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DISPLAYTEAMS |
Thunderbirds
In May 1953 it was decided to establish a
display teams that could showcase the newest
jets, and how well the Air Force's people could
handle them. The plane they would showcase was
F-84G.
The "3600th Air Demonstration Team" was declared
ready on June 1 same year. The team had then
already been together training for 6 weeks.
Why the name "Thunderbirds"
The team still had no name. There were already
"Sky-blazers" "Acrojets", "Blue Angels" and now
"The 3600th Air Demonstration Team". Therefore,
in june, a competition was launched at the
airbase (Luke AFB), where the team was stationed
at the time.
The name chosen was "Thunderbirds". The name has
strong ties to the Native American culture, and
in short it is about the fight between good and
evil.
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Thunderbirds celebrated their
50th anniversary in 2003. Last time they visited
Denmark was in 2000 at the Air Force Open Day at
Skrydstrup Air Base, where low cloud cover,
however, resulted in that they could only
perform a reduced program.
Aircrafttypes
| Name |
Year |
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| F - 84G Thunderjet |
1953 - 1955 |
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| F - 84F Thunderstreak |
1955 - 1956 |
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| F - 100C Super Sabre |
1956 - 1964 |
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| F - 100B Thunderchief |
1964 |
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| F - 100D Super Sabre |
1964 - 1969 |
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| F - 4E Phantom II |
1969 - 1974 |
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| T - 38A Talon |
1974 - 1983 |
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| F - 16A Fighting Falcon |
1983 - 1992 |
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| F - 16C Fighting Falcon |
1992 - |
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Thunderbirds homepage
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Blue Angels
At the end of World War II, the Chief of Naval
Operations, Chester W. Nimitz, ordered the
formation of a flight demonstration team to keep
the public interested in Naval Aviation.
The Blue Angels performed their first flight
demonstration less than a year later in June
1946 at their home base, Naval Air Station (NAS)
Jacksonville, Florida. The team was the flying
the Grumman F-6F Hellcat.
Why the name "Blue Angels"
The name was originated by the original team
when planning a show in New York in 1946. One of
them came across the name of the city’s famous
Blue Angel nightclub in the New Yorker Magazine.
Blue Angels celebrated their 50th
anniversary in 1996. |
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Aircrafttypes
| Name |
Year |
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| F - 6F Hellcat |
1946 |
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| F - 8F Bearcat |
1946 - |
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| F - 9F-2 Panther |
- 1951 |
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| F - 9F-5 Panther |
1951 - 1955 |
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| F - 9F-8 Cougar |
1955 -1957 |
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| F - 11F-1 Tiger |
1957 - 1969 |
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| F-4J Phantom II |
1969 - 1974 |
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| A - 4F Skyhawk II |
1974 - 1986 |
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| F/A - 18 Hornet |
1986 - |
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Blue Angels homepage
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Red
Arrows
The 1950s and 1960s were the heyday of Royal Air
Force jet aerobatic display teams. By the
mid-60s almost every Flying Training School, and
several operational squadrons, had their own
teams. So much time, effort and money was being
expended on these non-established tasks that the
Royal Air Force eventually decided to disband
them all and form a single, full-time
professional team.
Thus, in 1964, the Red Pelicans flying six Jet
Provost T Mk 4s became the first team to
represent the Royal Air Force as a whole.
In that same year a team of five yellow Folland
Gnat jet trainers, known as the Yellowjacks, was
formed at No 4 Flying Training School at Royal
Air Force Valley in north Wales, led by Flight
Lieutenant Lee Jones.
The following year Jones was posted to the
Central Flying School (CFS) to form the Red
Arrows. |
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Why the name "Red Arrows"
The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team (RAFAT), the
formal name of the Red Arrows, began life at RAF
Fairford in Gloucestershire, then a satellite
of CFS.
Initially there were seven display pilots and
ten Gnat jet trainers. The name ‘Red Arrows’ was
chosen to combine the appeal and expertise of
two earlier teams, the famous Black Arrows and
the Red Pelicans.
Aircrafttypes
| Name |
Year |
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| F - 6F Hellcat |
1946 |
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| F - 8F Bearcat |
1946 - |
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| Hawk |
1980 - |
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Red Arrows homepage
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