United States Air Force Thunderbirds

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United States Air Force Thunderbirds
United States Air Force Thunderbirds
Country: United StatesUnited States United States
Currently used aircraft type: F-16C Fighting Falcon
Sponsor: United States Air Force
Founding: May 25, 1953
Colours: Red, white, blue (USA)
Weblink: thunderbirds.airforce.com/

The United States Air Force Thunderbirds are an aerobatic team of the United States Air Force . The machines of the relay are painted in the US national colors red, white and blue.

history

Thunderbirds season in front of the silhouette of New York

The squadron was founded on May 25, 1953 as the 3600th Air Demonstration Unit at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale . The nickname Thunderbirds (dt .: Thunderbirds ), composed of Indian culture is derived, was quite fast for the official designation of the season.

The first Thunderbirds were the F-84 Thunderstreak , the best jet-powered aircraft of the US Air Force at the time. In 1956 the squadron switched to the F-100 Super Saber , with which supersonic aerobatics were flown for the first time . The use of the F-105 Thunderchief was given up in 1964 due to massive technical problems. Since there was already a considerable need for this machine for the Vietnam War at that time, the squadron returned to the Super Sabers. In the summer of 1969, after 13 years, the F-4 Phantom was introduced as a relay aircraft. During the first oil crisis in 1974, the T-38 Talon , which was far more fuel-efficient than the Phantom, was used. In 1976, for the 200th anniversary of the United States , the Thunderbirds became the official flight squadron that appeared at all major events.

The Thunderbirds F-16C Fighting Falcons are currently flying after the A-Model was introduced in 1986 and replaced by the current one in 1992. Home of the Thunderbirds has been Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas in Nevada since 1956 .

Another aerobatic team of the US armed forces are the Blue Angels of the Navy .

Web links

Commons : United States Air Force Thunderbirds  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files