Sean Tucker Oracle Airshow

"Chris Colohan" wrote in message
...

The Thunderbird show seems to emphasize "look at how cool our planes
are", and not "look at how skilled our pilots are".)

You obviously know little about the Thunderbirds my friend :-)

Dudley Henriques

Don't really know what kind of music he expected to hear either Dudley,...I
can see it now The United States Air Force Thunderbirds performing to
Britney Spears!!!

Patrick
student SPL
aircraft structural mech

"Dudley Henriques" dhenriques@noware .net wrote in message
hlink.net...

"Chris Colohan" wrote in message
...

The Thunderbird show seems to emphasize "look at how cool our planes
are", and not "look at how skilled our pilots are".)

You obviously know little about the Thunderbirds my friend :-)

Dudley Henriques

"Dudley Henriques" dhenriques@noware .net wrote in message
hlink.net...

"Chris Colohan" wrote in message
...

The Thunderbird show seems to emphasize "look at how cool our planes
are", and not "look at how skilled our pilots are".)

You obviously know little about the Thunderbirds my friend :-)

Dudley,

Doubtful he knows anything about flying other than what he's seen in movies.

"W P Dixon" wrote in message
...
Don't really know what kind of music he expected to hear either
Dudley,...I can see it now The United States Air Force Thunderbirds
performing to Britney Spears!!!

I don't know about the Thunderbirds, but there was a guy in the base ops
men's room at Nellis one afternoon with a magazine with some pictures of
Spears in it, and from what we were hearing outside the stall (and laughing
like hell while we were in there) ,he was "performing" really well!!! :-)
DH

It sounds like he had more fun than Chris at the airshow then!!!

Patrick
student SPL
aircraft structural mech

"Dudley Henriques" dhenriques@noware .net wrote in message
nk.net...

"W P Dixon" wrote in message
...
Don't really know what kind of music he expected to hear either
Dudley,...I can see it now The United States Air Force Thunderbirds
performing to Britney Spears!!!

I don't know about the Thunderbirds, but there was a guy in the base ops
men's room at Nellis one afternoon with a magazine with some pictures of
Spears in it, and from what we were hearing outside the stall (and
laughing like hell while we were in there) ,he was "performing" really
well!!! :-)
DH

"Dudley Henriques" dhenriques@noware .net wrote

I don't know about the Thunderbirds, but there was a guy in the base ops
men's room at Nellis one afternoon with a magazine with some pictures of
Spears in it, and from what we were hearing outside the stall (and
laughing
like hell while we were in there) ,he was "performing" really well!!! :-)
DH


I don't know about this one, Dudley. How did you know it was a Magazine of
Spears?

You were there in the stall? Hmmm. BFG
--
Jim in NC

"Morgans" wrote in message
news

"Dudley Henriques" dhenriques@noware .net wrote

I don't know about the Thunderbirds, but there was a guy in the base ops
men's room at Nellis one afternoon with a magazine with some pictures of
Spears in it, and from what we were hearing outside the stall (and
laughing
like hell while we were in there) ,he was "performing" really well!!! :-)
DH


I don't know about this one, Dudley. How did you know it was a Magazine
of
Spears?

You were there in the stall? Hmmm. BFG
--
Jim in NC

Nope. We saw him reading it before he went in.
D

"Dudley Henriques" dhenriques@noware .net writes:

"Chris Colohan" wrote in message
...

The Thunderbird show seems to emphasize "look at how cool our planes
are", and not "look at how skilled our pilots are".)

You obviously know little about the Thunderbirds my friend :-)

That is true. All I know is what I saw in their show. Sadly, their
show aimed purely to entertain, and not to teach me anything.

I am sure that their pilots are extremely skilled. The show was
impressive. What put me off was the musical soundtrack (which really
didn't add much to the show), and the announcer repeatedly pronouncing
that "the Thunderbird pilots are not especially skilled for the Air
Force, what they are doing today is merely doing what every Air Force
pilot is asked to do during their training."

I would have been entertained a lot more if they perhaps told us more
about what they were doing, and relayed the cockpit radios through the
sound system. I wanted to learn about the planes, the pilots flying
them, and what they were doing -- not about how happy the announcer
was to be talking to us today, and what theme song was associated with
each pass!

Sure, I understand that this is a recruiting show. But do you really
expect me to believe that the Air Force picks their _average_ pilots
for their recruiting show team? (Perhaps they do, and save their best
pilots for the important jobs overseas...)

Chris
--
Chris Colohan Email: PGP: finger
Web: www.colohan.com Phone: (412)268-4751

"Chris Colohan" wrote in message
.. .
"Dudley Henriques" dhenriques@noware .net writes:

"Chris Colohan" wrote in message
...

The Thunderbird show seems to emphasize "look at how cool our planes
are", and not "look at how skilled our pilots are".)

You obviously know little about the Thunderbirds my friend :-)

That is true. All I know is what I saw in their show. Sadly, their
show aimed purely to entertain, and not to teach me anything.

I am sure that their pilots are extremely skilled. The show was
impressive. What put me off was the musical soundtrack (which really
didn't add much to the show), and the announcer repeatedly pronouncing
that "the Thunderbird pilots are not especially skilled for the Air
Force, what they are doing today is merely doing what every Air Force
pilot is asked to do during their training."

I would have been entertained a lot more if they perhaps told us more
about what they were doing, and relayed the cockpit radios through the
sound system. I wanted to learn about the planes, the pilots flying
them, and what they were doing -- not about how happy the announcer
was to be talking to us today, and what theme song was associated with
each pass!

Sure, I understand that this is a recruiting show. But do you really
expect me to believe that the Air Force picks their _average_ pilots
for their recruiting show team? (Perhaps they do, and save their best
pilots for the important jobs overseas...)

It's true the format for the demonstration has been changed to reflect
current market trends for the venue. Actually, the Thunderbird show is a
living thing that is discussed and adjusted as conditions dictate.
As for the pilots; the announcer was correct. The pilots picked for the
Thunderbirds are taken directly from the pilot inventory of the Air Force.
The ones chosen for consideration are asked to travel with the team as
"selectee candidates". If chosen through this selection process, the
selectee is broken into the Thunderbird regimen very slowly.
It goes without saying that there are indeed requirements from a pilot that
are unique to the Thunderbird mission, but most of these are simply a
refining of abilities already in place and honed to execution within a
closer tolerance.
Basically, the ability to fly with the Thunderbirds is inherent in any
trained fighter pilot with the min quals required by the team. The narrator
was right in stating this to the crowd as he always does.
I agree with you about the music. I don't like it for several reasons mostly
involving the noise level attainable during the performance by the F16 both
in and out of burner and this interface with the crowd.
I have known several airshow demonstration pilots who used music to great
effect however; Scotty McCray coming immediately to mind as a perfect
example.
The mission statement for the Thunderbirds is a complex one, and catering to
known crowd preferences must be considered, The current mission profile for
the team reflects this marketing and as far as I know, will be the team's
mission format for the foreseeable future.
Dudley Henriques

"Dudley Henriques" dhenriques@noware .net wrote in message
hlink.net...
I agree with you about the music. I don't like it for several reasons
mostly
involving the noise level attainable during the performance by the F16
both
in and out of burner and this interface with the crowd.
I have known several airshow demonstration pilots who used music to great
effect however; Scotty McCray coming immediately to mind as a perfect
example.

Think of it as a ballet.