat Pitts S-2A, right up to the radial-engined Pitts Model 12. The Paul Bennet Airshows team has them all.

When asked what the process was like to fly the Wolf Pitts Pro, which is an Australian registered aircraft, over American skies, Paul explained that it wasn’t really a big deal. Nor was gaining approvals to fly his aerobatic routine at the usual lower altitudes that we are so used to seeing here in Australia.

“I needed permission from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and I had to do a US Low Level Aerobatics Approval through ICAS (the International Council of Airshows)”, he said.

“This involved an evaluation flight with an ACE and a test with an ACE”.

The Aerobatic Competency Evaluation (ACE) program administered by ICAS provides the entire airshow industry with a tool for evaluating the aerobatic competence of airshow pilots who perform aerobatics at U.S. and Canadian airshows.

Oshkosh always has an aircraft there for everyone, and 2025 will absolutely be no exception.

From the United States Air Force B1-B Lancer, Randy Ball and his MiG 17, right through to the Trojan Thunder T-28 team and the United States Marine Corps F-35B Lightning.

But it’s the ‘cats’ that Paul Bennet is excited to see the most.

“There is so much to see in the air and on the ground. I am looking forward to all of it, however the 4 cats will be amazing. Bearcat, Tigercat, Hellcat and Wildcat”,  he explained.

APD wishes Paul Bennet and his team all the very best for his debut performance at Oshkosh 2025. We know he will fly the flag for Australia and leave the crowds amazed at what he and his Wolf Pitts Pro can do. We also wish to thank him for being so generous with his time.