Wow...not sure who else is out here...
but did I see TWO sneak passes on Saturday???

Also...never saw the team pull a plane out of the hanger (#3) from all nite/day maintenance issue...to spread the crowd and park her with the rest of the team. Pretty cool. Wonder why they didn't use #7 or #8?

takeone wrote:Wow...not sure who else is out here...
but did I see TWO sneak passes on Saturday???

I did not attend this year, but let me guess... They flew a(nother) Low Show. (Low & Flat Shows have two sneaks).

Nope...beautiful day...as today. High show all the way.

I saw something like that on Friday. I think 5 was saying goodbye in style. Was the Saturday one during the Max Turn Half Cuban? On Friday he flew inside the line and just over and in front of the crowd on his join up with 6 after the Half Cuban. In the past he has always been behind the line.

Yup..that was it...OVER the crowd...I'm ready for it today...
Plus...took some photos in the hangar and museum....I'll post tonite!

I noticed the second sneak in a show video earlier in the year, the right solo coming to join up with the left as he's finishing the half cuban. Pretty cool.

What? Do my ears deceive me? The VTB don't know the new routine?

They did two sneak passes last week here in San Antonio during their full high show and sounds like they've been doing that for a while now.

Solo's forever: Hanging out in the TBird VIP area


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Panther...that was it...after the Half Cuban...2nd sneak pass and then the Blue join up for the Delta. Very cool!!!

STRIKER wrote:What? Do my ears deceive me? The VTB don't know the new routine?

What can I say... when we take a break, we really do take a break. Much the same way as when we fly, we'll go all in (or nothing)!

I'll bet they time the sneak pass +10 off the "On Top" call in the MTHC. Not having seen the MTHC Sneak I can't say for sure, but depending on the exit path of the RS, they may time it slightly different when the RS is the Op Solo. Regardless it should only be a matter of seconds +9 to 12 off the MTHC apex call. Good thing with this setup is it matches the speeds of both Solos up closely off the flip turn and Sneak exit instead of a pretty good split.

If anyone has a video please share. Mostly interested in the exit off the 2nd Sneak.

EDIT:

2nd Sneak @4:00-


Looks like the timing is close to ~+10 off the call. 11-12 seconds by my estimates in this video, and it appears the profile is a standard elliptical track until paralleling the crowd line, then a rollout and gradual pull alongside the LS for the rejoin turn.

The Thunderbirds are definitely making some more noise this way! First the MTHC followed by the 2nd Sneak, immediately followed by the D360 (overhead) and Solo Rejoin (overhead with burners). Proudly presenting the F100-PW-229's, heh!

Here are some of the pics from the Hangar and Museum...
Enjoy...

By the way, two sneak passes in the High Show... That means, potentially three sneak passes in the Low Show!

I'm curious, however, if they consider this particular sneak an actual maneuver or just a scare tactics rejoin reposition. The timing would indicate it's well planned, but the exact execution of the pass varies a little (prioritizing the rejoin profile ahead of the crowd pleaser effect).

A little late, but I found two videos with awesome resolution (up to 1080p) on YouTube from the Thunderbirds' performance at AN 2010.

Great find LD.