Thunderbirds opinions

All you'll ever need to know about the UK's biggest airshow
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pbeardmore
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Thunderbirds opinions

Post by pbeardmore »

Started this as it may dominate the general discussion thread.

IMHO, the hype was so over done that no team could ever live up to it (i am referring to the Friday). "God bless America"..imagine if every country represented used the same level of hype/spin/propaganda "God bless France" "God bless Slovenia" "God bless Turkey" thank goodness other countries are less "in your face"

as for the flying, obviously its very skillful etc but no more so than other display teams IMHO
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borismorris
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by borismorris »

I have enjoyed the Tbirds both days as well as their Thursday practice..If only there was a mute on the P.A. system...

JSR
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by JSR »

I thought they were pretty good. First time I've seen them since the last time they were over. My brother and his wife who hadn't seen them before, were quite impressed.

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speedbird2639
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by speedbird2639 »

I wonder how much it cost to get them over here and comply with their 97 pages of 'free stuff we want before we leave the USA' manual.

They can't be a cheap outfit with 12 officers and 120 support staff to pay.

keety
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by keety »

I thought the display was utterly disappointing

There seemed to be no cohesion to the display at all.. it was like there were 6 planes up there and half of them were doing their own thing. You'd then get planes buggering off leaving nothing going on for 10-20 seconds until another plane came from some odd axis catching everyone completely off guard. Added to this when they did something that was supposed to be "close" they were bloody miles apart.

The only plus point for me was that the jets actually sounded like jets... unlike the Arrows which sound like a fart In a can.

Oh and they were nice looking planes.

Mikkel
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by Mikkel »

Their routine is a little boring, but was nice seing some F16s in nice paint scheme in formation.
Their commmentary is way less patriotic and self hyping than when i saw them in Denmark ages ago, back then 20000 people started clapping when the speaker system died half way through the display :)

jason82wells
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by jason82wells »

They didn't live up to their hype which is a pity as I was looking forward to seeing them for the first time in 20ish years.

Takeoffs were my favourite part of display - six vipers shaking the ground at once, although a few times this weekend they took off as singles

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G-CVIX
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by G-CVIX »

Much better today than they have been on the other days IMO.

The main issue for me isn't the display itself it's all the waiting around at every stage of things.

It's worth noting that the timings on the sheet put all the teams between 20 and 40 minutes, but the Thunderbirds were left 50 odd minutes and probably flew less manoeuvres than a 30 minute display by any other team.

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Jindivik
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by Jindivik »

I've seen the Thunderbirds twice - George AFB in 1978 (T-38s) and Upper Heyford early '80s. Both times the display was quite a disappointment consisting of passes in a fixed formation and, after a few minutes, another pass in a different formation, sometimes there were passes by a solo or a pair as well. Having seen the Red Arrows on numerous occasions before, the T/birds displays had none of the smooth formation changes in view of the crowd that is so much part of the Reds display. As others have said - a lot of hype and not a lot of substance. Would have liked to see the Blue Angels at Bentwaters in the '70s though...

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mikek
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by mikek »

I thought they were very impressive (on the Saturday). TBH, better than i expected.

Very slick, very tight formation & some manoeuvres i haven't seen before. Even a couple of moments where my heart stood still. Easily on par with the Reds. I'm very happy to have seen them.
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Blackbird
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by Blackbird »

I thought they were pretty good but overhyped. And commentary... And why the big palava over whether they would or wouldn't display. What a waste of about 20 mins.

Andy.

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captainfurious
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by captainfurious »

Surely commentary of the day goes to the Solo Turk? "He is also very handsome" a personal highlight.

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tankbuster
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by tankbuster »

I thought they were actually very good. Some very tight stuff and unlike a lot of other display turns they really show off the aircraft to the crowd well, with lots of topsides. Music was really good as well, mainly UK, The Verve, Spence Davis and climaxing with the Who. I'll make an allowance for the dreadful version of God Bless America as they left the Who until last.
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ted633
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by ted633 »

I thoroughly enjoyed their display. 6 F-16's flying about can't be all bad! As said, commentary wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be. Was a bit taken aback though by them flying on the 'B' axis to break, and then just continuing along straight over our heads! I didn't think that sort of thing was allowed these days, but obviously it is.

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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by Airshowhammer »

The first sneak pass on Friday i totally forgot about and flinched like a little wuss.

dhassell
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by dhassell »

ted633 wrote:I thoroughly enjoyed their display. 6 F-16's flying about can't be all bad! As said, commentary wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be. Was a bit taken aback though by them flying on the 'B' axis to break, and then just continuing along straight over our heads! I didn't think that sort of thing was allowed these days, but obviously it is.


I also did notice that! Not sure which jet, but when it took off, It bank sharply left and flew straight over the crowd on the green end!

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tankbuster81
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by tankbuster81 »

Saw them yesterday for the first time in a few years, and as ever totally underwhelmed. The problem in many ways is that they think they are miles better than they actually are.The whole thing has no flow to it, the commentator is more over the top, than Evil Knievel, used to be, back in the day. To my eye, as they always have been, just a mash-up of passes, gaps, and awful commentary.Bring back the Black Eagles, now that was a team and a half!!
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paulb1973
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by paulb1973 »

Having a rest day from Fairford (Sunday - probably a bad decision in hindsight!). But have watched them display everyday since Wednesday, they've been getting progressively better (I might be getting withdrawal symptoms soon) I guess the Friday display had the much better weather - but they did well in the Saturday low cloud. Arguably the best bits are the 4-ship afterburner take-off and the four way crossover at the right-hand end towards the end of the display.

nheather
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by nheather »

I can understand the hype in the UK - I would have liked to see them and definitely the Blue Angels because (a) we don't often get the opportunity and (b) they use proper fighter aircraft not lightweight trainers.

The Red Arrows are still the best team in the world in my opinion, but there are so many opportunities to see them in the year that they are less special. On occasions I have been known to miss them to get a headstart on the car park exododus because I had already seen them a few times early in the year.

And in terms of display, the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels are at a distinct disadvantage because they are flying full blown fighter/attack aircraft which are faster, heavier, bigger and less agile. And this drives less aircraft, 6 Thunderbirds compared with 10 Red Arrows which means less options for formations. It also drives not being able to fly the formation so tightly.

Swap the Red Arrows over to Typhoons and see if they can still put on the same sort of displays as they currently do.

Cheers,

Nigel

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jingernut
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by jingernut »

Have enjoyed their displays since Wednesday. Nice to see a team using front line fast jets and not trainers. Yes they are different to other teams but that's surely a good point or everything would just be the same routines.

I think people have themselves to blame for hyping it up. If you had looked up displays online you would have known.

I enjoyed them and so did my 7 year old daughter. :yahoo:

sikejsudjek
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by sikejsudjek »

I enjoyed the Friday display but inevitably having lost one jet it wasn't going to be as good as a full display. The four way crossing towards the end of the display was impressive. That said the Reds were far better, and of course have the better jet for displaying. God Bless American did get a bit irritating, but its a cultural difference between the US and the UK. Bit like asking our kids to stand for the flag at the start of the school day. Just wouldn't happen here.

techniquest
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by techniquest »

We were way over in 'yellow' (east p&v area), and thoroughly enjoyed the Thunderbirds. The commentary didn't bother us at all because, frankly, we couldn't hear it.
Having the Thunderbirds taxi by, park and shut-down right in front of us was a real treat.

wezgulf3
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by wezgulf3 »

My opinions of the Thunderbirds just went up, The team photographer just run up to FRIAT stands... she's gorgeous :heyhey:

Wes...

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stevebrodie
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by stevebrodie »

Underwhelmed, and i dont think its trying to live up to the hype, just think they are, urrm, boring. Left lots of empty sky, between each pass, which at the end of the day was all they did, 4 ship pass, 2 ship pass, four ship, and repeat for 40 minutes. They do look nice, funny seeing T5, having the '5' painted upside down on the jet, more 'look at me, i fly upside down', :grin: Reds couldn't do that as they all fly upside down at some point.
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stevebrodie
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Re: Thunderbirds opinions

Post by stevebrodie »

nheather wrote:And in terms of display, the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels are at a distinct disadvantage because they are flying full blown fighter/attack aircraft which are faster, heavier, bigger and less agile. And this drives less aircraft, 6 Thunderbirds compared with 10 Red Arrows which means less options for formations. It also drives not being able to fly the formation so tightly.

Swap the Red Arrows over to Typhoons and see if they can still put on the same sort of displays as they currently do.

Cheers,

Nigel


Hornet and Falcon, less agile than a Hawk trainer ?, did you see the Spanish Hornet display, or the Turkish / Belgium F16 demos :smile:

9 Red Typhoons - now that would be a feast for the eyes but probably blow your eardrums when they put in a hard turn :confused:
Viper: Good morning, gentlemen, the temperature is 110 degrees

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