"Thunderbirds" USAF Aerial Demonstration teams  

 

 
USAF Aerial Demonstration Teams "Thunderbirds"
   

 

 
"Thunderbird"  T-38As photographed with a wide angle lens from the cockpit of another T-38 over Hamilton AFB, California (1974).   A "Thunderbird" F-4E makes a low altitude inverted pass over the flight line at Indian Springs AB, Nevada (1972).
     
 

"Thunderbird" F-16s in a delta formation during a practice flight. The team began flying F-16s in public appearances in 1983.

 

Soot from the lead F-100's engine and smoke pipe blackens the vertical stabilizer on the "slot" aircraft, showing how close the "Thunderbird" team's intricate maneuvers bring aircraft to each other (circa 1967).

     
   

 

 

"Thunderbird" pilots in F-84s perform the spectacular "bomb burst" maneuver (1956).Organized in 1953 at Luke AFB, Arizona, the "Thunderbirds" team today is the official USAF aerial demonstration team.