Thunderbirds

[XPLUMBER]

I've had the privilege of watching the thunderbirds today and on Friday and they cometely knock the spots off the Red Arrows or any other display team imo. The very fact that they are flying frontline fighters immediately makes them more impressive and sets them appart. The F16 is going to be a more difficult aircraft to fly compared to an unafterburning jet trainer and he sneak pass at nearly mach 1 - well, nuff said!

The balanced view surely is that the Thunderbirds and Red Arrows' displays are entirely different. The European display teams are about precision and large formations. The USAF and USN are about pulling out BIG shows from powerful front liners. If that's gay then I'd better get out there and buy myself a pink tutu tomorrow

Please post pictures when you do!

[Jimbo27]

I really enjoyed the Thunderbirds on Friday at Waddo. Lots of action, singletons mixed with formations, tighter, faster, and more dynamic than the usual display teams,

[davedubya]

The Thunderbirds put on an awesome display today.

And, even though it may be sacrilegious to say this, I thought something seemed very off with the Red Arrows - it seemed a very confused and below-par display (I know it may have been due to the sudden onset of cloud, but I've never seen them look like that before)

[turbosix]

I like the thunderbirds. As others have previously said they fly a different type of display to the Red Arrows etc, which is why I don't bother comparing one with the other. They and the Vulcan saved this year's show.

[Chef_uk]

The Thunderbirds were good. Their display isn't very technical, there are gaps between their manoeuvres, and in the list of display teams from best to worst they are nowhere near the top 3. That said, they are not near the bottom either. After watching their pre flight checks show etc and then the display with the rousing music and chat. For the average airshow attendee, they were brilliant. They got a massive round of applause when they came in after their display yesterday and they put on a good show. The F16 is a very capable plane and i'm sure in another team's hands, they would outdo the Thunderbirds everytime but they are far from how some you you guys portray them.

They were the highlight of their airshow this year for many families and even some of the aviation enthusiasts on crowd line said how good they thought they were (one three generation family of FC'ers no less who were sat near me yesterday )

I've seen them 3 times now, 10 years ago at Waddo, 4 years ago at RIAT and now this year and this year's display was their best.

[SteveS]

I thought they were awesome today, exciting display and very close formation work. Thankfully, we didn't see their pantomime ground show today, but the flying part was excellent.

[tornado54]

I agree, they were fantastic. As previously said they fly completely different to european teams. I look at what they do as more of a demonstration than a display. A demonstration of extremely close precison flying, and the solos do mostly basic manouvers with extreme precision to demonstrate the capability of the F-16. Where as teams like the Red Arrows have alot of variety, lots of loops, rolls, breaks and formation changes, whilst retaining fantasic precision. And the syncro are just great, you just dont know where to look next.
Both are great teams, but in there own different ways.

James

[Blue Diamond]

I thought the Thunderbirds were excellent. Totally different type of display and ethos to the Red Arrows so comparison IMHO is pointless, enjoy them both for what they are. If you don't like them so be it but no need to be insulting towards them. Maybe those who have been slinging the mud should buy themselves an F-16 or six and show us all how it should be done. For me, I was only too pleased to see some front line heavy metal thundering around the sky in close formation, something the RAF hasn't really had since the days of the Firebirds etc.

[Snafu]

Watched the Thunderbirds on 4 consecutive days this week and really enjoyed it. Great to see 6 F16's in the sky and some of the close formation work was brilliant. Loved hearing all the car alarms going off as they gave it a blast. Different to the Reds, but very enjoyable. Non aviation enthusiasts I took with me Sat and Sun really enjoyed their show and I wouldn't disagree with them

[kevster]

Did anyone else hear the boom of the solo as he approached the reverse goose type pass on Saturday, there was certainly a loud thud before his noise, pretty sure he popped the ol' barrier!!!

Kevster

[reheat module]

Thunderbirds airborne at 1140L and cleared from London Mil to FL270

[scalp91]

The display frequency really confused me today.... the 4 ship were using 141.0750 and I couldnt hear a word they were saying. It was just all fuzzy.
Any ideas why this was? Why couldnt I hear them if i was on the right frequency?

I had the same problem, Larry.

I know they've gone home but some info that may be useful. None of the aircraft monitor the ATC frequencies, the guy manning the comcart as
"Thunderbird Control" relays comms between ATC and the team. He transmits to the team on UHF (235.25). Diamond formation use 141.075 for their
Air-Air but leader also monitors 235.25. The solo's transmit on 235.25 but also monitor 141.075.

One possible reason for the fuzziness is that the scanner's AM/FM mode is automatically selected according to the pre-programmed bandplan.
Many scanners would set NFM for freqs in the 137.00 and above ranges, which would make the transmissions almost unreadable

[scalp91]

Thats very interesting to know. So if it automatically sets it to NFM (which mine does), what should it have been set on? Mine has AM,FM,NFM,WFM or WFM(Broadcast)?
Cheers

Should be set to AM. There are quite a few display teams that use high VHF in the 137 - 150 range, along with various air-air comms. All of these use AM, but the
scanner will probably default the whole range to NFM.

Hope this helps.

[HunterF6]

Thats very interesting to know. So if it automatically sets it to NFM (which mine does), what should it have been set on? Mine has AM,FM,NFM,WFM or WFM(Broadcast)?
Cheers

Should be set to AM. There are quite a few display teams that use high VHF in the 137 - 150 range, along with various air-air comms. All of these use AM, but the
scanner will probably default the whole range to NFM.

Hope this helps.

correct re AM in that band however you will find the Mildenhall C-130's active around 149.000-150.000 in NFM.

Slight expansion on teams and other air-air comms in the 137.000-144.000 range. A lot of types have 1 vhf and 1 uhf radio, so if say uhf is in use for ATC then you'll find chat freqs in the vhf band or vice versa. Types where this happens are Hawks, F-5's, MB-339's, Alphajets, and most F-16's, exception being the latest Greek and Polish deliveries (Block 52?) who have radios that can work either at same time. Hope that helps.

[Hillwalker]

Thanks for the informative replies guys. Still a little bit confused, but slightly the wiser.

[scalp91]

Ok cool thanks for the help. How do you know though whether you should be on AM etc? Is there actually a way to tell

As a guide, if you're wanting to hear aircraft, it's almost certain that AM will be used, with the exception of a small number of air-air freqs (mostly
special ops stuff and some helicopters) as Hunter mentions above. Nearly everything else is NFM (except broadcast radio which is on WFM and
possibly TV in the 500 range).

Safest bet is to always set airband freqs to AM - if you do get a badly distorted frequency then you can always switch to NFM!

[Mike]

This has probably been asked before (apologies), but does anyone have the serials for the Thunderbirds?.

Here you go ! :- viewtopic.php?f=317&t=36921" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;