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Posted: 8/30/2005 3:01:34 PM EDT
Getting ready for some airshows this fall and I started thinking about this.....
Have they or do they ever perform together? I would think they probably don't, as they wouldn't want one to out perform the other..... BUT it would be a HELL of show if they did ! They could call it "The Gods of War Tour". 
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Posted: 8/30/2005 3:02:46 PM EDT
[#1]
swabbies and flyboys in the same space?
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Posted: 8/30/2005 3:03:29 PM EDT
[#2]
I'm trying to remember if they performed at the same airshow in Dayton when I went once in the late 80s...
I've never seen them at the same airshow here in Michigan though. |
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Posted: 8/30/2005 3:05:52 PM EDT
[#3]
They were together at Andrews AFB a few years back. Nobody got to fly though....FRIGGIN FOG FOR TWO DAYS! I drove 5-1/2 hours! I have pics of them sitting on the runway together. VERY COOL!
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Posted: 8/30/2005 3:06:59 PM EDT
[#4]
Not very often, in fact roughly zero times this year.
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Posted: 8/30/2005 3:09:13 PM EDT
[#5]
DUDE ! Post those pics ! |
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Posted: 8/30/2005 3:22:01 PM EDT
[#6]
According to the Blue Angels Alumni Association web page the last time the Blues and the Birds performed together was in 2000 in Pensacola.
 www.blueangels.org/Tbirds/Tbirds.html |
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Posted: 8/30/2005 3:26:14 PM EDT
[#7]
Wrong.
I think it was just two years ago, in 2003, that the Blue Angels and then the Thunderbirds performed one after the other at the airshow at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. I was there. The BA's flew SLIGHTLY tighter formations but flew short a man. No. 4 in the diamond had gear issues. The TB's overall show was more flashy. Huge respect to both teams.  Here: www.jimsladesairlines.com/patrick2.html CJ |
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Posted: 8/30/2005 3:31:52 PM EDT
[#8]
I'd have to find them, They're from the old 35mm days! 
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Posted: 8/30/2005 4:26:23 PM EDT
[#9]
Answer is Yes, No.
They are forbidden from flying together due to belief they will press the envelope to show off and cause an accident. However, they were just here this year and did a show just for the Blues to watch a day prior to the Blues show. At least that's what I remember. Someone else correct me if I'm wrong. M4-AK |
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Posted: 8/30/2005 4:31:01 PM EDT
[#10]
They fly at the same venue, but never in combined routines; your basic carnage avoidance maneuver.
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Posted: 8/30/2005 4:36:36 PM EDT
[#11]
The Blues would show the Birds up too badly.
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Posted: 8/30/2005 6:50:42 PM EDT
[#12]
Are you guys paying ANY attention at ALL?
I just SAID that they performed together in 2003 at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. I was there. Two great shows, each with different strengths. |
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Posted: 8/30/2005 7:00:05 PM EDT
[#13]
No, since the web site I linked to has at least 15 shows where they performed together.
One year at the Point Mugu airshow the Blues didn't come, so the Thunderbirds were invited and performed. The next year the Blues made it a point to show up. A couple years later the Blues were doing their preflights and there was a lull in the Airshow routine. The Thunderbirds came over show centerline in the Blue Angels diamond formation.
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Posted: 8/30/2005 7:32:29 PM EDT
[#14]
How about the Blue Angels, Thunderbirds and the Canadian Snowbirds all at the same airshow? I saw all three all in the same day during an airshow at Payne Field in Everett, Washington back in 1973 or 1974.
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Posted: 9/4/2005 12:04:15 AM EDT
[#15]
better late than never. dayton airshow,2003....thunderbirds, blue angels, and the canadien snowbirds. they all flew each of the 4 days of the show. it was a big show, though, 100 years of powered flight (i think).
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Posted: 9/4/2005 12:42:10 AM EDT
[#16]
Combined routines Hell! I want to see them fight it out!
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Posted: 9/4/2005 2:39:11 AM EDT
[#17]
The Angels clearly outperform the Thunderbirds.
I have no basis for a bias, but this much is clear. |
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Posted: 9/4/2005 5:15:17 AM EDT
[#18]
I disagree. Outside of the Thunderbirds having no training for, or need of, carrier landings, the skill levels of all of the pilots on both teams are at the highest level. Neither team's performances
demonstrate that their team's pilots are significantly more or less skilled than the pilots of the other team. There ARE some differences, but they're almost all differences in the team's flying doctrine, and not their skills. I've seen both teams blow the timing on crossing maneuvers, and I've seen both teams hold "formation" in only the broadest sense of the word, and other times, I've seen them nail the four way cross and hold formations so tight you'd think the planes were bolted together. It's silly to assert that either team is significantly better or worse than the other. In fact, it's positively ludicrous. CJ |
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Posted: 9/4/2005 5:33:57 AM EDT
[#19]
Actually, the try not to fly together because there are thousands of requests for DoD air demonstration teams and only a few get chosen. So they send the BAs and the T-Birds to different airshows to spread the wealth. It would have to be something special to get them both in one place. These guys are pros not show offs. The are not going to try to "outperform" each other because each and every one of them knows theirs is a dangerous job and such stunts would only risk their lives. |
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Posted: 9/4/2005 5:51:05 AM EDT
[#20]
Uh, scuse me. They are FIGHTER PILOTS! They are showoffs by NATURE! Arrogant, cocky, mischievious, dedicated professional SHOW OFFS. And the AF and Navy wouldnt have em any other way. DaddyDett |
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Posted: 9/4/2005 5:59:19 AM EDT
[#21]
Ever see the preflight briefs the BAs do? They are very serious. They visualize the entire routine even mimicking throttle and stick movements when the commands are given exactly as they are going to be given that day. They have a couple of basic routines. They are tailored to the particular airshow, it is practised through the week. It isn't deviated from unless the weather forces them to do a low altitude show-again one of the basic routines, or there is a safety issue. They aren't going to improvise in order to show someone up. They maybe cocky, but they are dedicated professionals first. The "Maverick" types don't make it to the team. |
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Posted: 9/4/2005 6:17:44 AM EDT
[#22]
Actually, ALL professional aerial demonstration teams do exactly the same thing. Even individual
soloists do the same thing. They ground rehearse every movement many, many times before even getting in the cockpit. It's really the only way to do the routine consistently and exactly as intended. And particularly when in tight formation, it's critical that everyone knows their stuff to the tiniest detail. CJ
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Posted: 9/4/2005 6:25:09 AM EDT
[#23]
Interesting note on the Blue Angels official Website:
www.blueangels.navy.mil/geninfo/faq.html#thunderbirds Why don't the Navy Blue Angels and the Air Force Thunderbirds fly together? Current Department of Defense policy states the use of military aviation demonstration teams is for recruiting purposes. Each demonstration team showcases U. S. military aviation capabilities to the public separately to maximize efforts. The Blue Angels may perform with the U. S. Army parachute team, the Golden Knights, as do the Thunderbirds. I know they have appeared on the same bill together, like at Dayton's 2003 air show where the Angels, Thunderbirds, and the Canadian AF Snowbirds flew--but not in any combined acts. ETA: I'll be watching the Thunderbirds at the Cleveland Air Show this afternoon. 
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Posted: 9/4/2005 6:34:02 AM EDT
[#24]
No, they won't ever both be flying a combined demonstration. I don't think anyone has even suggested that that's happened.
Both at the same show, sometimes. But onlyk one team flies at a time. Even if they WERE to fly a combined team demonstration, it would probably take months of practice for the two teams to develop and perfect the routine. CJ |
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Posted: 9/4/2005 6:55:08 AM EDT
[#25]
I think you missed my point, dport. It takes a certain amount of arrogance, bravado and mischieviousness to strap on a fighter and fly "regular" missions, let alone demonstration routines. The last thing you will hear me say is that these folks, thier crew chiefs, or support troops are anything but consumate professionals. They get the job done year in, year out, with utterly amazing flying safety stats! Especially when you consider the profiles they fly. I am damned proud to have a nephew, call sign Reload (when flying F/A-18's off USS Nimitz) whom was very high up in the selection process for the Blues back in the 90's. He didnt make the team, but just that he got to the final stages of selection makes me an incredibly proud ol uncle. He has since transitioned to Naval Reserves, and is an instructor pilot, and full Commander at age 37. He also flys for a major airlines. DaddyDett |
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Posted: 9/4/2005 6:58:09 AM EDT
[#26]
DaddyDett,
My point was and is they are too professional to let bravado get in their way. They are not cowboys, and IMO to suggest they would get into some sort of performance pissing contest to out do each other is insulting to the men and women who fly in the teams. |
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Posted: 9/4/2005 7:04:18 AM EDT
[#27]
I kinda agree, kinda don't. The nature of the beast in them just might take them there, the training and professionalism instilled in them keeps them in check, MOST of the time. Nope, I never saw A-10 guys flying over Killington ski resort low and slow scopin' the snow bunnies. I never had Chappie James overfly my home on sunday mornin's in Colo. Springs, turnin' and burnin' despite a standing ban on flying by General Officers, after the death of Gen. Simler at RAFB in 1973. DaddyDett |
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Posted: 9/4/2005 7:10:00 AM EDT
[#28]
Hehehe, ever been drinking with them?
Once, and that was in Pensacola before the air show practice season really got underway.
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