It’s one of Vicky Benzing’s favorite sounds in the world. It’s the sound of her Stearman biplane warming up a she prepares to do some aerial acrobatics. Benzing is one of the country’s top stunt pilots, and is one of the headliners of the 2019 “Wings Over Camarillo” air show.
She’s been flying for most of her life, and says it’s in her blood.
Benzing says she was still in college when she got serious about aviation, taking flying lessons and buying her first plane. Benzing says in the mid 2000’s, she flew with air show legend Wayne Handley, and got serious about stunt flying. Benzing also started flying in the Reno Air Races, an exciting competition in which planes race around pylons, flying low over the desert floor.
But this weekend, she’s going to do aerobatics in her 1940’s vintage Stearman biplane for the crowds at the Camarillo air show. Benzing does 15 to 20 airshows a year, and says she lives for her time in the air.
The gates open at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday at Camarillo Airport, with the aerial show from noon to around 4:30 p.m. each day.
