Battle Creek’s Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival Executive Director Barbara Haluzska, has announced that the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds will perform at the 2008 Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival.  The summer event is scheduled from July 2 through July 6. 

The Air Force officially announced Battle Creek as part of the 2008 Thunderbird Schedule at the annual convention of the International Council of Air Shows in Las Vegas.  “It’s great to have the “Thunderbirds” back in Battle Creek,” Haluszka said.  “In fact, we are only one of two cities in Michigan to even have a jet team and are honored because there are tons of air shows that don’t get a jet team.”  Haluzska attended the convention where she also scheduled other civilian and military air show acts. 

The six-ship team is scheduled to perform three times during the five-day event, including July 4. The Thunderbirds have performed in Battle Creek since 1988 and have only missed three years due to other Department of Defense commitments.

The team was activated as the 3600th Air Demonstration Unit at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. on May 25, 1953.  Commanded by Maj. Dick Catledge, a training squadron commander, the “Thunderbird” name was soon adopted by the unit; influenced in part by the strong Indian culture and folklore of the southwestern United States where Luke is located.  Indian legend speaks of the Thunderbird with great fear and respect.  Nothing in nature could challenge a bird of nature, and no man could stand against its might.

The team first flew the straight wing F-84G Thunderjet.  By the 1955, the team flew the F-84F Thunderstreak and added smoke tanks and red, white and blue drag chutes.  They piloted several other aircraft until 1983, when the six-plane team moved to the General Dynamic, later Lockheed Martin’s F-16A Fighting Falcon.  In 1992, the team transitioned to the Lockheed Martin’s F-16C, the team’s ninth aircraft. 

In November 2007, Lt. Col Gregory Thomas, Commander, accepted the first ever Thunderbird Block 52.  It’s a newer and faster version of the F-16, which includes the Falcon Structural Augmentation Roadmap program, also known as Falcon STAR.  If the aircraft were needed in a combat situation, they could be reverted back to combat-ready in three days.  The Air Force is in the process of upgrading all their F-16's. 

The team is headquartered at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. They are an Air Combat Command unit composed of eight pilots (including six demonstration pilots), four support officers, four civilians and 120 enlisted airmen performing in more than 25 Air Force Specialties.  For information, contact the Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival Office at 269-962-0592.