The Thunderbirds

I had a blast yesterday and I owe it all to my good buddy :D If it wasn't cos he'd wallop me on the head and the fact that people might think we're queer, I'd probably give him a kiss ... hahaha! But seriously, thanks buddy for always including me in things like this :D

You might all be wondering just what I'm going on about, well yesterday I went for the preview show of the visiting US Air Force exhibition team called the Thunderbirds at the Royal Malaysian Air Base in Subang and I was as thrilled and excited as a four year old in a room full of toys!

You see, I'm a fan of stuff like these. Planes, tanks and ships drive me nuts. And my number one country on list of favourite planes, tanks, ships and just about any military equipment is the United States. And my buddy, who has ways and means of wrangling me in for stuff like these every time a visiting US military organization lands, docks or flies here makes half my dreams come true.

So far, he's got me aboard a host of visiting US aircraft carriers that docked here in the past. I almost cried the first time I stepped onto the deck of an American aircraft carrier and yesterday was no less an emotional moment for me to be up close and personal with screaming fighter jets from the most powerful nation (as far as I'm concerned anyway) and being able to touch an F16 Fighting Falcon. I was ecstatic to say the least.

For those who are not familiar, the Thunderbirds is the US air force quivalent to the Navy's Blue Angels air exhibition team and they're actually having the exhibition proper today but my buddy was able to get access for the preview show yesterday and what a show it was.

I've always wanted to see a screaming jet close up and this is a dream come true. Though I was half deafened by the roar of jets flying overhead I was nonetheless jumping up and down every time a jet flew by. The exhibition itself was top class and some of the flying stunts they did left me breathless! By the end of the show, I was left speechless which is a big thing for a big mouth like me ... LOL!

I also did get to see a little demonstration by our very own local fighter pilots flying the Sukhoi SU-30MKM and though I may not have much love for the military might of this country, I must say that they did put on a bloody good show themselves :D And the Sukhoi, what can I say about it except that it's an excellent beauty of a fighter jet. Those Russians sure do know how to build them pretty :D

Enough blabbering already, here's some pix of day starting with the F16 Falcons being prepped on the tarmac.

An F16 taxiing for take-off

A pair of F-16's getting ready for take-off

A huge lumbering cargo plane ready for take-off

The F16's in exhibition mode

Our very own fighter, the exquisitely beautiful Sukhoi SU-30MKM

A pair of our very own SAS called the Pasukan Khas Udara (Special Air Forces)

The walkabout among the F16's

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