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| Text & Pictures: Chris Tonthat (an i2i Production) ©sbap 2021 |
| Naval
Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans is located in Belle
Chasse, unincorporated Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. NAS JRB New
Orleans is home to a Navy Reserve strike fighter squadron and a
fleet logistics support squadron, the 159th Fighter Wing (159 FW) of
the Louisiana Air National Guard, Coast Guard Air Station New
Orleans, a detachment of a Marine Corps Reserve light helicopter
attack squadron, as well as other US Navy & US Army activities. The base has a 24/7 operating schedule to support both the 159 FW's NORAD air sovereignty/homeland defense requirements and for Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans search and rescue/maritime law enforcement/port security missions. Alvin Callender Field (IATA: NBG, ICAO: KNBG, FAA LID: NBG) which is located three nautical miles (6 km) south of the central business district of New Orleans was inaugurate on April 26th, 1958. The base's predecessor, NAS New Orleans, occupied the current location of the University of New Orleans's principal campus until 1957. Current
occupants: |
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| The
2022 airshow at NAS Joint Reserve Base (JRB) New Orleans was perfect!
Perfect weather and perfect flying resulted in perfect memories.
The March 19th event was hosted by VFA-204 "River Rattlers",
the 122nd Fighter Squadron "Bayou Militia", and the US Coast
Guard New Orleans. Along with the local host units, other
demonstration teams included the USAF F-16C, USAF F-35A, the USN F-35C
and the Blue Angels. The US Marine Corps also participated with the
Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) demonstration by the local
reserve unit HMLA-773 "Red Dogs".
The non-stop action event started at 10:00 with a mixture of military aircraft, warbirds, and civilian performers. The local units launched two F-15Cs, five F/A-18Cs, one MH-65, one UH-1Y and two AH-1Zs. Other performers filled every minute of the show until 16:00. The biggest act, the Blue Angels, unfortunately suffered mechanical problems with two aircraft at the last minute. The #1 and #2 aircraft were out of action leaving the team to perform with only five aircraft after the #7 spare aircraft was activated. The slot position was eliminated from the lineup in the five-aircraft Blue Angels performance. As mentioned, the NAS JRB New Orleans airshow was perfect…and also impressive! Just the first two hours of flying alone was worth the six-hour drive from Houston. With the sun in the back almost the entire day, great shots were achieved all day long. Almost 2500 shots were taken but hopefully this small collection of photos below will best summarize the memories of that day. |
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| "Quick
Silver" took to the sky early in the day to lead the show (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
The
classic North American Aviation P-51 is always a beauty to see in the
air (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Bayou
Militia F-15C, S/N 83-041, posing with a B-52H from Minot AFB (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Bayou
Militia F-15C getting ready to launch (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
"Good
Vibrations" (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Left
profile of S/N 83-012 (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Left
profile of S/N 81-041 (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| "Keres"
- New Orleans style (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Taking
off and blurring out the trail with full afterburner (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| A
sign of two healthy P&W F100 engines (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
The
afterburner against a clear blue sky over Louisiana (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Not
to be outdone by S/N 83-012, S/N 81-041 showing off its own power to
rise (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Fast
and ferocious Eagle (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Climbing
high and fast (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| If
there is extra fuel... (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Burn
it! (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| VFA-204
"River Rattlers" flight line of adversary Hornets in the
"Tactical" livery (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Preparing
to launch five F-18Cs for the show (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Checking
the GE F404 engines (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| First
Hornet to leave the nest (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
More
Hornets to follow (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| A
left-leaning Hornet making a right turn (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
River
Rattler with the Red Star (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| AF-405
pilot checking out the crowd while taxiing by (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| AF-401
was the first to lift off (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Followed
by AF-410 and AF-407 (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Last
to blast off were AF-403 and AF-405 (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| AF-401
performing a fast low pass (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Gaining
enough energy to scream up into the blue sky (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| The
Hornet still has some power left in it, that's for sure! (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Two
adversary Hornets showing off air combat maneuvering tactics (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| AF-401
showing its Fluer-de-lis speed brake - New Orleans style (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Exhibiting
the carrier landing configuration (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Four-ship
diamond formation with tail hooks deployed (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Break
left (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Break
right (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Unfortunately
the sun will set on the Hornets by the end of this year and VFA-204
will continue their adversary missions with the F-5N Tiger II (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Both
the F-16C and F-35A demonstration teams took to the air to fly in
formation before performing their solo displays (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| 5th
generation "Panther" and 4th generation "Viper" (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| This
Viper livery is in its third airshow season (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
The
Viper skin is well worn for the most part (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Perhaps
this Viper needs to shed its skin for a new look... (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
F-35A
"Panther", known by some circles in the USAF, showing its
weapon bays (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Major
Kristin "Beo" Wolfe in her third year as the USAF F-35A
Demonstration Team driver (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Creating
some vape over the wings (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
From
this angle... no wonder why some would call the F-35A
"Fat Amy" (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Plan
view of the Panther against the clear Belle Chase sky (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| "Beo"
cruising by after the powerful and successful performance (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Corsair
rolling out to launch (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Off
she goes! (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| NJ-446
launching to perform the heritage flight with the Corsair (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| US
Navy heritage flight (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Corsair
and Lightning II (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| NJ-446
taxiing after a short heritage flight with wings folded (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| NJ-443
taking off to perform a solo display (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Zipping
by show center at low level (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Also
showing off the weapon bays matching the Panther (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Lightning
II, aka "Raven" according to some F-35C communities (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Afterburner
ride through the bright blue sky (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
A
tight and abrupt turn is noted by the bent afterburner exhaust (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| The
NJ-443 Raven driver was still stoked after an exciting solo
performance! (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| The
crew chief communicating with the MH-65 flight crew preparing the
Dolphin for the flight (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Flying
to the red smoke marker (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Completing
the search and rescue demonstration (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Dolphin
returning to base (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Red
Dogs' flight line with AH-1Z Vipers and UH-1Y Venoms (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Vipers
rolling out (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
In
a combat zone, two Vipers can easily ruin one's day (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Venom
approaching the LZ with Vipers flanking on both sides, high and low (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Viper
escorting Venom away from the simulated battle zone (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Viper
crew acknowledging the crowd (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Venom
coming in for a landing (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Fat
Albert C-130J starting up (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Low
level takeoff (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Performing
a steep left bank parade pass (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Fat
Albert tipping toward the right while making a hard left turn after
returning from the demonstration (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Loadmaster
guiding Fat Albert in reverse to its parking spot (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Super
Hornet Blue Angels #1 grounded along with #2 (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| The
show must go on... three-ship echelon formation with #3, #7, and #4 (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Leaving
behind a distorted trail of smoke and exhaust through the sky (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Delta
formation looping down without the slot aircraft (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
Diamond
formation missing the slot position (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Just
blowing some smoke here... (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
#5
and #6 executing the opposing horizontal rolls (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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| Doing
their best with just five aircraft to please the crowd and wrap up the
show... Bravo! (Chris Tonthat© * an i2i Production) |
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