Fly with the Thunderbirds

[@michaelpcoffee]

I loved the F4 Tbirds; for the same reasons people hated them. It was so striking to see aerial ballet with such large and powerful aircraft.

[@waynebach7189]

I worked on the F-105, and it was OK, but the F-4 Phantom is one I worked on and did not like. It truly was a flying brick, lead sled, and at Nellis AFB 130 degree summers made that triangular door behind the canopies (door 19... 50 zeus fasteners) a hot one, which had to be opened with gloves during the summer to get the electronic altimeter out of or back into for repairs. I liked working on the altimeter, which most repairmen did not, but I never liked the looks or circumstances of the F-4. Their next plane was the T-38 Talon! That was my baby! I really liked that plane! Most guys couldn't work on its TACAN, but since I am a Corvair nut, and understand the curving fan belt which was very much like the channelling chain in the TACAN, I hit it off with it and enjoyed working on it! One day when the Thunderbird avionics repairman got sick, I was asked if I wanted to take his place. That was the delight of my life at that time! I almost got to work on an SR-71 also, but missed out. Working on the Thunderbirds T-38 helped make up for that disappointment! The T-38 is one neat little plane! Still my favorite of modern planes to this day! Still used by NASA for flight proficiency maintenance also.

[@josephthibeault9919]

I did r&d on the t38, 1965 1968 , at William AFB, in Arizona.

[@73challenger5031]

I was a teen at my first air show in the mid 70's and it featured these same T-38 Thunderbirds. It's probably why the T-38 is one of my favorite planes. It is sooooo sleek looking! I am also partial to the F-4 because it's pretty badass! All time favorite is the F/A-18. I've seen the Blue Angels fly 'em many times and just can't get enough of them!

[@atomicorang]

I still love the style of films back in simpler days. They were flying Talons when I enlisted in 79.

[@allgood6760]

Aerial ballet!..the T38 is sleek and chic! ..salute from down under✈️👍🇳🇿✈️

[@deanc.5984]

I saw the f4s, t38s, f16s. Somehow I joined the Army as a 67N Uh1H Crew Chief. I'm a IFR private pilot today because my dad was a pretty cool guy that took me to airshows.

[@waynebach7189]

I was there during the time frame when the first Black man became a Thunderbird pilot and would see him occasionally in the hangars.

[@robertpayne2717]

BABY BOOMER HERE I MISS THE TIME WHEN US MILITARY JETS WERE ALLOWED TO GO SUPER SONIC OVER THE UNITED STATES

[@clemsonbloke]

D. L. Smith, haha, met him at a Thunderbirds show when I was a boy. He signed my Thunderbirds Program Brochure that we received that day. I still have it somewhere. I believe he passed away in an accident shortly after later that year.

[@waynebach7189]

Met who? I was based at Nellis and worked on the T-38s.

[@technowarriorstv]

:(

[@carolynghavam6079]

SAME FOR CREW AND FILM MAKERS AND FEATURED NARRATORS...🦅👑

[@Michael-xo8lw]

"Hey look, a lady!"

[@waynebach7189]

We had 2-3 ladies working in the avionics shop, and there were others in radar and other shops. There was a lady in the sheet metal shop also. this was at Nellis during the mid 70s.

[@Alex-jb5tb]

Funny music - I like it. 😁

[@fuzzyscoob]

Magnificent!

[@Mike-dh6nb]

That f4 was a fast sob

[@waynebach7189]

I am building a recumbent trike with a fuselage and am going to paint it in Thunderbird color scheme.

[@robertcarlson4939]

Who really gives a flying fuck

[@zed8083]

Calm down idiot. This guy was THERE, when these planes were the shit. Let him have his legacy, clown. Grow some manners asshole. Quit being a shit stain, douchebag.

[@carolynghavam6079]

ALL MY FLIERS, THUNDERBIRDS, BLUE ANGELS, ET. ETCETERA, ELITE OF THE ELITE JUST 1'S. ETERNALLY EVERLASTING INHERITANCE AND LOVE FOR EVER. 🦋🦅🐺🐏👑

[@sulufest]

@1:44 Oh man 😐

[@briancooper2112]

Any of these guys died in the diamond formation?