This Supercut Of The Blue Angels And Thunderbirds “America Strong” Flyover Is A Must Watch
Watch America’s top jet demonstration teams soar together over the Big Apple like never before.
Just as The War Zone
predicted over a week ago, the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels have executed the first in what will be a large number of flybys across the United States to honor those on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now we have some awesome footage and images of the teams joining forces in the skies above New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.
Our good friends over at Airshowstuff.com put together a supercut of the best clips and stills from the historic spectacle, it features external and in-cockpit footage of the teams not just executing their flyovers, but also refueling via what was a quartet of KC-10 Extender tankers.
Check it out!:
A couple of interesting notes:
- Some of the jets in the Blue Angels' formation were using tablets during the flight.
- There appears to be a commercial ADS-B receiver on the dash of the Hornets.
- The Blues don't wear oxygen masks during their performances because they can get in the way during very tight formation maneuvers and the demonstration sticks to low altitudes where they are not needed. During the flyovers, unlike the Thunderbirds, they are seen without masks, as usual, but during refueling, they have donned them due to the higher altitudes involved.
Let us know what else you can see in the videos.
The teams will continue to hit more cities in the eastern and central United States before splitting up and flying over various locales separately, with the Thunderbirds covering much of the western United States and the Blues taking the eastern portion of the country.
Note, even the Blue Angels' mask game is on-brand!:
As we mentioned in our original piece regarding the possibility that these flyovers could occur after the Thunderbirds quietly deployed to Pensacola, Florida for unannounced 'joint training' with the Blue Angels, the pilots and support crews need constant training, regardless of if the jets wear gray or colorful paint. The money has already been set aside for both teams to perform the show season. At least this way the public and the services get some benefit from that flying. Priority tanker support is used for the teams when flying between locales during the air show season, as well, so tanker support for the flyovers isn't an added expense.
Four KC-10s were used to refuel the teams between flyover locales:
There has been talk that the exact paths the jets would fly on may not be published for future flyovers as people tended to crowd together at key viewing spots to see them, which isn't conducive in an era of social distancing. As such, some have even criticized the flights as potential catalysts for spreading the disease.
Regardless, here is a tentative schedule of where the teams are headed, maybe they are coming to your neck of the woods. That schedule will likely expand in the days to come and local airpower is also participating in their own flyover events over their communities.
So, get outside and look up!
Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com
