A stack of Thunderbird VIP books—an annual publication highlighting the US Air Force Demonstration Team—occupies a prominent space on a shelf in Jim Latham’s office at the headquarters of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Fort Worth, Texas. Latham commanded the Thunderbirds the year the US Air Force Demonstration Team adopted the F-16. Today, he is director for international business development at the company that builds the airplane.
"That’s a complete set of the books—every year the Thunderbirds have flown the F-16," Latham notes. "Few people have a complete set." The set numbers twenty-five annual editions—from 1983 through 2007. The first issue contains a group photo of the officers clad in crisp white flight suits. They kneel, line abreast, in front of one of the team’s newly acquired F-16A Fighting Falcons. Sunrise Mountain near Las Vegas, Nevada, forms the backdrop for the aircraft, freshly painted in the iconic red, white, and blue Thunderbird scheme. Other pages contain team history, team listings, honorary members, maintainers, and photos and bios of individual team members.
F-16 Origins
The F-16 replaced the T-38 for the first time in the 1983 show season. However, the transition began well before the team flew its first formal public demonstration with the Fighting Falcon. Latham, who flew with the Thunderbirds as a right wing pilot in the T-38, was handpicked to lead the team in June 1982 by Gen. W. L. (Bill) Creech, then commander of Tactical Air Command.
"We immediately hired three more pilots," Latham explains. "Initially, I put one of the new pilots on my wing. We practiced two-ship maneuvers at farther distances and at higher altitudes. Gradually we flew closer and lower. Then we brought a second pilot on and trained him in the two-ship. After that, we brought in the slot pilot and trained him in two-ship. Once that pilot was trained, we put a three-ship formation together. We then progressed to four-ship formation. We hired a second solo pilot, and they trained separately from the diamond formation. Finally, we put the six-ship together at the first of the year in 1983 and practiced full airshow sequences soon after that. We basically used the same sequence employed to spin up T-38 teams." The team trained over Indian Springs Air Field just west of Las Vegas, now known as Creech AFB.
"We had to cross-train the maintenance folks from the T-38," adds Latham. "We also had to bring in new people associated with the F-16. We flew three times a day, six days a week from mid-June until mid-December. The training was intense. At the same time, we had to develop an operations manual that included procedures, radio calls, responsibilities, and emergency procedures for each person in the flight. We also had to test the flow for the smoke system to get just the right density. In addition to all that preparation, we also worked the narration and selected the music for the show."
The demonstration was adjusted to make the most out of the high-performance characteristics of the F-16. "A 360-degree, high-g turn would not be impressive in an F-4 or T-38," Latham says. "The turning capability of the F-16 added a new dimension to the show. The team didn’t wear g-suits until we started flying the F-16. It’s a nine-g jet. Safety is always paramount."
The wing rock maneuver flown in the T-38 show was another maneuver enhanced by the F-16’s performance. In this maneuver, the solo pilot flies by with gear down at landing speed and does a series of steep rocking maneuvers to demonstrate the low-speed handling characteristics of the aircraft. And then he performs a climb out to demonstrate the raw power made possible by the F-16’s high thrust-to-weight ratio.
Purpose And History
The Thunderbirds serve many purposes. They support Air Force recruiting and retention programs. They reinforce public confidence in the Air Force and demonstrate the professional competence of Air Force members. They strengthen morale and esprit de corps among Air Force members and support Air Force community relations programs. Finally, they present a positive image of the United States and its armed forces to foreign nations and project international goodwill.
The Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron performed its first aerial display in June 1953 at Luke AFB, Arizona. The team’s first show at a civilian airport occurred at Cheyenne, Wyoming. The team flew F-84G Thunderjets for its first two years and then transitioned to F-84F Thunderstreaks for a year. The Thunderbirds began flying the F-100C Super Sabre in 1956 when they moved to their current home at Nellis AFB, Nevada.
The F-100C served the Thunderbirds team for the next thirteen years. In 1964, the team flew the F-105 Thunderchief for six demonstrations before switching back to the F-100, this time to the F-100D. The Thunderbirds flew this version of the Super Sabre through the 1968 season when they switched to the F-4E Phantom II. Economic considerations—mainly fuel costs—put the team in the T-38A Talon in 1974, which they flew for seven years before transitioning to the Block 15 F-16A in 1983. The Thunderbirds began flying the Block 32 F-16C in 1992 and will transition to the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229-powered Block 52 F-16C for the 2009 show season.
When the team will switch to the F-35A Lightning II is an open question. "I think the Air Force would want to send its frontline fighter to the team early," offers Latham. "They will eventually fly the F-35, but their Block 52 F-16s have plenty of life in them. The decision will likely depend on operational tempo. The Air Force will be flying F-16s in the US Air Force well beyond 2020."
Team Performances Today
The Thunderbirds, an Air Combat Command squadron, consists of six demonstration pilots and two pilots serving as the maintenance officer and the show narrator, four support officers, three civilians, and more than 130 enlisted personnel. Officers serve two-year assignments with the squadron, while enlisted personnel serve three to four. Replacements must be trained for about half of the team each year, creating a constant mix of experience.
The aerial demonstration consists of a combination of formation flying and solo routines. The pilots perform approximately thirty maneuvers in a demonstration. The entire show, including a pre-show on the ground and in the air, runs just over an hour. The four-ship diamond formation highlights the training and precision of Air Force pilots, while the solo aircraft highlight the performance of the F-16.
The squadron performs up to eighty-eight air demonstrations each year and has never canceled a demonstration because of maintenance difficulty. More than 280 million people in all fifty states and fifty-seven foreign countries have seen the team’s jets in more than 3,500 aerial demonstrations.
The 2008 team includes the Air Force’s first female lead-solo demonstration pilot, Maj. Samantha Weeks, Thunderbird No. 5. Weeks is in her second year on the team. The remaining pilots for the 2008 season include Maj. Chris Austin, Thunderbird No. 2, left wing; Maj. Kirby Ensser, Thunderbird No. 3, right wing; Maj. Scott Poteet, Thunderbird No. 4, slot; and Maj. Tyrone Douglas, Thunderbird No. 6, opposing solo.
"The Thunderbirds were created in the infancy of the jet age," says Lt. Col. Greg Thomas, commander of the 2008 team. "At that time, the team’s mission was to give confidence to the Air Force pilots of the day, showing that they, too, could handle the speed and power of jet aircraft.
"Over the last 55 years, the mission has changed slightly to include recruiting young men and women, retaining the quality Airmen already in service today, and representing the 513,000 active-duty, Guard and Reserve members serving at home and abroad," Thomas continues. "The mission might have changed, but the pride, professionalism, and almost unbelievable attention to detail of our Airmen representing the Air Force’s finest has remained unparalleled."
Eric Hehs is the editor of Code One.
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