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Thunderbirds suffer minor bird-strike damage during air show
June 30, 2004 (by
FlightTestJim) -
The USAF Thunderbirds evidently suffered a bird-strike, Saturday, June 26, 2004, during an air show at the Southern Wisconsin Air Fest, at Rock County Airport, near Janesville, Wisconsin.
About 10 minutes into the show, the incident occurred, and the 6 aircraft separated, dispersed, and circled the airport at high altitude.
The Thunderbirds announcer finally stated that at least one, but possibly two of the F-16s were damaged by a bird strike incident. The show was halted for nearly 30 minutes, while Thunderbird no. 3, and possibly Thunderbird no. 4 landed back at the airport.
T-Bird no. 3 was parked at the farthest end of the active runway, on the hammerhead, while the pilot re-launched in an F-16D model. No. 4 taxied back to the main show area, and parked near the main ramp. This pilot re-launched in a spare F-16C model. The show resumed after about a 30 minute delay, though the T-birds only flew their 'low show' due to scattered cloud cover directly above the airport.
The Thunderbirds announcer finally stated that at least one, but possibly two of the F-16s were damaged by a bird strike incident. The show was halted for nearly 30 minutes, while Thunderbird no. 3, and possibly Thunderbird no. 4 landed back at the airport.
T-Bird no. 3 was parked at the farthest end of the active runway, on the hammerhead, while the pilot re-launched in an F-16D model. No. 4 taxied back to the main show area, and parked near the main ramp. This pilot re-launched in a spare F-16C model. The show resumed after about a 30 minute delay, though the T-birds only flew their 'low show' due to scattered cloud cover directly above the airport.
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