NBAA-BACE 2025 to showcase vintage aircraft for the first time in history
October 11, 2025
This year’s NBAA-BACE show is fast approaching. Being held in Las Vegas, Nevada, the annual event is the world’s leading showcase for all that is new in the world of business and executive aviation.
Except that the 2025 incarnation of the show will be a little different. The event this year will feature a unique retrospective on aviation of the bygone era, with several classic vintage aircraft being put on display for the first time in the event’s history.
The world’s biggest business aviation show returns
The National Business Aviation Association 2025 Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) show is taking place at the Las Vegas Convention Centre between 14 and 16 October.
Said to be “the industry’s most influential event of the year, the show highlights the industry’s latest innovations and services and hosts the leaders who are shaping its future.”
All of the main companies in the world of business aviation will be attending this year’s event, with leading industry names such as Airbus, Aviat, Boeing Business Jets, Bombardier, Cirrus, Daher, Embraer, Epic, Gulfstream, Honda Aircraft Company, Piaggio, Pilatus, Piper, Tecnam, Textron Aviation, all in attendance, displaying their latest developments and newest aircraft offerings.
Tribute to Flight: Something different at NBAA BACE 2025
This year’s show will feature something a little different from previous shows. The event’s main aircraft display, known as the Aircraft Connection, will feature many of the newest aircraft available in the sector, all in their high-technology and eye-catching splendour.
However, this year, there will be a variety of iconic vintage planes that undoubtedly will turn the heads of attendees, as part of a special ‘Tribute to Flight’ exhibition.
The exhibition will feature classic aircraft such as a de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito, a Douglas A-26, a Douglas DC-3, a Lockheed P-38 Lightning, and a fully preserved 1965 Learjet 23.
As a juxtaposition illustrating just how far aviation has come, these will be displayed alongside newly certified aircraft, including Game Aerospace’s aerobatic GB1 GameBird.
Classic aircraft on display at NBAA BACE
The Douglas DC-3 will be presented by Vaerus Jet Sales. The company’s example of the classic twin-engine airliner has been fully restored and is described as being in immaculate condition.
Meanwhile, the De Havilland Mosquito is a true warbird classic. Built in the UK from 1940 to 1950 and known as the ‘Wooden Wonder’, the wooden-fuselage twin-engined Mosquito served with several air forces worldwide as a multi-role combat aircraft with almost 8,000 built in total.
The Douglas A-26, presented by Million Air, was an American twin-engined light bomber and ground attack aircraft.
Developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II, the Invader also saw service during several major Cold War conflicts. The type was built between 1948 and 1965, with 2,503 aircraft being built during that time.
The P-38 Lightning was a single-seat, twin-engine fighter-bomber produced in its thousands for the US armed forces and other air forces worldwide.
Built between 1941 and 1945, over 10,000 of the type were built in total. While the US Air Force retired its Lightnings in 1949, other air forces worldwide went on to fly them well into the 1960s.
The rarest of Learjets will make an appearance
An early production Learjet 23, appearing as part of the Tribute to Flight exhibition, will certainly be one aircraft that draws the crowds at a business aviation show.
According to AIN, the example being displayed, registered N477K, was the 36th Learjet to roll off the line and was built in 1965. These days, the type cannot be flown without hush kits fitted to its pair of GE CJ610 turbojet engines for fear of falling foul of modern FAA noise regulations as well as emissions standards.
As the only remaining Learjet 23 that is still flyable and fitted with the necessary hush kits, N477K will appear at the show before heading off to auction for public sale in November.
A fitting tribute to aviation, old and new
Capping off the opening day of NBAA-BACE on 14 October, the Tribute to Flight Pavilion will host the show’s first-ever Golden Hour Toast.
As the sun sets over the site, NBAA leaders as well as other industry players “will salute aviation’s storied past, groundbreaking present, and trailblazing future,” said an NBAA-BACE statement.
“We are thrilled to have this expansive display of aircraft that are pushing the boundaries of technology, powering companies of all sizes and redefining what’s possible in on-demand mobility,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen.”
“We look forward to welcoming everyone to the NBAA-BACE Aircraft Connection for an inspiring new way to celebrate the pioneering spirit that defines aviation in every era,” Bolen added.
