Air Festival… So we got up early Saturday morning to head to the Jennings, LA Airport (3R7) to fly into the Barnstormers Air Festival.  We intended to be “wheels-up” at around 08:00 with us in “Caddie” and our friends Charlie & Tupper England in their RV-4, but the weather at the destination was 100′ and overcast.   The forecast was for it to clear out to VFR around 10:00 or so, so we decided to wait around until about 09:30 to leave.  After an hour & 15 minute flight down, we found some holes in the clouds to descend into Jennings.  This is a BIG airport covering lots of acreage with two paved runways and one grass strip.  Runway 13/31 was closed by NOTAM and was being used by the car show folks, so we landed on 08 and taxied into parking.  After securing the plane and meeting up with Charlie & Tupper, we headed to show center to see the what there was to see.  There were only a handful of airplanes at this time and most were “spam cans” with a few RV’s and other homebuilts.  There was one food vendor and a lemonade stand next to a stage and that was about it for food.  At noon or so, the band cranked up and they were very good.  Unfortunately, they just did not have much of an audience to listen to what they were playing.

Cars, Cars, Cars… Lots of cars, I actually think there were more cars there than airplanes.  There were a lot of good looking classic and antique cars along with several chopped up rods…  There was plenty to look at and I took a bunch of pictures.  But, after a couple of hours in the spring sun and not a lot of airplanes to look at, we decided to head back home.  Charlie had told us about the Jazz Festival in Ridgeland, MS that was featuring some folks he was interested in hearing, so off we went…

Final Thoughts…  While we were a little disappointed in the turnout at Jennings, it was understandable due to the low IFR conditions that plagued the area up until 10:00 AM.   Most folks just aren’t going to file IFR to go to a casual Saturday event or “Scud Run” at 800 feet to get there.  So, take a look at the car photos (click them for larger view) and don’t forget to subscribe to the blog by entering your e-mail address in the box in the right hand column.  You can also “Like” us on Facebook in the right hand column.