Thunderbirds are go in Izmir

wanderer


Joined: 05/02/2009
Posts: 1653

Message Posted:
05/06/2011 12:12

To kick it off with flair, the Thunderbirds arrived earlier this week at Cigli Air Base in Turkey, just outside the western coastal city of Izmir.

Lt. Col. Case Cunningham, the Thunderbirds' commander and lead pilot, said: 'We are absolutely excited to be in Turkey.

'It's not often we get the opportunity to perform in a country that's both so rich in history and such an important U.S. ally. It's the perfect way to start this overseas tour'.

It is perhaps a little known fact that the Turkish air force is the second largest in NATO, with more than 1,000 aircraft.

This includes 240 F-16 Fighting Falcons, the airplanes made famous in part by the Thunderbirds.

Turkey is also the homeland of Sabiha Gokcen, the world's first female aviator to fly combat missions (in the late 1930s). She is also the only woman featured on the U.S. Air Force's 1996 poster of 'The 20 Greatest Aviators in History'.

wanderer


Joined: 05/02/2009
Posts: 1653

Message Posted:
05/06/2011 12:13

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1394245/Thunderbirds-US-Air-Forces-elite-team-kicks-2011-European-tour.html