I just found a superb book on Ebay that I bid on and recently won. It's called "Summer Thunder" by Brian Shul and feature the 1993 Thunderbirds. He's a fighter-pilot (SR-71 driver) that traveled with the 1993 team to make this (40th anniversary) book with tremendous pictures, but more importantly the story, input from all members and the "real story" behind how hard this type of flying really is to make it look so easy!

The story is amazing and there are multiple pages of each pilot speaking from their own experience how they fly the maneuvers, which maneuvers they hate and why... just some really awesome stuff! For example Lead talks about how he flies the Diamond vs. Delta, his pulls, speeds and why certain turnarounds are difficult etc. #2 talks about the inputs and how he varies them throughout a roll. I was surprised that this book had as much info and so many parameters weaved into the story from each guy! I was expecting more photos and trivia...

In their own words they talk about details, such as technique for the vertical rolls by the Solo. Pitching up just past vertical, floating the plane and making a clean roll input while thence pushing forward to make the smoke corkscrew. Very specific info too, how many degrees and G load! This book really takes you inside the team like no other book I've seen and you really (at least I can relate) understand what a bunch of perfectionists they are and how something that looks amazing to the crowd isn't quite good enough by their standards many times.

The one maneuver that everyone in the Diamond consider the hardest by all wingmen is the Trail-Diamond Roll or as #4 put it: "There was one maneuver I'd still get tense before every time, even after doing this for 2 years".

If you ever come across this book, it's well worth picking up! I'm going to read through it more carefully and I'll try to post some input from it if I get time, since it is so very similar to what we've developed and been flying all along. Just hearing it come from real Thunderbirds and how they describe the trickiest parts for them and how they would correct for it is invaluable info for us too. What an amazing group of people!

Here's a link to Brian Shul's site: Sleddriver and they sell Summer Thunder there, although if you're lucky you could try Ebay and get away with a little less $.

LD

P.S. I know how to fly the Solo Spiral now and I can understand why it was abandoned too...

LawnDart wrote:P.S. I know how to fly the Solo Spiral now and I can understand why it was abandoned too...

Dude! Don't leave us hanging!

Sorry bro, had to leave in a hurry to fly IRL and didn't have time to get into it. The maneuver was actually called the "Spiral Descent" and had the Solo come in from above in slow flight and perform a High Section-Alfa descending turn with smoke on that had the appearance similar to that of a flat spin with billowing smoke. Basically flying on the back side of the power curve with High-AoA in a descending corkscrew would be another way to describe it by the looks of the smoke trail. It was discontinued after a training accident involving this maneuver in 1998 (if my memory is accurate).

Get it cheaply here as well:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/offer- ... dition=all

Dirty

Whoa!!! Now that's a bargain! I feel like I got ripped off even at Ebay now... Definitely pick up a copy for that price EVERYONE!

Good Ol' Amazon coems in for the kill on Ebay.

Frank, just got off of Amazon and closed the whole deal with expedited shipping for less than $14.00. Great catch!!

Bon

Better hurry, there's only one copy left for $9 at the present!

I picked up one of them there should still be one there though.

I just got Summer Thunder a couple of weeks ago and every chance I get I am browsing through the pictures and picking up where I left off. The following is a terrific section of the book that talks about flying in formation and I'd dare say applies to the what we strive for in the Virtual Thunderbirds. Hope you enjoy...

"Like the musician who positions fingers in a complexity of rapid movements across an instrument, creating proper notes, the formation pilot deftly moves hands, fingers and feet continuously in the cockpit to maintain his aircraft in that one proper position which, in turn, helps orchestrate the solidarity of the formation as a whole.

In theory, maintaining position in a regular formation of jets is a simple process of control inputs. To maintain fore and aft position, the left hand judiciously regulates, the throttle for more or less power. To control vertical placement, the right hand pushes or pulls(ever so minutely) on the stick, resulting in upward or downward movement. Lateral spacing can be controlled with left or right movement on the stick, or more subtly, by pushing on the left or right rudder pedals with either foot.

Orchestrating these movements at 450 knots, a couple of feet from another airplane, requires a great deal of finesse and is incredibly exhausting even after a few minutes. Because any deviations in position are amplified by the closeness of each aircraft, each pilot's attention is strictly focused on Lead's aircraft for position reference points. Given the impossible task of trying to duplicate perfectly Lead's flight path, pilots in the formation are continuously making small corrections. There is no perfect formation, only the aggressive, continous corrective inputs which can make it look perfect, when done with expertise. This is a process which begins with taxiing out to the runway and ends only after the jets are shut down in their parking spots after a thirty minute performance."

Placed my order too, just seconds ago... Mine actually ended up being $28 including shipping... eh, not as good as some others, but almost half of the original price... Plus, the owner said it’s got the author’s sign, which makes is a collectable item

-Funky