Being a celebrity (even if it’s just a celebrity traveling doll) has its perks, and one of those is the cool things you get invited to do. Thanks to SSgt. Randy Redman, Chief of Community Relations with the USAF Thunderbirds, I got to live the dream of every Air Force kid (or doll) and fly with the Thunderbirds!
The Thunderbirds is the name usually used for the United States Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron. The Thunderbirds travel the world showing just how amazing the USAF pilots and aircraft are, performing incredible aerial maneuvers at high speeds (upward of 450 miles per hour!) at air shows. They are based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada so I got to travel to Las Vegas, too! (Needless to say, Miss K’s dad was very jealous since he is from that area and was stationed at Nellis when he worked with the F-117s. I tried to stop by that Tonopah place and say hi for him but there were clearance issues…it seems Top Secret clearances aren’t good for the whole family. Who knew?)
The Thunderbird pilots are “the best of the best” but they couldn’t do what they do without a whole lot of help from the rest of the team, especially the team’s 120 enlisted airmen. (Which is why there is an old Air Force saying, “Without ground support, pilots are just pedestrians in fancy jackets.”) In fact, ground support is so important each jet has the name of its crew chief (the person responsible for to all the day-to-to day care for the jet) painted “on the rail” (right below the cockpit). Watching the crews out on the flight line maneuvering the jets, was amazing; it was kind of like a ballet, only with more tools.
SSgt. Redman was travelling when I arrived at Nellis so I got to hang around the office for awhile after I arrived. Finally, the day of my flight arrived! I was excited to finally meet the pilot who would be flying me back to Vance Air Force Base (where the Thunderbirds would be appearing at our annual air show). All the pilots are amazing and, yes, the best of the best, but I think I am the luckiest doll in the world! I got to fly with Major Samantha Weeks, who is the second female pilot to fly with the Thunderbirds and the first woman to fly in a lead solo position. Talk about a real live American Girl! Major Weeks has definitely proven that we girls can do anything – even be a fighter pilot - if we work hard, follow our dreams and believe in ourselves.
Major Weeks and I made our 1000 mile or so trip in a Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jet. Major Weeks is Thunderbird #5 and since she mostly flies upside down during the demonstrations, her number is painted upside down on the side of her jet! Unfortunately, Thunderbirds flight suits don’t come in my size so I decided to pay tribute to the first female pilots to fly for the US Armed Forces, WW II’s Women Airforce Service Pilots, and borrowed Molly’s WASP uniform. (If you look closely you can see Fifinella, as drawn by Walt Disney, on the patch on my flight jacket. She was the WASP’s gremlin mascot who supposedly watched over them as they flew.)
The flight in a real fighter jet was exciting, to say the least. I wasn’t scared at all. (After all, Major Weeks has flown real combat missions with people shooting at her and usually flies upside down all day, so a trip cross country right side up was nothing!)
I couldn’t wait to see Miss K and the rest of the family again so I could tell them all about my trip. I didn’t have to wait long, since they were allowed to meet me out on the flight line. I know that, as excited as Miss K and her sisters were to welcome me home again when I reached Vance, they were even more excited to meet Major Weeks, who grew up in a military family just like theirs. Major Weeks gave Miss K a flag that flew with us in the cockpit for us to keep, so we have a wonderful souvenir of my flight. She was so sweet to the girls, and took the time to show them around her jet and explain how things work. We all got to have our picture taken with her, too, so be sure and take a look at my Thunderbird slideshow (which also has some really neat pictures of Major Weeks and the other Thunderbirds in action during the Vance Air Show, courtesy of the USAF. Thanks for letting me share them with everyone!).
Now that Miss K’s birthday party is over, I am off to RAF Mildenhall in England for the holidays. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Cheerio
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