43
Squadron to perform at show
Thunderbird Air Show
Video
The Thunderbirds pilots are combat veterans.
VIENNA — Youngstown Air Reserve Station officials are expecting up to 100,000 people per day to visit the base air show in August to hear the roar and see the tight formations of the F-16 jet fighters as the Air Force Thunderbirds zoom overhead.
The Thunderbirds, the Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, will perform at the air reserve station Aug. 8 and 9 for its first visit here since 1986, according to Air Force officials.
The show also includes performances by the Army Golden Knights parachute team, heritage flights of World War II B-17s and other vintage military planes, as well as many static demonstrations, said Col. Karl McGregor, base commander. McGregor is also commander of the 910th Airlift Wing, which has its headquarters at the air base
Surprised by the 50,000 people who attended the base open house last year on a cold, rainy day, when only 13,000 were expected, McGregor said he is contemplating hiring an outside firm to handle parking.
He said there will be no on-base parking for the general public. Instead, he said visitors will be bused to the base from several outside locations.
Visiting SARS Monday was Air Force Maj. Tony Mulhare, who, as the No. 8 pilot, heads the advance-planning team for the Thunderbirds and also narrates the show. He said the elite flying organization performs at some 75 military and civilian air shows a year. Besides Youngstown, shows are scheduled in Dayton July 18 and 19 and in Cleveland Sept. 5 through 7.
Mulhare, whose father was also an Air Force pilot, said all of the group’s eight pilots are combat veterans. Pilots Nos. 1 through 6 do the flying, and No. 7 is the safety officer. He said the squadron trains from November through March preparing for its show season of precision flying.
The group, which Mulhare said originally was made up of Korean War pilots, was created in 1953 as the 3600th Air Demonstration Unit at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.
He said the formations of four and six F-16 fighter jets fly 450 miles per hour at an altitude of 400 feet, sometimes just 3 feet apart.
Mulhare said job of the Thunderbirds, as an extension of the Air Force recruiting arm, is to travel around the country and show Americans what the Air Force is doing and how their money is being spent.
He said the Youngstown Air Reserve Station is a “great site for the air show. There are no mountains or high buildings,” he said, smiling.
McGregor said he is excited to have the Thunderbirds here.
“It’s been 23 years. We were due,” he said.
alcorn@vindy.com