Thunderbirds
I met a couple of Thunderbirds pilots over the years. I should have asked them if they brought their thermos mugs on their flights. I am sure that if they did, they would remember to close the lid before they started their routine.
How awesome would it be to fly one of these F-16s though, huh? I’d love to take one for a spin one day. For some reason, the Thunderbirds pilots I talked to didn’t want to trade an F-16 flight for a helicopter flight. Weird …
The close formation flying makes me nervous actually, so I’d have to be in the solo machine. One of the closest calls I’ve ever had in my aviation career (which spans over 30 years) was during a formation flight. Although that was flying helicopters. Maybe it’s different in F-16s …
Mike
Markus Voelter ran the podcast Omega Tau and flew with them in 2019. The Thunderbirds do invite people for various reasons, including „local heroes“ and services to aeronautics, science and technology. Markus was invited for his achievements with the podcast. I believe at some point he actually says that he started Omega Tau with the secret hope to become eligible for such an invitation…
http://omegataupodcast.net/omega-tau-at-the-usaf-thunderbirds/
Steven Force (aka Steve Tupper) from the Airspeed podcast also started his show with the goal of getting a ride, which he did. He was tagged as the alternate and the primary didn’t show, so he got to ride, including a 9G turn (very jealous, I’ve only ever been able to do an 8G turn with a friend in an Extra).
If you want to see close flying, check out the Blue Angels documentary that was recently release (available on Netflix). A tad “rah rah USA” for me but the flying & the footage are absolutely incredible!
This reminds me of the famous video of Bob Hoover pouring ice tea while doing a barrel roll.