| Thunderbirds(U.S airforce) |
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The Thunderbirds are the Air Demonstration
Squadron of the United States Air Force.
The squadron performs no more than 88 air
demonstrations each year and has never
canceled a demonstration due to maintenance
difficulty. In addition to their air
demonstration responsibilities, the
Thunderbirds are part of the USAF combat
force and a component of the 57th Wing. If
required, the team's personnel and aircraft
can be rapidly integrated into a fighter unit
at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.The first
team leader was Major General Dick Catledge,
and the first plane flown by the squadron was
the F-84 Thunderjet. As the F-84G Thunderjet
was a single seat fighter, a 2 seat T-33
Shooting Star served as the narrator's
aircraft and was used as the VIP/Press ride
aircraft. The T-33 served with the
Thunderbirds in this capacity in the 1950s &
1960s.
A year later, 1955, they moved to the F-84F
Thunderstreak aircraft, in which they
performed 91 air shows. The aircraft of the
squadron was again changed in June 1956, this
time to the F-100 Super Sabre, which gave the
pilots supersonic capability. This switch was
accompanied by a move of headquarters to
Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada It also
signaled a shift in their performance
routine—for example, the Cuban 8 opening
routine was dropped, and emphasis was placed
on low, screaming flyovers and demonstrations
of takeoff performance. For a time, if the
show's sponsor permitted it, the pilots would
create a "sonic boom" (this ended when the
FAA banned supersonic flight over the
continental U.S.)In 1960 a decision was made
to allow the tail of the #4 slot plane,
blackened by the exhaust of the other planes,
to remain black. This practice remained in
force through the 1973 season. In 1961, the
team was compelled to discontinue the
vertical bank maneuver due to an FAA
regulation prohibiting aerobatics that
pointed the nose of the aircraft toward the
crowd. . The team switched to the F-105
Thunderchief for a brief period, but returned
to the F-100 in 1964 after only six airshows,
following Capt. Gene Devlin's death resulting
from structural failure of the aircraft in a
high-G climbing maneuver. In 1969, the
squadron adopted the noisy and huge F-4E
Phantom, which it flew until 1973, the only
time they would fly jets similar to those of
the Blue Angels, as it was the standard
fighter for both services. A special white
paint had to be developed to cover
high-temperature metals, replacing the bare
metal paint scheme of past planes. The white
paint scheme has been continued to the
present. In 1974 they switched to the more
economical T-38 Talon, a supersonic trainer
based on the F-5 fighter.
In 1982, there was another disaster for the
Thunderbirds, occurring during pre-season
training on January 18. While practicing the
4 plane diamond loop, the formation impacted
the ground at high speed, instantly killing
all four pilots: Major Norm Lowry, leader,
Captain Willie Mays, Captain Pete Peterson
and Captain Mark Melancon. The cause of the
crash was officially listed by the USAF as
the result of a mechanical problem with the
#1 aircraft's control stick actuator. In
1983, the team returned to front-line
fighters with the General Dynamics F-16A
Fighting Falcon. They would change to the
updated F-16C in 1992, an aircraft which has
proven its outstanding effectiveness in both
air-to-ground and air superiority
competitions.
Their 3,000th air show was performed in 1990.
The squadron celebrated its 50th anniversary
on June 1, 2003.
Tags : f16 16 fighter jet thunderbird airplane aircraft airshow new york usa airforce warbird plane amazing video thunderbirds |
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Affichage : 199069
Durée : 181 s |
| UFOs - FOX News - Mexican Air Force - CNN News - OVNIs |
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05/11/04 - Associated Press -- AP --
MEXICO CITY - Mexican Air Force pilots filmed
11 unidentified flying objects in the skies
over southern Campeche state, a Defense
Department spokesman confirmed Tuesday.
A videotape made widely available to the news
media on Tuesday shows the bright objects,
some sharp points of light and others like
large headlights, moving rapidly in what
appears to be a late-evening sky.
The lights were filmed on March 5 by pilots
using infrared equipment. They appeared to be
flying at an altitude of about 3,500 meters
(11,480 feet), and allegedly surrounded the
Air Force jet as it conducted routine
anti-drug trafficking vigilance in Campeche.
Only three of the objects showed up on the
plane's radar.
'Was I afraid? Yes. A little afraid because
we were facing something that had never
happened before,' said radar operator Lt.
German Marin in a taped interview made public
Tuesday.
'I couldn't say what it was ... but I think
they're completely real,' added Lt. Mario
Adrian Vazquez, the infrared equipment
operator. Vazquez insisted that there was no
way to alter the recorded images.
The plane's captain, Maj. Magdaleno Castanon,
said the military jets chased the lights 'and
I believe they could feel we were pursuing
them.'
When the jets stopped following the objects,
they disappeared, he said.
A Defense Department spokesman confirmed
Tuesday that the videotape was filmed by
members of the Mexican Air Force. The
spokesman declined to comment further and
spoke on customary condition of anonymity.
The video was first aired on national
television Monday night then again at a news
conference Tuesday by Jaime Maussan, a
Mexican investigator who has dedicated the
past 10 years to studying UFOs.
'This is historic news,' Maussan told
reporters. 'Hundreds of videos (of UFOs)
exist, but none had the backing of the armed
forces of any country. ... The armed forces
don't perpetuate frauds.'
Maussan said Secretary of Defense Gen.
Ricardo Vega Garcia gave him the video on
April 22. --
More 'UFO news' on CNN, FOX News and 'Out of
the Blue - The Movie': --
http://www.youtube.com/christiangeo
.
Astrónomos descubren un hueco colosal en el
universo:
http://christiangeo-ovni.blogspot.com/
.
La pura verdad - Ovnis:
http://christiangeo-ufos.blogspot.com/
Tags : UFO Fox News 未確認飛行物体 UFOの 飞碟 Ovni AP flying saucer christiangeo Mexico UAS disco volante Campeche extraterrestres |
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Affichage : 1001142
Durée : 396 s |
| Introducing Nike's Air Force 25 |
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http://www.detroitbadboys.com
http://www.NikeBasketball.com
http://www.nikeairforce.mtv.com
Nike celebrates 25 years of Air Force 1's
with a new commercial featuring Steve Nash,
Jermaine O'Neal, Rasheed Wallace, Paul
Pierce, Tony Parker, Kobe Bryant, Amare
Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, LeBron James and
Chris Paul, with music from Just Blaze and
Juelz Santana. "The Second Coming: Our Game,
Our Time"
Tags : NBA Nike AF25 Basketball |
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Affichage : 1521804
Durée : 60 s |
| Mishap of B-52 at Fairchild Air Force Base Washington |
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Please try to keep from using vulgarities and
profanity. I feel we can make our points
without using profanity. I have no problem
with calling the pilot a jerk, however
remember there can be children viewing this
thread so try to keep suitable for public.
July-7-2007
As far as I know is the first time this much
of the video has been made readily available
to the GP when I posted this on Youtube. ;)
More footage then I have seen on the net on
this subject. Mishap 24 June 1994, a B-52H of
the 325th Bomb Squadron, 92d Bomb Wing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Fairchild_A
ir_Force_Base_B-52_crash
In this photograph you can see what is
apparently an ejection hatch.
http://img464.imageshack.us/img464/210/b52crs
h2cf5.jpg
This photograph was shot in mid-impact with
the ground.
http://img464.imageshack.us/img464/945/b52cra
sh3rj9.jpg
The photographs were shot in-between the time
frame that there was apparently a plasma ball
from the wing clipping power lines.
US air show standards are the highest, but
this was a case of systemic disregard for
safety. Since this crash, the bar has been
set higher more enforcement and awareness.
It bothers me to see some other counties
still have very poor safety at major air
shows. The former soviet block has had
several crashes that I would consider safety
neglect a factor, if not the cause.
Aerobatics should not be done over crowds.
Aerobatics should be kept in a safe margin
away from the crowd and to some extent the
flight line. I even frown on extremely low
passes over crowds.
Pilots and management/command should have
restraint from flying planes to extreme
limits at air shows. A margin / buffer zone
should be between the aerobatic area and the
crowd.
The B-52 was just practicing; if he had
crashed in a crowd at an air show the loss of
life would be high. The B-52 did some low
high speed passes over personnel area and
flight line; if there was a failure, he could
have possibly destroyed all the aircraft on
the flight line (and equipment, buildings) or
and killed a lot more personnel.
I love aircraft and air shows and the US. I
hate to see a bunch more rules, I would
prefer pilots and people in charge do there
best to keep things safe with knowledge,
reasonable action.
I think the US and many other countries have
learned from this accident to take air show
safety more rationally. However, a few air
shows like to try to out perform other air
shows with unsafe flashy showboat shows.
When you push the limits you tend to
exponentially increase the risks. If a pilot
makes a goof or if there is a failure, with
buffer zones the risk to the crowd can be
minimized.
---
On 24 June 1994, a B-52H of the 325th Bomb
Squadron, 92d Bomb Wing at Fairchild Air
Force Base (AFB), Wash., crashed while
preparing to land after practicing maneuvers
for an air show, killing all four crewmen.
The pilot in command had over a long period
of time demonstrated a disregard for Air
Force flying rules and regulations, and this
was known by the senior commanders in the
wing. No appropriate action had been taken to
discipline him or rein in his noncompliant
behavior.
More info at
http://s92270093.onlinehome.us/CRM-Devel/reso
urces/paper/darkblue/darkblue.htm
http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.a
spx?PersonID=14464006
In my opinion, I would consider this pilot a
superb "stick and rudder" pilot. However
there is more to being a pilot and flight
then "stick and rudder", in my opinion he was
very poor in some aspects of safety.
It's like a football player that is in
excellent physical condition and physical
ability, but ignores strategy and team
effort. There is more to being a pilot than
one aspect, just as there is more to being an
athlete then a single aspect.
Other good videos long videos of the same
plane and pilot. Courtesy of jescates
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UJb08ZzejAA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hWUgDLFokNw
Tags : Aerobatics B-52 Stratofortress Bomber Fairchild Air Force Base AFB USAF Mishap Crash Show Safety Bud Holland CRM |
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Affichage : 1917564
Durée : 599 s |
| Marc Ecko Tags Air Force One |
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If you don't already know, Marc Ecko is a
beast.
To show his love to the art of graffiti and
mto make one of the boldest statements of all
time, he tagged Air Force One....President
Bush's plane.
Hands Down the illest hoax ever.
Tags : Ecko Graffiti Air Force One Bush hoax |
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Affichage : 522900
Durée : 128 s |
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