Chennault International Airshow

A dazzling, dynamic display of aerobatic splendor roars into view this spring when the Chennault International Airshow returns May 19–21 to Lake Charles's Chennault International Airport. Aviators and their spectacular aircraft arrive en-masse for this year’s tenth anniversary celebration, which will feature performances by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, the U.S. Army Golden Knights, the Aeroshell Aerobatics team and many more.

Airshow highlights will include a performance by the U.S. Navy F-18 Super Hornets—the Navy’s workhorse carrier-based fighter and the same aircraft that co-starred in the Oscar-nominated film Top Gun: Maverick. The show is also an opportunity to experience the head-spinning maneuvers of RJ Gritter, an aerospace engineer in his 20s, whose sideways, spin, and loop maneuvers are the stuff of legend. Parachuting mastery will be on full display courtesy of the U.S. Army Parachute Team, who are aptly nicknamed the Golden Knights; the world-renowned U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds are a jet demo team that will showcase the elite skills of pilots flying the division’s premier fighter jet, the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

Weekend festivities kick off on Friday evening with the Twilight Show, a sunset extravaganza that fills the skies with the afterburn and pyrotechnics of F-18 fighters at full throttle. After dark, stick around for the legendary GhostWriter Airshow, a dazzling aerobatics routine that features a 1956 DeHavilland Super Chipmunk lit up with more than 4,000 LED lights and launching 200 pounds of pyrotechnics. But the evening’s pièce de resistance might just be Randy Ball’s high-powered, low-altitude routine in his Soviet-built MiG-17F airshow jet, in which Ball reaches speeds of 600 mph while flying less than 20 feet off the ground.

New for 2023 will be a performance by the Full Throttle Formation Team, the “largest precision-formation airshow team in America,” which flies Vans RV aircraft in close formation, and is dedicated to entertaining audiences all over the country while informing the next generation of aviators about STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) -related careers in the industry.

Airshow proceeds will support STEM education programs in Southwest Louisiana schools, which fund everything from college scholarships and classroom outreach, to visits from aviation professionals and grants. To purchase tickets and get more information, visit the Airshow website.