MustangsMustangs
The North American P-51 Mustang
MustangsMustangs
P-51 Mustang at Warbirds
Aviation Precision Demo Teams
photos by Curtis Fowles, MustangsMustangs

Heard of the Blue Angels? How about the USAF Thunderbirds? The have been around for many, many years. The "Blues" were flying F6F Hellcats at their first show in 1946. The Blue Angels have been flying the F-18 since 1986. The Thunderbirds began their tour in 1953. Hand selected, were two well-known WWII P-51 pilots, Buck and Bill Pattillo, both of which were in attendance at the 2007 Gathering of Mustangs and Legends. The Thunderbirds started out in the F-84 Thunderjet.

FW8_3750t.jpg FW8_3892t.jpg FW8_3955t.jpg LV5_2855t.jpg LV5_7895t.jpg LV5_7899t.jpg LV5_7919t.jpg LV5_7927t.jpg LV5_7936t.jpg

To my knowledge, there was only 1 aircraft that they both used, and that was the powerful F-4 Phantom. I remember seeing them fly the F-4s when I was young ... so cool.

LV5_8320t.jpg LV5_8782t.jpg Nellis08_020t.jpg Nellis08_203t.jpg Nellis08_260t.jpg Nellis08_266t.jpg RN5_5979t.jpg RN5_6399t.jpg RN7_8298wt.jpg SNS5_7249t.jpg SNS5_7255t.jpg

SNS5_7275t.jpg TR5_7365-10t.jpg baf18-1t.jpg baf18-3t.jpg f16-111t.jpg thunderbirds_8161t.jpg thunderbirds_8165t.jpg thunderbirds_8176t.jpg thunderbirds_8187t.jpg thunderbirds_8188t.jpg