Anywhere But Home
The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds are the official aerial demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force. They showcase the pride, precision, and professionalism of the Air Force through thrillin…
Anywhere But Home
The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds are the official aerial demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force. They showcase the pride, precision, and professionalism of the Air Force through thrilling air demonstrations, often featuring the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, the team is part of the 57th Wing. Established in 1953, the team is one of the oldest and most recognizable flight demonstration squadrons in the world. Their shows often include formation flying in a diamond or delta formation, as well as solo routines that highlight the aircraft's maneuverability and power. Being a Thunderbird is extremely competitive, requiring pilots to be highly skilled and dedicated to rigorous training. Formed during the Korean War, the Thunderbirds were created to inspire unity and showcase American excellence in divided times. "The entire purpose of the team was to unite and give people a beacon of excellence to look up to," says Colonel Elliott, Chief of Current Operations for NORAD and former Thunderbird commander. With jets painted in patriotic red, white, and blue, the team performs jaw-dropping maneuvers, flying just 18 inches apart at speeds approaching 1,000 miles per hour. Justin "Astro" Elliott becomes the lead pilot of the Thunderbird team, and he knew that he had a huge task on his hands. Officers join the demonstration squad for a period of two years, where they spent the first few months training and then used those skills and performed throughout the country in different air shows. Crew includes Thunder the lead solo, Lauren "Threat" Schlichting who flies the back of the diamond, Astro, and 3 newbies. Every year half the pilots are swapped out. The newbies are Eric "Miami" Tise, Zachary "Zeke" Taylor, and Jake "Primo" Impellizzeri. Thunderbirds 1 through 4 lift off, the slot aircraft slips immediately into position behind 1 to create the signature Diamond formation. They have a total of eight different formations: The Diamond, Delta, Stinger, Arrowhead, Line-Abreast, Trail, Echelon and the Five Card. The opposing solos usually perform their maneuvers just under the speed of sound (800 to 1,130 km/h), and by doing maneuvers such as fast passes, slow passes, fast rolls, slow rolls, and very tight turns. Some of their maneuvers include both solo aircraft at once, such as opposing passes (passing in close proximity to each other) and mirror formations (two aircraft being flown back-to-back in the calypso pass or belly-to-belly). Nearing the end the Diamond pulls straight up into the vertical to perform the signature "Bomb Burst", where all four aircraft break off in separate directions while a solo goes straight up through the maneuver and performs aileron rolls until 3 miles (4.8 km) above the ground. At the end of the routine, all six aircraft join in formation, forming the Delta. Elliott, the only person to complete the Air Force's elite trio of programs-USAF Weapons School, Test Pilot School, and the Thunderbirds-brings a unique perspective. A Yale mechanical engineering graduate who joined ROTC in 2005, he flew 255 combat hours in Afghanistan and nearly 3,000 hours across 33 aircraft types as an experimental test pilot. His path to the cockpit was a "Hail Mary" moment: initially disqualified due to poor eyesight, he seized a last-minute policy change allowing laser surgery. Astro always felt that the squad never got quite enough time for preparation, as doing such dangerous stunts in the air was not an easy task. In the past there had been casualties, with pilots losing their lives, and Astro didn't want such a debacle to happen under his command. 10% of Thunderbirds have died in the line of duty. The dangers of flying such complex formations are top of mind for crew members. They are haunted by a 1982 crash, in which four planes nosedived into the ground at a speed of about 400 miles per hour, killing the pilots on-board. The doc features moving interviews with the parents of Stephen "Cajun" Del Bagno, who died in 2018 in the last fatal accident involving a Thunderbird pilot. The 34-year-old crashed during a routine training flight after losing consciousness in the cockpit. In layman's terms why an already trained pilot, who knew how to fly a fighter jet, encountered all sorts of problems when they joined the demonstration squad. Flying a jet in the execution of a particular military mission was very different from flying in formation and performing maneuver after maneuver. It needed precision, it needed discipline, and most of all, it needed practice and a high level of skill. The pilots encountered all sorts of difficulties, from the extreme gravitational pull that really made them feel fuzzy to having to maintain a high degree of spatial awareness in that scenario. When the jet made a vertical takeoff, a pilot's body stopped pumping blood in their heart. To a certain degree, everything started to gray out, the peripheral vision went away, which was an extremely scary thing, and also the hands lost control. So, in the middle of all these issues, they are expected to keep calm and make decisions in a split second. Before a batch participated in air shows, they had to get approved by the commander of air combat. The commander reviewed their performance and then gave them a certificate stating if they were worthy of taking part in shows or not. It was a stressful moment for the entire team, because they all felt they hadn't had enough time to train. But Astro's team did surprise everybody, and they put on a really great show. Now the challenge was to repeat that same performance and show the people of the United States of America what the most reputable aerobatic squad was capable of. Astro, since his training days, had been taught that a team was as good as its weakest link. There had to be blind trust between the pilots, as without that they just couldn't perform properly. The squad faced their first setback when, during an event in Daytona, the jets had to arrive the moment the national anthem finished, but they missed the mark by 10 long seconds. They weren't able to create the magic that they were known for, and it really demoralized the pilots and even the 130-member support staff. From there Astro and his team members really put in every ounce of energy they had to make sure that their mistake was not repeated again. They had to literally fly at the speed of sound, and that too at arm's length from each other. The team members knew that God forbid any kind of accident happened, the authorities would blame them for being reckless in their approach. There were pilots who had lost their lives in crashes while performing stunts. The maneuvers seemed amazing until some mishap happened. There was a thin line between people appreciating the skill of the pilot and cheering for them and calling them foolish for trying to do something so bizarre. But Astro knew that his team would come out victorious and put on a show the likes of which the people of the United States of America had never witnessed. The kind of maneuvers his squad displayed were beyond anybody's imagination. They were able to take their jets so close that even the experts were awestruck at their precision and awareness. Astro always harbored the dream of becoming an astronaut. Though he could never join NASA, he was a proud man to know that he had led one of the greatest aerobatic squads in the history of the United States of America. After certification, Astro's team performed 62 shows in the year.
Anywhere But Home
Drama
Film Details
The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds are the official aerial demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force. They showcase the pride, precision, and professionalism of the Air Force through thrilling air demonstrations, often featuring the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
Based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, the team is part of the 57th Wing. Established in 1953, the team is one of the oldest and most recognizable flight demonstration squadrons in the world. Their shows often include formation flying in a diamond or delta formation, as well as solo routines that highlight the aircraft's maneuverability and power.
Being a Thunderbird is extremely competitive, requiring pilots to be highly skilled and dedicated to rigorous training. Formed during the Korean War, the Thunderbirds were created to inspire unity and showcase American excellence in divided times. "The entire purpose of the team was to unite and give people a beacon of excellence to look up to," says Colonel Elliott, Chief of Current Operations for NORAD and former Thunderbird commander.
With jets painted in patriotic red, white, and blue, the team performs jaw-dropping maneuvers, flying just 18 inches apart at speeds approaching 1,000 miles per hour. Justin "Astro" Elliott becomes the lead pilot of the Thunderbird team, and he knew that he had a huge task on his hands. Officers join the demonstration squad for a period of two years, where they spent the first few months training and then used those skills and performed throughout the country in different air shows.
Crew includes Thunder the lead solo, Lauren "Threat" Schlichting who flies the back of the diamond, Astro, and 3 newbies. Every year half the pilots are swapped out. The newbies are Eric "Miami" Tise, Zachary "Zeke" Taylor, and Jake "Primo" Impellizzeri.
Thunderbirds 1 through 4 lift off, the slot aircraft slips immediately into position behind 1 to create the signature Diamond formation. They have a total of eight different formations: The Diamond, Delta, Stinger, Arrowhead, Line-Abreast, Trail, Echelon and the Five Card. The opposing solos usually perform their maneuvers just under the speed of sound (800 to 1,130 km/h), and by doing maneuvers such as fast passes, slow passes, fast rolls, slow rolls, and very tight turns.
Some of their maneuvers include both solo aircraft at once, such as opposing passes (passing in close proximity to each other) and mirror formations (two aircraft being flown back-to-back in the calypso pass or belly-to-belly). Nearing the end the Diamond pulls straight up into the vertical to perform the signature "Bomb Burst", where all four aircraft break off in separate directions while a solo goes straight up through the maneuver and performs aileron rolls until 3 miles (4.8 km) above the ground. At the end of the routine, all six aircraft join in formation, forming the Delta.
Elliott, the only person to complete the Air Force's elite trio of programs-USAF Weapons School, Test Pilot School, and the Thunderbirds-brings a unique perspective. A Yale mechanical engineering graduate who joined ROTC in 2005, he flew 255 combat hours in Afghanistan and nearly 3,000 hours across 33 aircraft types as an experimental test pilot. His path to the cockpit was a "Hail Mary" moment: initially disqualified due to poor eyesight, he seized a last-minute policy change allowing laser surgery.
Astro always felt that the squad never got quite enough time for preparation, as doing such dangerous stunts in the air was not an easy task. In the past there had been casualties, with pilots losing their lives, and Astro didn't want such a debacle to happen under his command. 10% of Thunderbirds have died in the line of duty.
The dangers of flying such complex formations are top of mind for crew members. They are haunted by a 1982 crash, in which four planes nosedived into the ground at a speed of about 400 miles per hour, killing the pilots on-board. The doc features moving interviews with the parents of Stephen "Cajun" Del Bagno, who died in 2018 in the last fatal accident involving a Thunderbird pilot.
The 34-year-old crashed during a routine training flight after losing consciousness in the cockpit. In layman's terms why an already trained pilot, who knew how to fly a fighter jet, encountered all sorts of problems when they joined the demonstration squad. Flying a jet in the execution of a particular military mission was very different from flying in formation and performing maneuver after maneuver.
It needed precision, it needed discipline, and most of all, it needed practice and a high level of skill. The pilots encountered all sorts of difficulties, from the extreme gravitational pull that really made them feel fuzzy to having to maintain a high degree of spatial awareness in that scenario. When the jet made a vertical takeoff, a pilot's body stopped pumping blood in their heart.
To a certain degree, everything started to gray out, the peripheral vision went away, which was an extremely scary thing, and also the hands lost control. So, in the middle of all these issues, they are expected to keep calm and make decisions in a split second. Before a batch participated in air shows, they had to get approved by the commander of air combat.
The commander reviewed their performance and then gave them a certificate stating if they were worthy of taking part in shows or not. It was a stressful moment for the entire team, because they all felt they hadn't had enough time to train. But Astro's team did surprise everybody, and they put on a really great show.
Now the challenge was to repeat that same performance and show the people of the United States of America what the most reputable aerobatic squad was capable of. Astro, since his training days, had been taught that a team was as good as its weakest link. There had to be blind trust between the pilots, as without that they just couldn't perform properly.
The squad faced their first setback when, during an event in Daytona, the jets had to arrive the moment the national anthem finished, but they missed the mark by 10 long seconds. They weren't able to create the magic that they were known for, and it really demoralized the pilots and even the 130-member support staff. From there Astro and his team members really put in every ounce of energy they had to make sure that their mistake was not repeated again.
They had to literally fly at the speed of sound, and that too at arm's length from each other. The team members knew that God forbid any kind of accident happened, the authorities would blame them for being reckless in their approach. There were pilots who had lost their lives in crashes while performing stunts.
The maneuvers seemed amazing until some mishap happened. There was a thin line between people appreciating the skill of the pilot and cheering for them and calling them foolish for trying to do something so bizarre. But Astro knew that his team would come out victorious and put on a show the likes of which the people of the United States of America had never witnessed.
The kind of maneuvers his squad displayed were beyond anybody's imagination. They were able to take their jets so close that even the experts were awestruck at their precision and awareness. Astro always harbored the dream of becoming an astronaut.
Though he could never join NASA, he was a proud man to know that he had led one of the greatest aerobatic squads in the history of the United States of America. After certification, Astro's team performed 62 shows in the year..