700 MPH vs. 650 MPH In the 1990s when having lunch with the Thunderbirds, a conversation came up that I was having with one of the pilots. I asked him his flying position he informed me that he was flying slot position I asked him was he the one who was flying the silent approach, yes he was. I attempted to guess approach speed, which I saw him coming across the sky, as no one on the ground anticipate that maneuver, but I saw him coming. I asked him was he doing 700 MPH of cause that was the wrong answer by 50 MPH, he said that he was doing 650 MPH and if he was doing 700 MPH he would have broken the speed of sound, properly breaking out windows and barriers just by the force. This pilot was about 6 feet 3 inches in height, and what was unusual was that when he would walked it was like he was leading to one side almost an unbalance stride, it was moments that he would straighten up and walk correctly I never know what caused that. So as here in the area of Hampton and Norfolk we have those who are always comparing the Air Force Thunderbirds vs. the Navy’s Blue Angels well I have never seen the Blue Angels in action but I live near Langley Air Force Base so I can see the Thunderbirds from our backyard so one can say that I’m a bit prejudice on the Thunderbirds behalf. The Thunderbirds call this maneuver silent approach as the Blue Angles call the same approach Sneak Pass. Like the shuttle command “throttle up” which means increase air speed. But I noted in this video the Blue Angles claim to be doing 700 MPH which contradict my conversation with the Thunderbirds pilot years earlier.
Posted on: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 14:39:05 +0000
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