Jet engines roar above the skies of McMinnville for OR Intl. Airshow

MCMINNVILLE, Ore. (KPTV) - Some of the most talented pilots in the country took to the skies south of Portland Friday afternoon. The Oregon International Airshow began Friday afternoon at McMinnville Airport and features fighter planes from past and present, and an impressive group of acrobatic pilots as well.

The day began with an impressive display from two F-15′s flown by Oregon Air National Guard pilots. Some of the newest and oldest fighter planes that have flown in the U.S. Air Force flew Friday.

Jerry “Jive” Kerby, one of the performers, is a retired U.S. Air Force Pilot who flies a 1984 L39-C fighter jet at air shows across the country.

“I do a full aerobatic routine with it, I roll the airplane on takeoff and have big smoke coming out the back of it, and I try to keep the airplane as close to the ground as I can,” said Kerby.

Kerby says the L39-C was built in the Soviet-era Czech Republic and was used as a training jet in Eastern Bloc countries. But these jets eventually made their way to the U.S.

“They started coming into the states in the mid-nineties, quite a number of them,” said Kerby. “There is over 300 of these now in the United States.”

Kerby stuck to his word in his routine: When it was his turn, he took the L-39 jet close to the ground and made sharp turns and steep climbs.

The Oregon International Airshow continues Saturday and Sunday, with flying beginning at noon.