Hey Dudley, How did the T-Birds get started?

Bob Chilcoat wrote:
Here is the "History" of the Thunderbirds from their website, which I
referred to above. As you can see, this starts with the first jet team.
What about earlier days?
--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


In 1947, while the jet age was still in its infancy, military aviation was
hurtled into the future with the creation of the U.S. Air Force as a
separate service. Just six years later, on May 25, 1953, the Air Force's
official air demonstration team, designated the 3600th Air Demonstration
Unit, was activated at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona.

The name "Thunderbirds" was soon adopted by the unit; influenced in part by
the strong Indian culture and folklore of the southwestern United States
where Luke is located. Indian legend speaks of the Thunderbird with great
fear and respect.

For the 2005 season, they opened with a taped segment played over the
PA
system. The segment was a "Thunderbird Tale" told by an "Indian"
character.
Maybe bad karma caused the "bumping" on 8/20/05.

JG