Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: grampi
I don't know how many times I've heard people say "the Blue Angels are better than the Thunderbirds". I just saw the Blue Angels perform at the Dayton air show this past Sunday and I still say the Thunderbirds put on a better show...
You're the one that keeps bleating about how great the Thunderbirds are. Over, and over, and over.
And over.
The T-Birds simply don't fly as close as the Blues. Never have. The Blue Angels existed before the Thunderbirds. The Blue Angels were flying shows before there even was a United States Air Force.
But, I will admit, the Blue Angels simply can't match the T-Bird crash rate. My favorite: accidentally shutting down your engine* and crashing in front of POTUS during an airshow at the USAF Academy...hard to top that maneuver!
https://www.denverpost.com/2016/12/14/thunderbirds-crash-cause-colorado-springs/
*The "official" story. However, he called "bingo", meaning fuel low, 15 minutes prior to the crash...and there was no post-crash fire...but one doesn't want to admit that a T-Bird ran out of gas, so the "sticking throttle switch" makes for a fig leaf of legitimacy...but only a fig leaf...
Maybe the fact that the BAs flying a few inches closer together than the T-birds do doesn't really seem to add anything to the show, as far as being impressive to watch. The maneuvers the T-Birds do are more impressive to watch.
It’s not just a matter of close together.
The shows are different.
The jets are different.
The T-birds use the energy addition of the F-16 to impress with maneuvers.
https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/airshow/military/media/Thunderbirds_Maneuvers_Package.pdf
Loops.
Lots of loops.
The Blues exploit the superior slow speed handling of the Hornet to do things that the T-birds simply cannot do.
E.G. fly next to each other while one is inverted. Fly next to each other while one is dirty and inverted. Do a dirty roll on takeoff. A slow speed high alpha pass. A simulated carrier wave off and dirty climb.
If you understand airplanes, all of those maneuvers are harder, and more impressive, than zooming up for another loop or vertical maneuver.
The Blues could fly the T-birds show, but instead, they choose do things that the T-birds simply cannot do.
And they do it while flying closer together.
That's all well and fine, it's just that these things you say the BAs can do that the TBs can't do aren't that impressive to watch...I'd rather see a plane going vertical until it goes out of sight instead of watching two planes fly by with one inverted and the gear extended...