Phil Knight flies home to Hillsboro after a short hop from Redmond

Phil Knight flew from Roberts Field in Redmond, Oregon, to his home base at Hillsboro Airport on May 18, 2026, a 29-minute hop aboard his Gulfstream G500, N19HT. The flight, which reached 15,700 feet and a top speed of 389 knots, is the latest in a string of short regional trips this month — including a May 14 round-trip to Palm Springs and a May 11 flight from the same desert destination.

The short hop comes the same week the Knight name remains in Oregon headlines for reasons far beyond aviation. In August 2025, Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, pledged $2 billion to the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute — the largest single donation to a U.S. college, per OPB and OHSU News — to transform cancer research, diagnosis, and patient care. The gift, which made the institute self-governed the institute within OHSU, was described by Dr. Brian Druker as providing insulation from federal research cuts. Knight, who built Nike from a $1,000 investment, has now donated more than $4 billion through his foundation.

Knight’s personal hangar at Hillsboro Airport — a 29,000-square-foot facility built for $7.6 million in 2014, per the Times of India — houses two jets: N1KE, a Gulfstream G650, and N19HT, the G500 used today. The fleet’s recent pattern shows Knight moving frequently between Oregon, Palm Springs, and Arizona, with occasional longer hauls to Dublin and Scotland. This week’s flight simply brings him back to the quiet 5.2-acre property in Hillsboro where the man who put a swoosh on the world still lives.