Wilder Thunderbirds set for 2009 - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Wilder Thunderbirds set for 2009

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — Get ready for the Thunderbirds to pull out all the stops this year with never-done-before maneuvers guaranteed to be make crowds “ohh” and “ahh” even more.

The Thunderbirds — the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron is the team’s official name — have newer, more powerful Block 52 F-16s, letting them add a loop on takeoff and spice up their solo acts.

A show March 21 at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., starts the squadron’s 2009 season, described by the commander and lead pilot as the freshest since the early 1980s.

“Our show has been fairly stagnant for quite a few years,” Lt. Col. Greg “Charger” Thomas said. “The new aircraft that we’re flying this year are going to bring a new look to the Thunderbirds.”

The 11 Block 52 F-16s — the same flown by most of the operational Air Force — replace Block 32s and come from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. Their average age: 15 years.

A Block 52 has updated digital avionics, sturdier landing gear and the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 engine, which nets about 2,000 pounds more thrust than the nearly 24,000 pounds offered by the Block 32’s P&W F100-PW220.

The extra engine power allows the Thunderbirds to do their most high-profile new maneuver, a four aircraft, diamond-formation loop immediately out of takeoff.

A loop on takeoff “has never been done before on the Thunderbirds,” Thomas said.

Because the planes fly at a slower speed on takeoff, the pilots need the additional thrust to start the loop. Once in the loop, though, the pilots finish the stunt much as they do the other loops in the show.

“It’s very, very natural and very, very comfortable,” he said.

For much of the show, two solo pilots fly separate from the diamond — and they, too, have new maneuvers. Some of the solo maneuvers will be replaced by more spectacular opposing maneuvers in which the two solo aircraft fly at each other on an apparent collision course before narrowly missing.

The Block 52s pull higher G’s more quickly than the Block 32s, creating a greater risk that the pilots could lose consciousness from the power. Maj. Charla Quayle, the squadron’s flight surgeon, makes sure the pilots take the necessary precautions to avoid G-induced loss of consciousness, or GLOC.

“If they fail to do their anti-G straining maneuver more rapidly and very precisely, the risk of them experiencing grayout or blackout is much greater,” she said. Quayle retrained the pilots on anti-G straining techniques, which force blood back toward the brain to avoid GLOC, and also reviews audio recordings from their heads-up displays to ensure they’re breathing properly.

While the pilots are under more strain with the Block 52s, the squadron’s maintainers are finding their job is easier with the newer model jets.

The maintainers often have to repair the planes on the road, said Chief Master Sgt. Thomas Mical, chief enlisted manager of the Thunderbirds, and having the same block series as the operational Air Force, “commonality of parts, being able to get support on the road, is increased by going to the new airframe.”

The Thunderbirds’ avionics maintainers have worked on Block 52s before but are still getting comfortable with newer jets, said Senior Master Sgt. Rodney Woolever, the squadron’s maintenance superintendent. The Block 32, he said, has simpler analog avionics.

“It’s been tougher for our avionics guys just to get familiar with the more sophisticated avionic package the Block 52s bring,” Woolever said. “It’s harder than most training seasons.”

Newness aside, the Thunderbirds are putting the finishing touches on the show that they will perform more than 70 times this year. “We’re just fine-tuning that marching process,” Mical said. “Now it’s adding on that flare and those parts for the crowd. ... We’re focusing on that piece now that we’ve got the aircraft all prepared.”

For Thomas, it’s crunch time, but his team is ready.

“We’ve done so much prep up to this point that I’m very confident and very comfortable,” he said. But “no matter how cool you are, there’s going to be those butterflies.”