Do the Thunderbirds charge for there performances like civilian performers do. And if so, about how much?

They (only) charge you tax dollars!

They are the U.S. Air Force...

lol, plain and simple . you only pay them if you buy seats online and reserve some of your own to get a good bit of your experience of the Flightline like the Chalets!

Viper101 wrote:you only pay them if you buy seats online and reserve some of your own to get a good bit of your experience of the Flightline like the Chalets!

You still arent paying them. Who you are paying are the people who run the shows if it is a civilian show. Now if it is a show at a military base, those are usually free admission and are generally better shows. Remember, the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels aren't out to make money, they are out to recruit and to promote their respective branches of service and overall joining the military.

heh actually ur kinda right, your more like paying the Base for their fuel each plane is using cause the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels are a salute

Fuel!?

I've seen so many airshows I can't even count them on my fingers and toes and I've never paid a dime to the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels. The only time there's been an admission is if the show site is privately owned (i.e. not a military base or public beach etc) and that money did not go to the performers or the cost of them operating.

At the local airshow I go to, we pay $60 a day per person for chalet seating. This is a civilian run airshow. They (the show organizers) always get either the Thunderbirds or the Blue Angels. They do not pay the armed forces or the government anything by way of fees for the demo teams, the only thing they pay for or make availible are hotel rooms and transportation, which is handled by a local car dealership.

Now why $60 you may ask? Basically this, you are fed breakfast and lunch, which is a buffet style meal. It is usually good quality food as well. That, and, you get all the beer, soda, and water you can drink. The only other things that goes towards are the fees for using the airport, operating costs by the organizers, and individual civilian performer's fees.

Now, if you have a ACC Single Ship Demo coming to the show, there are some things that they require the show provide for them. Here is a link to that support manual.

http://www.acc.af.mil/shared/media/docu ... 23-009.doc

And now that I mention it, I just opened up the USAF Thunderbird support manual, and there is a DoD required $6,000 per demonstration fee that civilian air shows must pay.

Yep I have that Support Manual and the cost of things are just at least over 10,000. I havnt read that for I dont know how long. lol

They cover our gas and smoke oil, plus the insurance policy. The only thing we are allowed to make money on is our own private gift shop located in our museum. We are not even allowed to sell T-Bird stuff at the shows. Grab

I dont see why you guys cant sell anything.

Grab, what is your job in the T-birds?

now what is that? are the thunderbirds not allowed to smile ?. they dont want people with bad looking teeth hehe couldnt resist that. thats soo kool actually being able to talk with the real dudes who get-r-done right at airshows

Geez Viper...

jeez what? did i say something bad