1995 GFAFB, Thunderbirds

June 25, 2014  •  Leave a Comment

Grand Forks Air Force Base: Saturday, July 08, 1995

I attended the 1995 Friends and Neighbors Day at the GFAFB. My sister tagged along with Bob and I. All three of us shot photos. The show started with aerial demonstration by the Commemorative Air Force B–25J “Miss Mitchell”. We watched a fire-fight demonstration. Bob was talking with a member of the 319th Security Forces Squadron who gave us a play by play.

Men in desert-camo rush the US flag lobbing colored smoke grenades, shooting blanks, ‘killing and torturing’ the men in the green-camo. The Canadians in a CF–18 ‘Hornet’ zooms in and provides cover. Explosions filled the sky with black smoke and orange flames past the runaway. The cavalry cames in shooting. The bad guys refused to die, even after a couple hundred rounds. Our guide said 3rd world armies don’t use the armored trucks, they prefer using Toyota pick-up trucks, “Armored trucks are sitting ducks: they’re slow, get stuck and are easy to disable.”

We wait at the fence-line for the Thunderbirds to go up. It was hot and partly cloudy (about 50%). Lt. Colonel Stephen Andersen (Thunderbird Leader #1), called out on the radio, “Thunderbirds let’s run ’em up”. The Pratt and Whitney FW101 engines were at full throttle. This year’s Thunderbird team is made up of former F–15E flight instructors. More clouds rolled in from the north, so they finished with a ‘Horizontal Bomb Burst’.

My sister went back to the van. Bob and I photographed the flight line: the Holloman F–117A, the SDANG F–16C, the Minot AFB B–52H, and the B–25J. The crowd thinned out. We watched as the crew prepped the F–117A for flight. When it left, we left.

1995 0708v22Nighthawk PilotThe USAF F-117A 'Nighthawk' stealth fighter of the 49th FW, 7th FS. Flown by Captain Mark Drinkard and Captain Mike Richey. Photo by Craig Maas on Saturday, July 8, 1995 at the Grand Forks Air Force Base.

Photographs

See the Full Gallery or the Gallery Slideshow for more photos from the Grand Forks Air Force Base: 124 in total with detailed photo/airplane descriptions. Bob Nelson’s photos (Color Print CN133–139) are copyright 1995, 2018; used with permission. My photos are color print film. ©1995, 2019. Suzanne’s are the same.
Each aircraft link goes to its first photo in the gallery. The numbered footnote links go to where I found information for the photo descriptions.. usually Wikipedia if missing.

Aircraft On Display

  • B–25J ‘Mitchell’ CAF “Miss Mitchell” Lt. Donald E. Oliver, Airplane Commander; T.Sgt Ray Ostlie, Crew chief, tail# 327493. 1, 2, 3
  • B–52H ‘Stratofortress’ MT AF60–058 of the 23rd Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Wing, Minot AFB, ND. 1, 2
  • F–16A ‘Falcon’ NDANG (behind the F–117A). 1
  • F–16C ‘Falcon’ (Block 30) The “Lobos” (175th FS) SDANG. TSGT Jim Kelley. Lt Col Duncan Keirnes “Duke” aircraft 85–466 name “Satan”. 1, 2
  • CF–18 ‘Hornet’ Canadian. 1
  • F–117A ‘Nighthawk’ AF82–802. Holloman AFB, 49th Fighter Wing, 7th Fighter Squadron “Screamin Demons” flown by Captain Mark Drinkard, Captain Mike Richey. 1, 2, 3
  • KC–10 ‘Extender’ 1
  • T–37 ‘Tweet’ (behind the F–16). 1
  • T–38 ‘Talon’. 1, 2
  • BearCat by Lenco. An armored truck with top mounted machine gun used by the 319th Security Forces Squadron. 1
  • Thunderbirds F–16C ‘Falcons’ block 32H/J. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Thunderbird Pilots

  1. Lt. Colonel Stephen Andersen, Commander/Leader, 1994–1995 source
  2. Major Darryl Roberson, Left Wing, 1994–1995
  3. Captain Tony Seely, Right Wing, 1995–1996
  4. Major Jeffrey Fiebig, Slot, 1995–1996
  5. Captain Thomas Lewis, Solo, 1993
  6. Captain Russell Quinn, Solo, 1995–1996
  7. Maj. John Switzer, Narrator/Solo, 1993–1995

CN135.10Thunderbirds Calypso PassUSAF Thunderbird #5 Captain Thomas Lewis (Solo), and #6 Captain Russell Quinn (Solo) perform the Calypso Pass. Photo by Bob Nelson on Saturday, July 8, 1995 at the Grand Forks Air Force Base.


Comments

No comments posted.
Loading...

All my aviation photos can be found in this gallery.
Subscribe
RSS
Archive
January February March April May June July (1) August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July (1) August September October November December
January February March April May June July (1) August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June (1) July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December