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New Orleans Air Show March 19-20 MINI SS La Rally

juanprado

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Greetings,

After 4 weeks of ongoing contacts, ( has been much more challenging this time) I have been able to secure permission for Steel Soldiers to exhibit/participate at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans 2022 Airshow on March 19-20. If you watched NCIS- New Orleans- it was prominently featured on many episodes. It is back after a 5 year hiatus.


This would be similar for those that participated in 2017. It is a great time and the Blue Angels will exhibit and my favorite "fat Albert" will be back. Fat Albert is a c130 with a jet assist takeoff.

We are limited to 10 trucks this time.

The out of town folks camped at Bayou Segnette State Park where they have primitive and rv camping. Pricing , maps, information , and reservations are made @

The campgrounds are nice & have a table at each site along with hook up sites. Each site can accommodate rv or trailer. For primitive camping and small trailers, you could buddy up as 6 are allowed and 2 vehicles should fit on the pad. I have attached a map. All reservation are through the state park website. If you reserve a site then post up so others can be close to you as there many available. 2 bathroom/shower complexes. The only down side I see is that there is no shelter or pavilion at the camp site so we would need someone to bring a popup and be the "host".

campground prettier picture:

There are also nice cabins in the park maybe 2 miles away. Kind of pricey but can accommodate 8 people. Cabin #4 has the most parking available with 8 slots so if you are buddying up and need parking space that is best.


or stayed at a hotel on HWY 90 on the westbank as there are many options.

Many arrived on Friday and got situated with a social Friday Evening.

We departed from the State Park convoy style each morning as we all have to be cleared and enter as a group. Security will meet us at the designated spot and escort us in. No stragglers as everyone has to go to together. We have to be at the base gate by 7:15 so we will depart at 6:30 sharp. We lined up on the outer approach road to the campsites inbetween 6-6:15 . No drugs, booze, knives or fireams. Trucks will be thoroughly inspected by dogs and Air Force Security police.

At the commercial gate, Security might want to see your registration, insurance, and they recommended 2 forms of ID. ( military, ss card, passport, Driver's License, Etc). As I tell my scouts "Be Prepared!" :) This was not a problem last time but be ready.

At the end of the day, we drive off and come back the next morning using the same procedure.

Past pictures and info here:

I will need firm commitments for the 9 remaining slots. (not my limit but our host) I would like you to pm and give me your email and phone number.
Trucks do not have to be OE, conversions or non tactical ok as long as there is some connection to be a former steel soldier. Marty's awesome campers for example are ok and Doug's fliteline van for example. I will bring my HMMWV.
 

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juanprado

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Lots of fun today. SS represented today by me and Winfred.
F35 were a treat I had not seen previously at an air show.
Fat Albert was there and flew around but no jdam jet assist takeoff. I met an airman with another c130 squadron that told me the stress on the airframe as most of these birds are 20 years old is the reason they no longer demo at air shows.

Relatively cold for New Orleans and very windy this morning. My wife stayed in the hmmwv till it got warmer as we had to be there super early.20220319_153429.jpg20220319_153409.jpg20220319_090245.jpg20220319_090321.jpg20220319_153350.jpg20220319_090233.jpg20220319_090151.jpgIMG_3093.jpg20220319_090227.jpg
 
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juanprado

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"Buff" came out as a static display but this baby was from Minot. Not sure how those guys even found the air base after liberty visiting the French Quarter :)

Real interesting that a B52 from Barksdale was not here instead.


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juanprado

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This PLS was not armored but was immaculate like it just rolled off the Oshkosh factory line. Still had the new truck smell.

The boat was interesting and different than the bridge erector boats I have seen previously with the LA Guard Engineering bridge building unit out of Slidell.

This thing was like a motorized dock/tug boat.

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juanprado

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Navy VFA-204 squadron "River Rattlers" is an all reserve top notch squadron ( I understand one of the best any where) that is the main defense force for this part of the gulf and surrounding area. They are a 24/7 ready alert status with birds on tarmac always hot.

Notice the distinctive Russian camo they wear and the red star as they also do aggressor training.

they had 5 birds in the air at the show demoing how much fun they have using taxpayers jet fuel on a weekend.... unfortunately I did not catch any pics.

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juanprado

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Metairie/La (N'awlins)
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One of the coolest flights was a WWII F4 corsair being escorted on a victory lap by F35's. On Sat it was one on one. On Sunday they had 2 F35's.

I had never seen the F35's previously at an air show. They also did several flight Demos and showed off their capabilities. They were from Hill AFB in Ut
 

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runk

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We (wife and I) were in New Orleans for vacation last week. Saw some flyovers on Thursday, mainly F-16. She said there were more on Friday at the zoo. My dad picked me up Friday to go to Louisville over the weekend. He was in the same hotel as the Blue Angels Thursday night and got a chance to chance to chat with several of the pilots. Good to see everything went off well, the pilots were concerned about the forecast winds over the weekend.
 

juanprado

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On fri they do a mini VIP and Corp sponsor show not open to public.

Wind definitely was kicking sat. The US Army Parachute demo was probably having a challenging time. The air speed streamers they dropped from the Huey drifted way far from the runway.
Better on Sunday.
 
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