From The Archive: Birds And Blues

Twenty years ago, on the cover of Aviation Week & Space Technology’s March 21, 2005, issue, we featured the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds (left) and U.S. Navy Blue Angels aerial demonstration teams, which had recently begun their 2005 show season. 

USAF Thunderbirds photo by TSgt. Sean M. White; U.S. Navy Blue Angels photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class [AW/NAC] Ryan J. Courtade.) At Nellis AFB, Nevada, then-AW&ST Editor-in-Chief Anthony L. Velocci, Jr. flew a demonstration flight in a Lockheed Martin F-16D flown by Maj. Jeremy Sloane, USAF Thunderbird No. 7 and the team's operations officer at the time. 

Meanwhile, Rocky Mountain Bureau Chief William B. Scott flew in a Boeing F/A-18B piloted by Lt. John D. (J.B.) Allison, Navy Blue Angel No. 7, at Naval Air Facility El Centro in California. 

Velocci and Scott experienced a number of precision maneuvers representative of those the aerial demonstration teams perform and wrote an extensive cover package of stories based on their experiences.

See the cover of the issue dated March 21, 2005 | Aviation Week, and read the full issue.

Read our series of features of Birds and Blues from page 44 in which we report on the skill of the pilots, cutting-edge technology, maintenance of the aircraft, and precision teamwork. And of course, look at the awe-inspiring images to illustrate the articles. 

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