page_title: United States Air Force Thunderbirds
section_title: F-16 Fighting Falcon era
hierarchical_section_title: United States Air Force Thunderbirds / History / USAF Thunderbirds history / F-16 Fighting Falcon era
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Air Force Maj. J.R. Williams, Thunderbird 6, Opposing Solo, performs a Sneak Pass during the Jesolo Air Extreme Air Show, Jesolo, Italy June 12, 2011. The Thunderbirds will perform in nine countries during their six-week European tour, fostering international goodwill and representing America's airmen around the globe.
context_page_description: The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron is the air demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force. The Thunderbirds are assigned to the 57th Wing, and are based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Created 67 years ago in 1953, the USAF Thunderbirds are the third-oldest formal flying aerobatic team in the world, after the French Air Force Patrouille de France formed in 1931 and the United States Navy Blue Angels formed in 1946.
  The Thunderbirds Squadron tours the United States and much of the world, performing aerobatic formation and solo flying in specially marked aircraft. The squadron's name is taken from the legendary creature that appears in the mythologies of several indigenous North American cultures.
context_section_description: The team's activities were suspended for six months pending investigation of the crashes and review of the program, then reinstituted using the General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon in 1983, 37 years ago, and were upgraded to the F-16C (now produced by Lockheed Martin) in 1992.
  In 1986, the Thunderbirds did a fly-by for the re-dedication of the Statue of Liberty in New York City. They also performed the first American military demonstration in a communist country when the team visited Beijing, China, in 1987.
  Their 3,000th air show was performed in 1990, and in 1991 the team went overseas to perform air shows in Switzerland, Poland, and Hungary. The team traveled abroad again in 1996, visiting Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovenia. Also in 1996, the team participated in the Atlanta Olympics' opening ceremonies.
  The United States Postal Service honored the Air Force's 50th anniversary as a separate branch of the military in 1997 with a limited edition stamp featuring the Thunderbirds.
  In June 2005, the Thunderbirds selected Major Nicole Malachowski for the No. 3 position, making her the first female to hold a pilot position in the team's 53-year history. In 2007, during Maj. Malachowski's final season as a Thunderbird, the team selected its second female pilot, Captain Samantha Weeks, who flew the No. 6 opposing solo position.
  The 2007 European Goodwill Tour was the Thunderbirds's first visit to Europe after the 11 September attacks. During this tour, the Thunderbirds performed at their first-ever air show in Ireland. Despite inclement weather, more than 100,000 people attended the air show, garnering nationwide exposure by Irish media. Additional stops along the way included aerial demonstrations in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria's Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Italy, France and England, where the Thunderbirds participated in the Royal International Air Tattoo, the world's largest air show. Outside of aerial demonstrations, the team participated in eight official public relations events attended by heads of state and local civic leaders. The team also conducted community outreach by meeting with needy children throughout Europe.
  On 10–11 November 2007, the City of Las Vegas and Nellis AFB saluted the U.S. Air Force, hosting the capstone event of the USAF's 60th anniversary celebration.
  In 2008, the Thunderbirds remained in North America, performing both in the United States and in Canada. When Quebec City celebrated its 400th anniversary, the Thunderbirds joined the Canadian Forces's Snowbirds, the British Royal Air Force's Red Arrows, and the United States Navy's Blue Angels in a ceremonial flight over Quebec City. Later in the year, the team returned to Canada for two shows in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
  In 2009 the Thunderbirds hired their first-ever Air National Guard pilot, Lt. Col. Derek Routt as Thunderbird No. 7 (operations officer), and the first-ever Reserve pilot, Maj. Sean Gustafson, also joined the team as Thunderbird No. 4 (slot).
  The 2009 Far East Tour took the team to multiple locations on the western border of the Pacific Rim and included performances in Hawaii, Australia, Malaysia, Guam, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea. More than 1.2 million people saw the shows in person and more than 120 million were exposed to the shows through their national media. These are conservative estimates as one Korean prime-time television show alone reached eight million. The top-rated show "Qualifications of Man" did a one-hour feature on the Thunderbirds and resulted from a coordinated media pitch to the network and the Republic of Korea Air Force. In addition to the air shows, the Thunderbirds personally met and spent time with more than five hundred special needs children and orphans.
  The entire 2013 flying season was canceled due to budget cuts resulting from the United States fiscal cliff. Team members made recruiting appearances in the Las Vegas area that did not require travel. Enlisted personnel performed gate checks and base housing inspections. Performances resumed in 2014.
caption: A solo Thunderbird flies by at nearly the speed of sound (700 mph)
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