Thursday, Nov. 13, 2003 | 11:34 a.m.
A dry lake bed in an uninhabited stretch of Nevada desert northwest of Las Vegas would normally only be disturbed by the skittering of reptiles and the wind blowing through the sagebrush and yucca.
But for almost half a century the scream of jet engines has rolled over a stretch of desert known as Thunderbird Lake.
The Air Force's supersonic ambassadors have called Southern Nevada and Nellis Air Force Base home for 47 of their 50 years, becoming the Air Force's premier recruiting tool and a Nevada institution.
The team has flown more than 4,500 shows for more than 300 million spectators across the globe, and will celebrate its golden anniversary with a performance at Nellis' "Aviation Nation' air show scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
"The Thunderbirds travel worldwide demonstrating the might and ability of our United States Air Force, but they call Las Vegas home," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. "This brings distinction and honor to Nevada and Nellis.
"The first time I saw the Thunderbirds ... I was completely awed by what those planes and pilots did. I was so proud to be a Nevadan that day."
The team's mission to support Air Force recruiting and show taxpayers what the Air Force can do has not changed in 50 years and shows no sign of ending, said Lt. Col. Richard McSpadden, the team's commander and pilot of the lead jet in the Thunderbird's famous diamond formation.
"We're the most visual and important recruiting tool that the Air Force has," McSpadden said. "The Air Force needs to recruit 35,000 people a year and we're a big part of that.
"It's not possible to take the American people to Iraq or Afghanistan and show them what the Air Force can do, so we are here to show them our capabilities and work ethic."
Nevada's team
The Thunderbirds have been featured on cereal boxes, on a postage stamp and even in an episode of the "Six Million Dollar Man."
They've flown for presidents and kings and opened the World Series, but in Las Vegas the team is better known for being spotted from back yards or cars as they practice the aerobatics that made them famous.
"I remember when I first moved to North Las Vegas, and seeing them from our back yard in the '50s and '60s," said Clark County Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, who represents the northeast parts of the Las Vegas Valley around Nellis. "The kids and I would stop what we were doing and just watch them fly overhead."
The Thunderbird's impact on Southern Nevada since the team moved to Nellis from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona in 1956 is hard to measure in dollars and cents, but is there nonetheless, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority spokesman Rob Powers said.
"They perform all around the country and the world, and there's no question that their association with Las Vegas gets the Las Vegas name out there," Powers said. "The value of that amount of positive exposure is incalculable.
"It's a huge benefit to the tourism economy."
As many as 250,000 people attend Nellis' annual air show headlined by the Thunderbirds, and while some are locals, other aircraft enthusiasts travel to Las Vegas for the show and spend money here. According to a study by McGuire Research the 2002 air show resulted in a two-day economic impact of about $36 million.
While there may not be a direct infusion of tourism dollars to the economy due to the presence of the Thunderbirds at Nellis, they are still a benefit, Powers said.
"The main positive that the Thunderbirds and Nellis bring is that they reinforce the fact that Las Vegas is a community," Powers said.
Tours of the Thunderbird hangar and museum can be arranged for citizens in groups of 20 or more, and for Boy Scouts and other organizations. The Thunderbirds are also active within the Clark County School District, making school visits.
The school district's aviation academy, a program at Rancho High School that prepares students for jobs in aerospace and aviation fields, partners with the Thunderbirds.
"When we take the freshmen out there they are always awed," said Bob Hale, a retired Air Force pilot who teaches aviation at Rancho. "The older kids try to pretend like they have seen it all before, but if you stand back and watch them they are just as excited as the freshmen.
"It gives the students a chance see the best, and if you're interested in aviation that's the level you want to reach."
Keeping them flying
Behind the six pilots who fly the red, white and blue F-16s is a squadron of mechanics, maintainers, communications experts and a multimillion-dollar budget.
The team is currently assigned 10 F-16s, eight single-seat C models and two two-seat D models, at a cost of about $23 million per plane. The team carries 12 officers, including eight pilots. Also assigned to the unit are about 115 enlisted men and four civilians, bringing expertise from 30 different career fields.
Maintenance schedules are based on how often planes fly, and because the team is constantly flying the Thunderbird maintainers are always busy. The Thunderbirds have never canceled a show due to maintenance problems, said Staff Sgt. Jason Cooper, a crew chief and F-16 mechanic with the team.
"The safety of the spectators on the ground and of the pilots comes first," Cooper said. "We work with purpose, but we don't rush and we can always take a step back and take time out if we see something out of place."
Just like other F-16 squadrons the Thunderbirds use two-man maintenance crews that are assigned to each jet. Cooper is part of the team assigned to Thunderbird Five, the unit's lead solo.
"You get to really know the aircraft, and get a feel for its personality and its quirks and tweaks," said Cooper, who sports an upside down "5" on his uniform because Thunderbird five spends 80 percent of an air show flying upside down.
Besides the millions of dollars in team member pay, which is standard Air Force pay based on rank, and the $23 million dollar price tag for each F-16, the team has a $10 million annual budget that covers fuel, maintenance and any travel costs.
Air show sponsors pick up some of the team's bills paying $6,000 per performance day to the Treasury Department to cover fuel and maintenance costs during the show. In 2003 the team was scheduled to fly 48 shows, and 25 of them were put on by sponsors paying to have the Thunderbirds perform at their shows.
About 60 members of the team travel for shows, and whenever possible they are housed at Air Force bases to save hotel costs.
"The taxpayer has a right to ask if we're spending dollars wisely on the Thunderbirds, but I think the return we get on those dollars is very good," McSpadden said. "One example would be when we flew over the World Series.
"Images of the Thunderbirds beamed into millions of homes, and that's the kind of exposure that people pay $1 million for."
The Thunderbirds carry additional airmen for duties that other F-16 squadrons don't have such as public affairs, graphic arts, aerial photography and recruiting. The unit has fewer planes and airmen than some F-16 squadrons and more than others because the makeup of Air Force units vary based on the units task, a Nellis spokesman said.
The effect the team has on people can't be put down on paper, said Bob Gore, who served as public information officer of the team from 1974-76, and who wrote "We Rode the Thunder," a new book about the history of the Thunderbirds.
"At the shows everyone is watching the team, but if you turn around and look at the crowd you see these amazing reactions," said Gore, who has been to more than 100 Thunderbird shows. "What's the dollar value on that? What's the dollar value on pride?
"This is a prideful nation, and we do prideful things. We have the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and the Thunderbirds, a living, breathing monument to America."
What it takes
Becoming a Thunderbird means going through a battery of tests, a grueling probationary period and the willingness to travel for up to 70 shows a year.
Just to be considered an airman, pilot or officer must have an exemplary military record, Cooper said.
"It's a lot of long days, travel and being away from your family, but you want to be on the team, because you want to represent the best," Cooper said. "The heroes are those guys who are fighting overseas.
"We get to be a focal point for civilians to say thank you, and we pass it on to the men and women of the Air Force."
Becoming a member of the Thunderbirds means joining a relatively small fraternity of about 1,800 men and women who have worn the patch, a field of white with a large blue Thunderbird with four planes in a diamond formation at its heart.
Everyone assigned to the team is a volunteer, and must send a resume, photo, references and annual performance reports.
Officers serve for two years, meaning half the team changes each year. Enlisted members three years, meaning a third of the team changes each year. Each year there are only a handful of openings.
Those selected must go through a 21-day orientation program.
"It's 12 hours a day five days a week, and four-hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday during the 21 days," Cooper said. "You have to memorize seven or eight pages about the team and its mission, and you have to be able to repeat it word for word.
"It's nerve-wracking and difficult."
Besides the memorization, new recruits have to answer questions about the team's history before a board of current team members and get a score of 80 percent or above.
Experience and even the way an airman looks in a uniform are taken into account when choosing those who will make the high profile team.
In addition, pilots must have 1,000 hours or more of flying time combined in fighter and trainer jets, and must be combat certified.
"The Thunderbirds are a show team, but they aren't showmen," Gore said. "They're warriors. They're America's fighting men and women."
Tech. Sgt. Michael Rux, who plans to retire from the Air Force in March, is one of only 12 Thunderbird enlisted men in history to serve two separate tours with the unit. He was first accepted for a three-year tour in 1987, and volunteered again in 2000.
"The first time I was just a young airman and didn't really know what I was doing," said Rux, who handles maintenance schedules for the team, and also serves as DJ during the shows. "This time I realize how special it is to be a part of the team, and I've really tried to take in the experience."
Riding the thunder
Growing up as the son of an Air Force fighter pilot, Capt. Chris Callaghan wanted to be a pilot for as long as he can remember.
"I was around the Air Force growing up, but I still remember being wowed by the Thunderbirds," Callaghan said. "I always thought if I was good enough I'd like to give that a try."
Callaghan, who flies right wing for the Thunderbirds, says he still gets butterflies before a show despite logging more than 3,000 hours in F-15s and F-16s in his 10 year military career that has included flying missions over Southern Iraq prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"It's always a thrill to strap a fighter on, but with the Thunderbirds you have to work so hard mentally and physically, that at times you can lose sight of how special the experience is," Callaghan said. "About 95 percent of the time it's work, and about 5 percent of the time you can say to yourself, 'This is pretty neat.'
"I don't know where else you can go to get this kind of thrill."
Flying jets that can reach speeds of 1,500 mph in formations that bring wings as close as 18 inches apart may be a thrill for Callaghan, but it's also dangerous.
Twenty Thunderbird pilots have lost their lives over the last 50 years. In addition, 15 Thunderbird support personnel have been killed in two separate transport aircraft crashes.
Among the worst crashes in Thunderbird history was 1982's "Diamond Crash" that killed four pilots when their planes went down at Thunderbird Lake. A malfunction in the leader's plane led him and the three others to crash in the diamond formation straight into the desert.
After that crash, Gen. Bill Creech, then commander of Tactical Air Command, took charge of the team and began to formalize the training and procedures for the Thunderbirds, and the team has not had a fatality since.
"Our accident record was on par with the rest of the Air Force, but Bill didn't think par was good enough," Gore said.
Creech instituted a training schedule that has stuck with the team since the diamond crash and emphasizes hundreds of hours of practice to reduce the chances of accidents.
During the team's offseason, which runs from the end of November to the beginning of March the team flies three times a day five days a week. After each flight the pilots debrief and go over different scenarios that could occur during a show, before going through the entire process two more times that day.
Callaghan said that Thunderbird pilots try to control as many factors as possible, so that the shows are as safe as they can be for the pilots and the spectators.
"We can control how much we practice and how hard we work to keep accidents from happening," Callaghan said. "Flying is a job that is not forgiving at all, and it can't be approached with any carelessness or recklessness.
"You just work hard and put your life in the hands of the guys you're flying with."
The dangers involved with being a Thunderbird were punctuated again on Sept. 14 at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho when Thunderbird Six crashed shortly after takeoff. The pilot ejected safely, and the cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Callaghan said he doesn't really think of the danger while flying, because of the level of concentration necessary to fly in precise formation.
"I think of us as being very safe," Callaghan said. "In a lot of ways there's more danger driving to work in the morning, because people don't practice their driving the way we practice flying."
The results of the hundreds of hours of practice are on display at air shows, but some still don't believe what they're seeing when the Thunderbirds are performing, Gore said.
The fame of being a Thunderbird is the most fun after a show when team members get a chance to talk to spectators and children about what they've just seen, Cooper said.
"Every place we go is different and we meet all kinds of people," Cooper said. "Sometimes people remember past team members, and others are seeing us for the first time.
"If we're able to inspire even one or two people then it's worth it."
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