Some of the military banter in this comment section is gold. If you can’t laugh at yourself or other military members then you shouldn’t be in the military 😂🫡 all veterans understand this. 🫡

This was a once in a lifetime event during the COVID pandemic where the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds teamed up for hundreds of unplanned flights over major cities. These air shows were not being spectated like their normal shows so it was much more relaxed and “fun” for the crew. Typically it’s very regimented to the second.

The Blue Angels are US Navy, the Thunderbirds are US Air Force, my people. Maybe you need to visit Las Vegas for Red Flag. "We live in fame, or go down in flames. Nothing can stop the US Air Force!"

they make their own hand signals with the pilot that they work with, its funny. imagine getting ready to take off to do an airshow and all your boys are just there doing inside jokes with you and trolling

@3:20 It's a show, and everyone plays their part, similar to the pilots. They're throwing up their unit hand signal. Every unit has one and all crew chiefs throw them during an aircraft launch regardless of what aircraft they're launching. If you check out literally any other unit they do their own hand signs as well, just not as goofy.

The ground crew and the pilots bonding is very important. The team is everything.

Something to note about the F-16 when you see them bobbing around or side to side the F-16 was designed to be naturally aerodynamically unstable allowing for superior maneuverability and reduction of drag on the aircraft, this comes with the aircraft being marginally unstable in level flight. There's also the effect of being so close to the jet wash from the other aircraft. You'll also notice that the F/A-18s flown by the Blue Angels are much more stable in their formation due to the design of the aircraft.

The Thunderbirds TV show started in 1964. The Air Force Air demonstration team started in 1953.

I'm Indonesian and I'm not in the military but a months ago i also happen to be seated next to an airfoce member and i ask the same thing on why they do such thing before take-off, He told me the moves they do before letting the jet taxi to runway, basically a signaling and told the pilot while on checklist before takes off, also is a courage and farewell, basically a motivation not just towards the pilots but also man on the ground, also is letting the tense feeling before training mission or even a real mission. is a routine thing everytime fighter jet or sometimes other military aircraft, although you don't have to do it everytime but most airforce member who involves like to do it just to toy around and keeping the morals up, and i guess because they are an airforce squadron that main focus is on attraction and airshow, they do it more than usually is, not just the US. That do it, most other nations like Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Australia and Japan to name a few also doing it. Basically he said is Tradition, it looks silly but they just want to have fun once and a while😅

There is an airman lying in the back of the KC-10 tanker that is talking on the radio with the Thunderbird pilot. That is who was filming the F-16 thru the window. The Airman in the tanker is 'flying' the boom to link up with the jet. The Airman talks the pilot into the correct position, then there is a wide slot on top of the plane that the boom slides into and links and locks to fill the tank. Both sets of ground crews do goofy stuff. It is part of the show. They just didn't show the Blue Angel stuff. Those weird salutes the Staff Sgts did though... I'm with you on that one. They were a bit much. The USAF Thunderbirds were founded in 1953. Long before the TV show.

It's a routine, every move they do is a well rehearsed routine, every salute, every step they take, each plane crew does the same routine.

this was 2020, during the height of the 1st outbreak of Covid. this was a salute to the medical workers who were treating people. they flew over all the major hospitals in the city. The 2 different methods of refueling you see are, "Probe and Drogue", which is used by the navy and most other world air forces, and Flying Boom style which is used by the US Airforce. The flying boom is actually supposed to be easier on the pilots because they just fly into position and the boom operator on the tanker maneuvers the boom into the receptacle. the Boom can move up and down and left and right, as well and telescoping in and out. in the Probe and Drogue style the pilot has to carefully steer their plane's probe into the basket on the end of the hose. the boom method can also pump much more fuel more quickly.

Former Navy Corpsman here, I grew up in Seattle and saw the Blue Angels many, many times especially at SeaFair. I moved to Vegas on 2016 and live right next to Nellis AFB. The Thunderbirds are based here. Those F-16s are hella loud!

I've never seen the Thunderbirds. The blue angels come every year. Super cool to see.

I think that flex represents the "thunder" while saying yeah big muscle bro😂

The Navy has aviators, the Air Force has pilots.

These are some of the most elite pilots in their respective branches. The Blue Angels are Navy, just look at the paint jobs. Love the comment about payload and size of his nuts. The trailing plan is a symbolic fight for those lost in service.

"C.W. Lemoine" & "The Ready Room" are YT channels by former USAF pilots. They did a podcast with one of the Thunderbirds pilots "mace" talking about the air shows in 2020. Mace even breaks down the Thunderbirds 2020 also mid air collision with a civilian helicopter in So Cal.

You have to do some research on just the thunderbirds. All thatbsaluting stuff u didn't like is all part of the routine. Their ground person is just as much part of the show as the pilot. Blue Angels is all about the pilot.

The Navy has it's own "cheesy" routine they just didn't show it.

If you ever get a chance to see either teams perform, ground crews are a big part of the show, if you pay attention every move they do is basically drill with multi million dollar fighter jets.

Part of the ridiculousness from the Air Force ground crew was that was a media flight. That was for a delta (two seater) that the Thunderbirds use to take guests up. The video with Gerard Butler is pretty decent. Usually it is local media or a “hometown hero” taken up. Air Force dude here and love the banter. It’s ok for Navy’s subcontractors to be all about the boat people. The Merge did a great interview of the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels ops officers. It’s a really great interview about the culture, challenges, and leadership. I highly recommend it. Plus, Paco is from the fighter world, so it comes from someone who is in the community. The interview is an hour and a quarter, but is well worth the watch or listen.

I have done many airshows and the whole thing is one big show. From the pilots walking out to the flying is all part of the how. The way the maintainers show off their skills to the pilots skills , all great to see.

They do a "winter training" together in El Centro, California every year. I've seen the Blue Angels in airshows the last two years. I'll be seeing the Thunderbirds in June. They both are always impressive.

Blue Angels come to my city almost every year, but it’s pretty rare we see the Air Force and Navy fly together for an air show. Together, they are incredible!! Also, as far as I’m aware, the Air Force and Navy aero teams do train together periodically. It wouldn’t be crazy to think they don’t ever carry out missions together. This also goes for some allied nations. I believe the Snow Birds from Canada have been at some of our air shows but I could be wrong. Snow birds and blue angels are suppose to be at the Reno AZ air show this year.

I remeber this day... Walking home from work one afternoon and heard a roaring sound getting loder and louder. I heard they were going to be around but I wasn't expecting them to fly over Newark, NJ. As grim as the situation was around the world from the pandemic, it certainly put a smile on my face. ❤️ The Blue Angels and the Navy have always had a special place in my heart for some reason. I was in the USAF Auxiliary for 5 years. Nothing like the military, but a branch of nonetheless. We worked at the air shows at McGuire/ Dix/Lakehurst Joint AF Base. McGuire is AF, Dix is Army, and Lakehurst is Navy. That's the first time I saw the AF demonstration team, Thunderbirds. Anyway, the fly bys were supposed to liven up the spirits of Americans everywhere in a time where smiles were hard to come by. Thank you for this. ❤️ 😊❤️🤘🤘 Edit: In regards to the refueling, keep in mind that the KC-10 also has controls to maneuver the boom. It's wasn't just up to the F/16 pilot to bullseye the entire event, much like the B-2 Spirit that also has the fueling port behind the pilot. As the saying goes..... It takes 2 to tango. 😂

Maybe the gentleman doing the show needs to do the history on both air demonstration teams.

I live essentially in the middle of Long Island in NY and during the summer, the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds fly over my house when theyre practicing for air shows at the beach. Those guys flying over my house even at cruising speed at 5000 feet still rumbles the entire house

Hi, Marine here, being super into aviation and working in the Marine Air Wing, I've seen both teams perform and I've gotta say, the only cheesy routine is the Thunderbird routine. The Blue Angels are usually pretty rigid and more of a drill rehearsal. The Blue Angels are also just a much better Demonstration team, not to discredit the Thunderbirds because they are Fantastic but Blue Angels are just top tier. Glad you enjoyed it, maybe one day you can watch in person!

Listen to that slight difference in pitch on the thunderbirds cockpit camera. That's him constantly tweaking the throttle. You can see the Angels doing it too with their left hand but can't hear it as well. Then you still gotta control the thing in three dimensions.

Wow, you better hope the air force guys don't spot you out and about... haha

lol, that's Thundercats not thunderbirds. Those were ribbons on the side of the jet not flags.

I used to watch the Blue Angels practicing out of the Naval Air Station, Brunswick Maine.

The Navy uses the basket drogue system you see because they are operating from carriers which don't have large tanker aircraft. They attach this basket system to other planes on the carrier in what they call "buddy stores" (fuel tanks attached to the other planes that they carry aloft - at least from what I have read) to refuel other planes to increase their time in the air. Since they do this normally and all their planes are built with the extended fueling probe that's why the tanker was outfitted with the basket drogue. They call hooking up to it "fencing with the basket". Since the Air Force operates from land they have the larger boom operated tankers they use such as the KC-135 where, as someone else pointed out, the Airman who is doing the refueling both communicates with the pilot and "flies" the boom to hook up to the aircraft to refuel. The basket system the Navy uses is also used by all branches to fuel helicopters in flight since they have extended fueling probes that push forward out of the range of their rotors so they can refuel in mid-air without the rotors tearing up the fuel line. Just FYI since you seemed interested and were asking about it - this is from lots of military based reading material, movies, and being a former military (Air Force) "brat".

The Blue Angel lagging behind Is #7. A two-seater that they fly VIP in. look at, Annie' Vip Flight with the Blue Angels. If I remember right , she is a news anchor.

Generally the Demonstration teams ; The USAF ThunderBirds and the USN ; Blue Angels do seperate demonstration performances. The demonstrations are to show what can be done by the planes and the pilots.

I use to watch the blue angels perform at the Brunswick Naval Air Station in Brunswick Maine when I was a kid. Sadly they shut down the Brunswick NAS and it's now called the Brunswick Executive Airport... They still have air shows there from time to time, even though it's no longer a military base. Only instead of the blue angels performing, they have the thunderbirds perform, on a former Navy base, which seems like sacrilege to me 😂

They always pay respect to the ground crew and I guess this is just their way of doing it.

It was done for support and encouragment during the Covid-19 Pandemic. They do not usually fly together. Sometimes they will perform with The British Red Arrows and the French Patrouille De France on special occasions

There was an air show over lake erie in Buffalo NY and I woke up to sound of jets in the morning for 2 days best alarm clock ever

My dad's eyesight has always been bad, so he could not be a pilot. He was a ground crew member. The pilots brought him gifts all the time. If dads team did not pack a parachute properly or did not fix a jet properly, the results could be catastrophic for the pilots. One time, a pilot made an error during a landing, and my dad witnessed it and parked the jet with those orange baton things. The USAF opened an investigation because the plane was damaged. Needless to say, after the investigation concluded, the pilot gifted my father a motorcycle he wanted really bad. My dad never asked for it, but he took protecting the pilots VERY seriously.

The US Air Force have the best pilots in the world. The US Navy have the best naval aviators in the world. Went to the MacDill Airfest last Saturday, over 100,000 visitors.

At 3:22 the ground crew, who can't talk to the pilot because of noise is signaling that all the safety flags are off the plane and it is "ARMED".

They flock to all air shows. You wouldn't believe how much of a recruitment tool air shows are.

We're American! We are different. 😊❤

Late to this one, but essentially the basket drogue method used by the Navy is functionally more difficult for aerial refueling because it's flexible, and that flexibility induces a risk of oscillation in the hose that can damage both aircraft. Not to mention the basket doing damage to the canopy or probe. The boom method used by the Air Force has the boom operator effectively flying the boom into position and guiding the pilot in. It's generally more stable and therefor much easier.

Citizenship revoked. J/K I believe the record is 49 planes in V formation before a Kansas City Chiefs' game at Arrowhead Stadium.

The Thunderbirds are using a type of aerial refueling called "Flying Boom". Currently, Air Force fixed-wing aircraft refuel with the “flying boom.” The boom is a rigid, telescoping tube that an operator on the tanker aircraft extends and inserts into a receptacle on the aircraft being refueled. The Air Force’s decision to field boom-equipped tankers was based on the refueling needs of long-range bombers, which required large amounts of fuel. The Air Force’s fighter community resisted eliminating the hose-and-drogue, but was overruled by the Strategic Air Command, which operated the tanker fleet, and during the Cold War, placed a higher value on refueling bombers. The flying boom has a operator that "fly's" the boom. They have control of the boom and can fly it to the attachment point. The receiving pilot has to get close enough for the boom operator to be able to fly the boom to them and make contact. The boom operator is the one watching the end of the boom more so than the receiving pilot. Though it can do damage if it comes in contact with an aircraft, the operator can quickly move the boom if needed. The Blue Angels use what is called "Probe-and-Drogue" refueling method. The probe and drogue method uses a trailing hose with a basket on the end. Pilots will guide a probe on their aircraft into the basket to connect with the hose. The hoses are retracted when not in use. Though the crew has less control of the drogue, which can still cause damage, there is less danger to the aircraft than from a boom, and it could allow the aircraft to stay further away from the tanker. This method is not capable of the high transfer rates of a boom, it is much more flexible. A refueling aircraft may only be fitted with one boom, and this requires extra design work and integration with the fuselage. The drogue system, on the other hand, is more simple, and does not need a dedicated operator. This means that it can be more easily fitted to the refueling aircraft, even other fighter planes, and larger aircraft can have multiple drogues. Another point is that smaller aircraft such as fighters are not capable of receiving fuel at the full rate the boom provides, so they have less benefit from the system. Although a boom can have a drogue adapter attached, this still commits the tanker to one aircraft at a time and one type of system per flight. This however can be mitigated by use of a refueling pod under wing that has a probe and drogue Also, aircraft such as helicopters cannot use a boom system.

There is a US Airman and a Royal Marine taking a piss in the restroom. The Airman gets done and starts to walk out of the restroom, the Royal Marine turns and says "Didn't they teach you to wash your hands when your done?" The Airman turns around and says "No, they taught us not to piss on our hands!!" .... LOL!!

Hand signals are hand signals. They may look different, but they're just communicating with the pilot.

‘You gotta shut that sh*t down!’ 😂😂

That refueling jet is a KC-10 and it is basically a flying gas tank.

You're making reference to Jerry Anderson's "Thunderbirds". I remember watching them, as a child, here in the Detroit, Michigan, USA.

Thunder birds are good but I'm navy through and through so blue angels all the way WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

@15:30 It will not ignite even if it goes directly into the engine intake, and the exhaust will not cause it to catch as it passes around the aircraft. And to answer the question about the fuel on the canopy, they're still flying more than 200MPH when refueling, and most canopy's of fighters are hydrophobic so they repel water and other fluids, and that's IF the fuel comes into contact at that speed.

Most flight crews do have some sort of cheesy thing they do in the navy as well as the airforce my dad was a usaf pilot for 25 years and I saw many a "routine" on base some are less cheesy than others

The fist gesture is more than likely signifying the Spike Squad from Luke Air Base in Arizona where the mascot if you will is bulldog with fist doubled up to fight. Every airshow I been to with the Thunderbirds in some the pilots would be taxiing out and do the Spike sign by put both fist up. Nothing wrong there.

Ok, not sure if you've done your homework since you posted this The Thunderbirds are located at Nellis Air Force Base, where I was born sometime ago. They fly over my house on a pretty regular basis and their powerful engines are as loud as heck. First, Nellis Air Force Base is as the home of the fighter pilot and is the Air Force focus for advanced combat training. We have a huge range out in the desert where they can drop all types of ordinances. They supply 25% of the new fighter pilots annually. Second, the person that you thought was taking a nap. That is the position that they are supposed to be in during that part of preparation for takeoff. I do not know exactly why, but I've seen them doing it for the last 50 years. Third, the snazzy hand gestures the guys were making are actually code that they use to prepare the pilots for taxing to take off. They were probably being a little bit macho silly but they can't go too far off of script because there is a ground show that takes place when the ground crew and pilots are readying the planes for takeoff. It's an old pomp and circumstances thing.

The F-16 is a much smaller, lighter aircraft. About 19,000 pounds dry, while the F-18's are about 32,000 pounds dry. That extra 13,000 pounds makes the F-18's much more stable in close formation. They also have different controls. The F-16 uses a force sensing side stick, while the F-18 uses a traditional center mounted deflection stick. Fine control is much easier with the traditional stick in the F-18. They actually had to redesign and add some deflection to the F-16 stick because it turns out the brain has a much harder time processing small changes in pressure then it does small movements.

They were communicating via hand signals.

The USAF could of have chosen the Prototype of what would become the Navy F-18 but they chose the Prototype that is now the F-16 instead.

This was done during COVID to up moral in major cities and support medical folks. I saw them in the DC area.

Just FYI @OriginalHuman all those flags on the thunderbirds are representing where the plane has gone to (not necessarily where the pilot has)

The US Army has the Golden Knights parachute demonstration team.

You want to have your head explode - lookup a refueling of the SR-71A BlackBirds. You will probably go off your rockers.

The cheesiness are hand signals. You can't talk next to a running jet engine. Signals to disconnect ground power and remove wheel chocks etc

The flags on the AIRFORCE thunderbird, represents the counties/Nation's they have flown in:

It isn't cheesy and no, we don't need to stop it. Those guys are signalling the pilot (and other ground crew) with the hand signals. No way to misinterpret a hand signal. A radio transmission can get garbled, or equipment can fail. Arms damn near always work.

Don't know if it was stated, but this was done during the Covid pandemic and was done over several major cities.

I think the square of tiny flags on the side of the Thunderbirds represents all of the countries the Thunderbirds have visited or performed in. (but I'm not totally sure)

It's the US Air Force. Cheesey is their middle name. 😅 If you gotta fly, FLY NAVY

GO NAVY

Love both teams they both put on an amazing show but I'll stick with my first choice being the freeche Tricolori the Italian jet demo team they're insane

Every air fighter squadron (Navy and Airforce alike) have their own wave and salute, look into it if you'd like. I believe there is a whole video on the origins of it.

The occasion was that the day ended in the word “day”😊

The flags are all the nations the Thunderbirds perform in.

Blue Angels all the way, Thunderbirds got some catching up to do.

the guy keeps looking at the other guys because hes the one filming it with the camera on his shield

If you haven't been in avaition, you will not understand.

Have a pop quiz for ya. Why do Navy jets have such a short range and have to worry about running out of fuel? But the Air Force has much longer range and fuel isn't as much of a concern? Mid air fueling. The Air Force has been doing it since WWII, the Navy just recently figured out how to use Heavies in the air. 😂

Elite aviators!

Get outta my face dude.😂 I subscribed

Comments are "wow, just wow". Moving on.

If you refilled that bottle with colored water I'm gonna be pissed lol. But we respect you enough to not get drunk on air. Buzzed yes, drunk no.

Banter between the US Air Force and US Navy ; I'm better then you ( USAF ) - No your not I'm better ( USN ). Competition always brings out the best in all.

The thunderbird show is from the 60s

Yep, its not often they fly together.

Just a civilian here, but the chase plane might be an armed escort for them. The demostation teams planes are not armed, and though unlikely, a successful terrorist attack would be a major propaganda win.

The name Thunderbird comes originally from Native American mythology. It has been used by/for many other things, including the classic Ford Thunderbird car (my brother had a 1964 convertible version when I was young). And yes, the Air Force flight demonstration team has used the name for many decades, going back to when they used T-38s vs the current F-16s.

Do the Blue Angels still have Fat Albert (C-130) do the JATO take-off? I saw that once and it was impressive.

Blue Angels are awesome (maybe a tad superior the Thunderbirds) but the F16 Falcon (Viper) is a superior aircraft. I love them both, but I have to give my dues to the F-16. The fact that the two teams choreograph a demonstration together safely is incredible to me. Thanks for the video!

All fighter jets have the pilot’s name on them.

The flags represent the countries where the Thunderbirds have put on their aerobatic shows. I don't know if it is specific to the plane or to the pilot.

There is a youtube channel called "growler jams". He is an f18 navy pilot that has videos and commentary of carrier operations that include catapult launching, mid air refueling, and carrier landing. Worth checking out.

The two best "airforces" in the world, historically, are the Isreali AF and the US Navy.

They're just messing around

@OriginalHuman, monetary idea: pay extra for “reduced waffling” video series. Same videos but half the rambling 😜

The boom operator on the KC flys the boom...

Without the crew those jets wouldnt get off the ground....the cheesy gestures are like secret handshakes

It’s not a plane. It’s a jet.