The USAF Thunderbirds will be performing in the Far East beginning Sep.21-Oct.25 2009. The cities in the Far East have not been finalised yet except for South Korea (Oct.23-25). www.thunderbirds.airforce.com

Previously here in 1987 and 1993, the T-birds cancelled their Far East tour in 2001 due to the events of Sep.11 that year.

If they do perform in SG, the venue would probably be East Coast Parkway again. Which means spectators would miss the action on the ground from PLAB. Still, like the hokkien saying goes, "Bo hee hae ar ho", (No fish prawns also can) :D

Having seen the T-birds and the Blue Angels fly in US airshows, I prefer the Blues' because of their more dangerous routine. An air force General once said, "Its that aircraft carrier mentality."

On a sidenote, the Blue Angels will be converting to the F/A-18C (2009) in favour of the 'A' model which has been flying since the 1987 show season.

FLY NAVY!

T-Birds are gonna be flying F-16Cs for a long time...

Hmmm why not the place we had SG Airshow? Just off CAB East...

Hopefully not. Have u tried going there using public transport or the air show shuttle buses?

i have....it is ~!@#$%...but have to admit it is one likely location though....if they are here....

If the South Korean Won stays at its current level till next year, I might want to catch them in Seoul. Chances for me to photo the jets up close are higher than at the world class af's air base situated in the middle of this island!

Off Topic, Reminds me of the T-birds cartoon version. :D

exciting! pity staying near PLAB doesn't come in useful...tho CAB is just a (long and boring) bus ride away :D

Too bad the USAF Thunderbirds dun fly F-15 anymore now, only recalled the F-15 were removed in early 90s to make way for F-16s. I guess the most powerful warplane used for any western aerobatics display/air demonstration team out there.

did they ever fly in f-15? i tot they have been flying the f-16 since 1982/3....they only transit from A to C model in 91/92? no?

By the way how many aerobatic teams are their from the US military?

Off hand there is the T-birds from USAF which flies F-16s, Blue Angels from USN which flies F-18s, any more?

i think that's it, unless you count the using of army choppers for publicity events...

Here's the list of planes flown by the USAF Thunderbirds since its inception in 1953.

F-84 Thunderjet (1953-1955)
F-100 Super Sabre (1956-1968)
F-4 Phantom (1969-1973)
T-38 Talon (1974-1982)***
F-16 Fighting Falcon (1983-present)

In 1992, the T-birds transitioned from the F-16A to the F-16C.

***In Jan. 1982 the "Diamond Crash" became the worst training crash in Thunderbird history. Four pilots in the team were killed while preforming a 'line abreast' loop during training. All four jets went vertically into the ground. The cause of the crash was oficially listed by the USAF as the result of a mechanical problem with the #1 aircraft's control stick actuator. During formation flight, the wing and slot pilots visually cue off the #1 lead aircraft, completely disregarding their positions in relation to the ground. This major crash with associated fatalities led to the Thunderbirds getting the F-16 as a replacement aircraft.

I got the above off the net.

IMO the Best time to catch the Thunderbirds is their last performance of the shoe season in Nellis Air Force Base, just outside Las Vegas. Public buses are available from downtown Las Vegas. The event is called 'Aviation Nation' (aviationnation.org) held in the first half of November. For 2009, its the Nov. 14-15 weekend.

Yeah. That crash was a tragedy indeed. But it also showcases how much discipline and focus it takes to fly in tight formation engaging in aerobatic manuevers.

The list did not include the F-105 Thunderchief. It was perhaps the loudest aircraft the T-Birds have ever flown.

The F-105 served very briefly in T-Bird service as its airframes were required for Vietnam service then.

There's no info about the performance in Asia.

http://thunderbirds.airforce.com/home.html

Have lah. On your link, click on 2009 Schedule and scroll down to Sep.19 - Oct. 25 Far East tour :)

Indeed the 'Thud' flew very briefly in T-bird colours.

http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/Thund..._crash_site.htm

21st September to 21st October (Link).
Location to be announced.

KL confirmed Oct. 3-5. Usual suspects please fall-in.

Media preview day on 1st Oct, also RMAF is to hold open day in conjunction with it, last I heard.

no s'pore?

I'm interested to go down to Subang. :)

Who's onz? Need apply leave leh =P

We talked about your pass problem at last LIMA. They promised such incident will never happened again.

Likely won't happen mainly because the organizers who made the mess with the pass aren't doing the show this year :D

I think the last time the thunderbirds came to Singapore before but long time ago. Think it performed on the skies above East Coast?? Anyone can recall?

...........see Page 1, first post, third sentence :)

not sure if that was the last time they performed here, but went to see them in the late 80s with my then gf, however the jam was so bad we ended up watching the display from the bus along Marine Parade when they were flying off the East Coast :huh: :blink:

Yep, I re-called. That time they were still flying the A-models and I remembered the ST had this main page of the T-Birds a/c on the PLA tarmac.

Anyway, yes they were then performing at East Coast park and stood just on the beach to watch the demonstration.

How is their acrobatic stunt compared to our Black Knights? I heard is more dangerous :o

Anyone seen the Blue Angels before?

The Blue Angels used to perform without G-suits... Otherwise, their stunts are about the same.

Having seen the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds fly in US airshows, I'd say the 'Blues' aerobatic maneuvers are that little bit more exciting. Tee-hee, couldn't help but put this here :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7rAUu8djZ4&NR=1 however, this vid was taken at the annual San Francisco FleetWeek airshow and I don't recommend it since you don't get to see the ground portion of the Blue's airshow. If you want to see the full Blue Angels airshow you should seriously consider Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (former home of TopGun) in SanDiego.

For the Miramar airshow in San Diego you can't beat this address

http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/pr...pertyCode=05386

This hotel is an easy 40 mins. walk to the airbase's main gate. Located halfway between the base and hotel is an 'all you can eat' Chinese buffet restaurant. Really convenient if you ask me :)

Its always good to attend a 'Blue's' or 'T-birds' airshow late in the season when their aerobatics display is definitely slicker and the 'Diamond Fours' are bunched more tightly together.

Here's a useful link if you don't already know http://www.airshows.com/

That said, I won't be visiting Miramar this year, instead it'll be Nellis Air Force Base's Aviation Nation airshow in Las Vegas, home of the Thunderbirds and their end of show season aerobatics Nov. 14-15. But the main reason for my trip to Nellis is to catch a static display F-22 which never featured in the Miramar airshow save for a pretty tame flying display in the 2005 edition.

MilKacang outing to TUDM Subang to take photos of the USAF Thundersbirds ? :ph43r:

Well, Milnuts brudders,

the Thunderbirds won't be performing in SG after all! Got this off another website and this confirms it since the T-birds Asia Pacific tour is from 26 Sep. - 23 Oct 2009.

26 Sep. Townsville, Australia
30 Sep. Guam
Sat. 3 Oct. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Sat. 10 Oct. Bangkok, Thailand
14 Oct. Chitose, Japan
17 Oct. Kamatsu, Japan
18 Oct. Misawa, Japan
21 Oct. Osan, Korea
23 Oct. Seoul, Korea

Now we all tan-ku-ku for their next PACAF tour. They were here 1987, 1993 (both performances over East Coast Parkway beach), 2001 (cancelled due to events of 9-11 that year). Hmm, every 6-8 years.

MilKacang :lol:

f14dtomcat,

Yes, it's been known in the local aircraft enthusiast group that the USAF Thunderbirds will not be performing in Singapore.

So far, there is still not much information for the performance of the USAF Thunderbirds at TUDM Subang Malaysia.

HTH.

The Defence Force Air Display Townsville is the eighth in the series of annual Air Shows around Australia at major Air Force Bases. These Shows are primarily a medium for recruiting, public information and promotion of the professional military skills and the ADF image. Although the displays are centred on aircraft, our goal is to involve and promote all three Services where practicable.

This event is a break from the past format. The display will be in front of ‘The Strand’, over water rather than on the RAAF Base. This will give us a wider frontage for spectators as we are expecting a large crowd to gather from surrounding regions. The big draw card for the display will be the United States Air Force demonstration Team, ‘The Thunderbirds’, in six F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.

http://www.airforce.gov.au/Townsville/

It will be a great show. Townsville is a lovely place to kick back and relax, not as "commercial" as the more popular tourist places like Cairns or Gold Coast. The town likes to boast of 320 days of sunshine a year so the chances of the display day having great weather is pretty good. The Strand is a nice stretch of beach and the angles are perfect for an afternoon display. I was there in July and I thought it was right up there among the places I've been to in Aust for holidays, food is a bit on the pricey side in town though.

At least one Mil Nut is headed there for the show, along with many of the Aussie spotters, although I'll pass on this. Seeing the T-birds before, being there 2 months ago, and A$700 MEL-TSV-MEL tickets (thank you school holiday pricing!) have combined to ensure I'm going to be down south during the show weekend.

I wonder who is the Milkacang that is making his way down to Townsville to see the Thunderbirds.

Yeah, I'm the one heading up from SYD next weekend. Schools are still in session in NSW so prices of air tickets still pretty reasonable. It's gonna be a well-deserved and much needed break from school and assignments.