PCS Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Wow. Tough one. Very easy to ride the fence here. Being a former Air Force guy,I got to see the Thunderbirds a lot. They're amazing. But so are the Blue Angels. Though where the Thunderbirds are concerned,it seemed to me this was one of the few times where the Team aspect of flying the aircraft was very much practiced and preached. There was,to me,an institutional arrogance among the Air Force Pilots that was hard to handle at times. Navy guys seemed to get it right. Whoops. Went off on one there. I like them both. Big fan of the Aircraft they use and requirements to be on the team make them pretty much the best. Blue Angels seemed to have a few more maneuvers than the Thunderbirds too. It used to be they would discuss the maneuvers the teams would do were largely derived from actual flying and combat ones and that much of what they did were things that all pilots in their respective services could do. Modern day combat tends to lean towards really reaching out and touching someone with a very long reach so I don't know how much of that is still true. I don't care. I think they're fun as hell to watch and as ambassadors of good will to the civilian population and recruiters,(primary mission of both I believe),they're the best. As flying goes,second to none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Having seen both, many, many times I have to go with the Thunderbirds just because they have the better aircraft for shows. I'm talking performance, not looks. (looks being pure opinion) BTW, Have you ever seen a jet do a power slide? I have. Watching the thunderbirds practice at Langley from right under a turn point. At the end of his run, bleeding off speed seemingly almost to a stop with the nose up, he threw the rudder over and went into a tight turn to dive back on the same line he just followed. I swear, it was almost like the nose stayed in the same spot while the tail swung around. My jaw just dropped. I had never seen that at a show because the turn point is at least a mile from the field. :notworthy Air shows in the 1980s were much better. They cut out a lot of the stunts b/c of safety concerns. BTW- best airshows are to be seen while at sea. You get to see live-fire exercises :notworthy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMike619 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Air shows in the 1980s were much better. They cut out a lot of the stunts b/c of safety concerns.BTW- best airshows are to be seen while at sea. You get to see live-fire exercises :notworthy amen!! I told my dad I was burned out on air shows because I saw so many when I was out to sea that they werent all that to me any more. Now that I have been out a while I am getting back in to them. I work right by Miramar (the old fightertown USA) and they have an air show every year. I sit on my tailgate during lunch and just watch all the navy/marines do their tricks. gotta say also that the blue angels have something that the thunderbirds dont...fat albert. that c-130 does some pretty cool tricks too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 amen!!I told my dad I was burned out on air shows because I saw so many when I was out to sea that they werent all that to me any more. Now that I have been out a while I am getting back in to them. I work right by Miramar (the old fightertown USA) and they have an air show every year. I sit on my tailgate during lunch and just watch all the navy/marines do their tricks. gotta say also that the blue angels have something that the thunderbirds dont...fat albert. that c-130 does some pretty cool tricks too I used to work on Oceana NAS and living in Va Beach- always took for granted seeing all that hardware flying over nonstop- and occasionally seeing the Blue Angels practicing. Now I see military aircraft fly over maybe once or twice a year where I am now. It's usually helicopters. (actually, a few months ago, I saw an entire formation of attack helicopters fly right over our neighborhood very low to the ground. I thought they were coming for me :ahhhhh: ). The closest military base is several hours away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Agreed on the 80's shows. Those were the ****. Growing up Army,I got to see live fire exercise from just about everything. Got to see one while in the Air Force. Watching a jet dive on a target at that speed could almost take your breath away. One thing is for certain,I realized that being on the receiving end of one of those attacks would not be on my top 100 geographic locations dream sheet. Sigh. Sometimes I will admit to missing just being able to look out my window and seeing F16's and such fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GibbsFactor Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I'm a blue angel guy. Used to go to the air show ALL the time. Got to sit in a Blue Angel F18 once years ago. Totally awesome. And I'll never forget the tragedy that the Thunderbirds had that time doing their famous star shoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxBuddy21 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Blue Angels definitely....Im actually going to see them at PAX river on Saturday! I havent seen them since I was a kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky21 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Buzz-cut Alabamians spewing coloured smoke in their whiz-jets to the strains of "Rock you like a hurricane? What kind of country-fried rube is still impressed by that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLongshot Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Being a child of a Naval aviator, I have an obvious bias. Blue Angels all the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMike619 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Buzz-cut Alabamians spewing coloured smoke in their whiz-jets to the strains of "Rock you like a hurricane? What kind of country-fried rube is still impressed by that? this is a joke, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boofMcboof Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 When I was a kid living in S.F. I remember the Blue Angels doing their thing right over the city. It was pretty bad arse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Can't have a thread like this without this little gem from the mid 80's. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGcxN2D1E34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I used to have a VHS of the Blue Angels when I was little. I watched that thing all the time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Here's a couple of more recent ones. Blue Angels Thunderbirds http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7073108393387680067 Love that stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wshngtn1 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I was a military brat so I've seen both of them dozens of times. I've always leaned towards the Thunderbirds, but don't really know why. I like how they do that one thing when all but 1 of them are doing something way up in the sky and that 1 comes buzzing over the crowd from behind. It's a diaper filling experience. It's funny I just saw this thread because I emailed my wife this morning asking if she wanted to go the airshow in Dayton, Oh in July (featuring the Tbirds). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheers, Beers and Mountaineers Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 this is a joke, right? It's from The Simpsons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zguy28 Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 Agreed on the 80's shows. Those were the ****. I went to a Thunderbird show at Pax River NAS in the 80's and took a picture of the diamond formation passing over the crowd. It was so low and close that I only got the lead jet and it didn't even fit in the picture. I remember seeing the pilots visor clearly it was so close.Now, you can't get near them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMike619 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 It's from The Simpsons. nice.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 That's unfortunate. This thread made me take out the old pics from 1983. The day before they had the official Air Show for the public,they did a special show for the base personnel and their families. I went to that one because I was on duty the next day. Great show. And I will never forget when T-Bird 5 or 6 came in over the crowd at warp 9 right over our heads. Didn't hear him until he was already by us. Some poor guy in front of me nearly dropped his son. The other was the fly at the crowd crossover move. Scared the hell out of everybody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanCollins Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Kinda partial to the Blue Angels since my Father was one in 50's and I lived on the Pensacola Naval Air Station which is the home of the Blue Angels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheers, Beers and Mountaineers Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Speaking of which...three Hornets just flew over my house. I always see a decent number of military planes and helicopters fly over in Morgantown including Harriers, an Osprey and 4 Apaches that flew right over my house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMike619 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 ospreys make me nervous. any jet that is taken off the shelf because it has crashed too much and put back on the shelf is sketchy at best... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. Kaos Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Aside from at the air shows the closest I have come to jets doing what they do is when our OOD navigated us right in to a carrier battle group. They scrambled their jets and sent 4 of them, 2 on each side about 40 feet off the deck approx. 200 yds off our port and starboard. One of the few times I was glad I was standing messenger watch. Needless to say when I went and got the ol' man he was not happy with the OOD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongo2365 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I saw a C-130 doing an inflight refuel of 2 Ospreys this weekend. Very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titaw Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 ospreys make me nervous. any jet that is taken off the shelf because it has crashed too much and put back on the shelf is sketchy at best... C'mon Big Mike you know that this monstrosity of an aircraft is NOT a jet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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