Thunderbirds at Sun 'N Fun 2008

Blaze · Post by **Blaze** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 10:28 pm

They put on a great show! Anyone else go today? By the time it was their turn to fly, the sky cleared up beautifully for a high show (sorry LD

)! I had great seats almost right in front! There was one problem during the show, almost at the end though. Boss called "Nose coming up..." for the Delta Roll, and a split second before he called "Rolling...", #3 knocked off with a problem and had to land. But, they circled the airfield and after he landed they finished the show with a Stinger Roll, Loop, and 3-ship High-BB. The crossover was one of the most perfect ones I've ever seen as well!

All in all, they put on one hell of a show today, and not just them, all the performers!

Here are a few shots:

Trail to Diamond BUP

Diamond PIR

Calypso Pass

Trail to Diamond Clover Loop

Sneak Pass!

Hi-Lo Hit

Five Card Loop

Line Break Loop

Delta BUP

Stinger Roll

3 Ship High-BB

Reflection Pass

Post by **Lawndart** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 10:34 pm

Great pics!!! What glass are you using?

Looks like you were to the left in the crowd. I was there, in the middle. What's up with #4 flying so aft in the PIRs this year? Also, as you can tell the Calypso was "Tripple-T High", but a very good show still! They flew through a folck of B.I.R.D.S in the pull for the Delta Roll and #3 took a bird somewhere under the radome, which is why Charger aborted the maneuver. The lop-sided Delta Pitch which had the pitch order of #1, 2, 5, 4, 6 looked a little weird, but otherwise a very well executed show. Back for more tomorrow...

Blaze · Post by **Blaze** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 10:51 pm

Lawndart wrote:Great pics!!! What glass are you using?

Pics are from a Nikon D80 with a Nikon AF-S 70-300mm lens. If I look at these pictures full-size on my pc, I can see clearly into each cockpit and see their hands wrapped around the sticks!

I was just to the left of the announcer station, about 50 feet or so. Looked for you, but naturally didn't want to miss any of the show!

I also noticed that #4 seems to be "dragging" behind in the PIR's, and the Calypso was pretty high. Birds eh? Well I'm very glad that Gat was able to get his "Bird" back on the ground safely.

Lawndart wrote:Back for more tomorrow...

LUCKY!!!

Ugh, I'd give anything to go back tomorrow! I have the money for the ticket, I just can't afford to use the gas to get down there and back.

Post by **Lawndart** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 10:54 pm

Too bad. Weather might be a little worse tomorrow with the approaching frontal system, so I'm hoping I get to see my Low Show!

"Gat" landed his bird without incident after taking a bird on the nose!

Talon · Post by **Talon** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:05 pm

Missed you guys at the show. I was there with wife and friends today, we parked ourselves under the C-130 wing shade until the Thunderbirds were due up. Wasn't sure of why the #1 and #4 jets were twin seaters, but they had a good show initially until the delta formed up where they did a flat pass and we could tell something was amiss, then we noticed a lot of people leaving when they split up into 3 groups of two and just flew circles around the area which took a long time so we started to leave, until finally two jets came in and the #3 jet landed and stayed on the ground. We kept walking away with the crowd but looked back in time to see the bomb-burst and we also caught the break for landing. I have to admit, it was the 1st time we have ever seen a 3 ship bomb-burst, but it still looked great. We got some excellent photos as well, but I can see someone else also posted good shots.
The heat was getting to us which is why we left with the crowd before they finished. It was HOT! ( or I am just too used to AC).

The other formation team flight looked scary close with those prop planes. (white planes with red on them-4 ship). Very good flying though from all participants. But way too hot for our liking temperature wise, and summer isn't even here yet.

LD, I was right up front next to the jets, and have images from the time they drove up, salutes, got into the jets, etc. If you want them let me know and we can arrange for me to upload them to you. Resolutions are 3456x2304

Blaze · Post by **Blaze** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:05 pm

Lawndart wrote:"Gat" landed his bird without incident after taking a bird on the nose!

I can't even begin to imagine that one! "Nose coming up..." [WHAM]!

At least "Gat" is ok. Kinda got mixed up there with who's who!

Well, I hope you get your Low Show tomorrow.

I've only seen one, the Daytona 03 show that IIRC started out Flat and they transitioned to a Low midway. I have the comms from that show on my iPod and I listen to them in the car. People think I'm crazy for that, but I think they're crazy because none of them can understand what they're saying!

Blaze · Post by **Blaze** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:09 pm

Talon wrote:The other formation team flight looked scary close with those prop planes. (white planes with red on them-4 ship).

Ahh yes, the Aeroshell Team is one of my favorite teams as well!

Talon · Post by **Talon** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:17 pm

Yeah, thanks. That was the teams name, the Aeroshell Team.

UpClose (resized)

(resized)

Atlas · Post by **Atlas** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:31 pm

I was also wondering too Talon, looks like from from other pics that LD has posted that both #1 and #4 have flown the family models quite a few times so far this year.

Blaze · Post by **Blaze** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:31 pm

Woah!

Lucky! Great shot! I prefer sitting at Show Center though, or as close to it as I can get.

Sabertooth wrote:I was also wondering too Talon, looks like from from other pics that LD has posted that both #1 and #4 have flown the family models quite a few times so far this year.

Yeah same here. #1 & #4 also flew the "D's" at Punta Gorda last weekend.

Blaze · Post by **Blaze** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:29 pm

Here's a decent video from the practice show on Friday: Link

Rhino · Post by **Rhino** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:38 pm

Hey Tony,

Great shots there bud. Just as a pointer, looks like you have a speck of dust on the sensor. It must be a big one as you are likely shooting a high shutter speed and its still showing up. I know dust has ruined some of my pictures before, and I really hate to see it happen to someone else!

Blaze · Post by **Blaze** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:01 pm

Rhino wrote:Hey Tony,

Great shots there bud. Just as a pointer, looks like you have a speck of dust on the sensor. It must be a big one as you are likely shooting a high shutter speed and its still showing up. I know dust has ruined some of my pictures before, and I really hate to see it happen to someone else!

Yea I know it's there. The camera is my grandfather's and supposedly he just got it cleaned. Doesn't look like it though. Oh well, minor issue that can be fixed in 5 seconds with photoshop.

Post by **Lawndart** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 8:04 pm

Got to see my Low Show on Sunday! It was raining earlier in the day, cold and quite soggy driving over there. It stopped raining about 20 minutes before the time the Thunderbirds owned the airspace, it was still gray and about 5,500 broken. Ideal for a Low Show! Ironically, immediately after the show was over the skies cleared up really fast and during the drive home it was beautiful clear blue skies and a light breeze. The weather was "perfect" for the Low Show though and they flew the show well executed too. As always, this early in the season (they are still learning), there were a few things here and there. The second Sneak Pass was awesome... Combo had a huge vapor cone around her jet as she flew by show center. With the moisture and close temp/dew point spread, all the jets had very long and visible wingtip vorticies in most maneuvers, but with the added speed (and cooling) in the "Sneaks" it looked really "hot"!!!

I did not take any pictures today. Actually took my time to simply enjoy watching the demo and got everything I wanted out of it. For those interested in listening in, you can download the comms from today's show @ our audio page. I found their new Victor 1 & 2 freqs, and was able to listen in to both the Diamond and Solos (who still use Unifrom freq). The quality isn't the greatest, but as always, somewhat neat...

Blaze · Post by **Blaze** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 10:26 pm

Sweet! Thanks for the audio LD!

Glad you finally got to see your Low Show.