BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) — The Thunderbirds have arrived in Battle Creek for the Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival.
Lt. Col. Justin Elliott leads the crew and will probably be performing for the crowds.
“I’m the commander of the squadron. That includes all 135 people on the team and I’m also the leader of the demonstration and so I’ll fly the number one jet in the demo,” Elliott mentioned.
The F-16 planes arrived Thursday evening at Battle Creek Executive Airport, training some maneuvers earlier than they landed.
“In our closest passes we are 18 inches apart and that’s from the top, the canopy of the wingmen, underneath my wing tips, so our wing tips will actually overlap by a good 10 feet,” Elliott mentioned.
Their mission is bigger than simply placing on an excellent present over the Fourth of July weekend.
“If you look at a nation that has been a bit divided by the pandemic, nothing is going to unite people more than a beacon of excellence. Something we can all rally around,” Elliott mentioned.
While the Thunderbird pilots usually get all of the credit score, they couldn’t get off the bottom with out the hardworking crew members like Tech. Sgt. Xavier Knapp, who’s from Kalamazoo.
“I am the number one crew chief for the Thunderbirds, so I work on the commander leader’s jet,” Knapp mentioned. “Nose to tail we’re in charge of the entire aircraft. Forms, documentation, scheduled, unscheduled maintenance, servicing anything that might come up with the aircraft.”
He used to attend the present when he was a child and watched the Thunderbirds dazzle the sky.
“Grew up here. Came to the Battle Creek airshow all the time growing up every other year when the Thunderbirds would show up and so this one is really special for me because I can finally be back and be a part of that magic that I saw when I was growing up,” Knapp mentioned.
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A F-35 from the F35A Demo Team. -
The Thunderbirds F-16.
The Thunderbirds had been scheduled for 2020 however the air present was cancelled as a result of of the pandemic.
Bretten Bailey, a spokesperson for the present, says they had been delighted to listen to they had been capable of return this yr.
“We hope that we can have them again in 2024 but it’s a big deal to always have them because they’re the premiere demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force,” Bailey mentioned.
The signature planes could deliver in the crowds however there’s loads for individuals to do all through the weekend.
“We’ll have fireworks to end the nights Saturday and Monday and then we’ll end with a balloon illum on Sunday and our air show is going to be just action packed,” Bailey mentioned.
For an entire schedule of occasions, go to the Field of Flight web site.
