Thunderbirds deliver as expected

The wait appeared to be worth it for the 10s of thousands of people who endured long lines and brutal heat to step inside Fairchild Air Force Base last weekend for the Skyfest air show which celebrated the base's 75th birthday.

Having the Thunderbirds' United States Air Force's demonstration flying team as the crowning act each day can make almost anything bearable.

They are, and were, breathtaking as the six F-16 Fighting Falcons flew either in incredible tight wingtip-to-wingtip formations, or in other arrays that included racing at one another from opposite ends of the runway at over 500 miles-per-hour.

Or feet apart - bottom-to-bottom with one pilot upside down - in a maneuver called a "reflection."

Membership in this elite team based out of Las Vegas that turned 64 this year takes a lot of training and experience.

"In order to apply they have to have a minimum of 750 fighter (pilot) hours in the cockpit," the group's spokesperson, Capt. Sara Harper said. "All of our pilots have over 1,000 hours and have had at least one deployment." It typically takes 7–8 years to build that kind of time at the controls of the aircraft that costs about $20 million a copy and can fly at speeds of twice the speed of sound, or about 1,500 miles-per-hour.

The Thunderbirds had their origin in 1953 at Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, Ariz. with the straight-wing F-84G Republic Thunderjet. They started with just four pilots, including twin brothers who flew the right and left planes in the group, Harper said.

"The people and faces have changed, the uniforms have changed, but the mission has remained the same," Harper said. That is "To represent the Air Force and inspire the next generation," she added.

To that goal, Thunderbirds' commander and leader, Lt. Col. Jason Heard, administered the oath to a large group of new USAF inductees, live in front of the crowd Saturday, just prior to leading the planes into the skies for their take-your-breath-away maneuvers.

The Thunderbirds arrived in town last Thursday, flying in low and at high speed over Fairchild from the north.

That exhibition was a "site survey," Harper explained. "They come and survey the land and make sure that the imagery we have matches up to the lay of the land."

The pilots need to know the terrain when flying at low altitude. And since the group has regular turnover every two years, none of the pilots here with the group's in their 2014 visit.

"Week in and week out we go to different air show locations," Harper said. "We fly over the ocean, we fly over the Great Lakes and at the Air Force Academy there's a lot of mountains."

Each show has its unique challenges, she said.

Prior to Spokane, the group was in Cheyenne, Wyo. which itself is over 6,000 feet in elevation, and has a "high density altitude," where the jets perform a little differently, Harper explained.

All Thunderbird pilots have the rank of either captain or major because of the time it takes to earn qualifications.

In the Air Force, pilot training takes a year to complete, plus an additional year to learn the F-16, all before heading to combat, where each pilot has flown.

The Thunderbird team numbers 130 with 12 officers who fly aircraft 1–8. Numbers 9–12, that final one assigned to Harper, an Auburn University ROTC graduate, are the support officers.

Pilots serve a two-year term, by design, Harper said because half of the demonstration pilots switch out every year. The remaining pilots serve as instructors for the new members of the flying team.

"It's very intense training when you talk flying airplanes three feet apart at 500 mph," Harper said. "That's a lot of concentration, a lot of trust. The margin of error is small, that's why it's so intense," Harper added.

To say the training, that begins each November and runs to February, is intense is an understatement.

New pilots begin their Thunderbird career in the two-seat F-16. They first fly the "Y" formation and then move closer and closer to the ground along the way. Graduating to being a solo pilot requires about 80 rides, Harper said.

The group travels 200 days a year and will appear at 35 locations, performing 70 demonstrations, which included their kickoff at the Super Bowl in Houston, Texas. Each aircraft has the decals of countries the group has visited and those number in the dozens.

An integral part of the team, aside from the pilots who are the stars of the show, are the multiple members of the ground crew, or "maintainers," as Harper likes to refer to them.

They are honored with their names being printed on the right side of the canopy, opposite of the pilot.

"Our maintainers take a lot of pride in what they do," Harper said.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.