After ten years the Thunderbirds are back at the STIHL National Championship Air Races.
They flew from Vegas to Stead to do survey work and study the area. During those flights they look for mountains and bodies of water to see how the land looks in general. They have 60 people in the team, eight pilots, but only six of them are flying this weekend at the air races. This will be the Thunderbirds' only race this year.
Pilot Kimmel also told me this is going to be his first air race ever.
Watching those planes blazing through the skies, looks really easy, but it’s certainly not as easy as it looks. There is a lot more work going in than most spectators can imagine.
“It’s not only the pilots that do the work, these guys are doing most of the work here, making sure the jets are running, make sure logistics are okay so it’s a huge operation,” said Pilot Kimmel.
On Friday, they will have a practice flight, and Saturday and Sunday they will have the demonstrations.
“It’s going to be a ton of fun, you will see some loops, some rolls, we will stick by you when you least expect it and make you jump a little bit,” says Kimmel.
