Saturday, October 3, 2009

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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28 comments:

  1. i envy you!!! u got tons of nice shot at the tarmac and on air

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  2. Wahhhh..very nice. And I was wondering about photos halfway reading this. Awesome. I'd love to see this too. Only, I'm not very into it. Though I ordered a custom made dog tag from US before XD It has my name on it hehe. I'd love to have one of those World War helmet thinggies.

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  3. Oh yeah, I'm not sure how many times u mentioned that you wanna hug/kiss ur fren. *roll eyes.

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  4. WAAAAAAHHHH!!! I wanna see, I wanna see!

    WAAAAAHHHHH!! I love jet fighters as well. And yes, those Sukhois look mighty fine! Reminds me of the F15...

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  5. Soulie - Hehehe ... I actually got more pictures but malas to crop and edit ...

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  6. Maslight - A dog tag? Cool man. I'd love one of those helmets too :D But hey, you're halfway there with your camouflage camera that you just got ... LOL!

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  7. Perry - Those jets were really awesome in real life and the screaming sound of jet engines just a few feet away from you, I don't know how to explain how awesome it was :D

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  8. I feel your passion! Great pics. And what a great buddy!

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  9. How cool is it to be sitting on those planes? And flying is out of the question for me cos I won't dare. But I like watching planes in exhibition, it's awesome they could do it up high. You could have been an aviator, hehee!

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  10. The World According To Me - I was like a little child who couldn't contain his excitement :D

    He is a great buddy but don't tell him that! LOL!

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  11. Marlene - Me an aviator? Not very likely cos I'm afraid of heights ... LOL!

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  12. Hi Nick, long time no see.... hehehe....
    Thanks for your birthday wishes for Zac :):)

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  13. Janice - :D Thanks for dropping by. I just couldn't not drop by your blog and wish Zac for his birthday when I read your post in my Google reader :D

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  14. You should come to our island - we get to see these airshows every year. The last one was a week ago in fact. We're very priveleged hehe. Take a look at this:
    http://www.maltairshow.com/

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  15. LOL, not there yet, I need a complete set of everything no? @_@

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  16. this was on lasts Friday? aiyo...if only i came earlier on Friday, I could go and witness this too.
    nice pictures Nick!

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  17. oooooooo...so that's the noise i heard last week..me and my colleague thought it was a crazy pilot making the noise..u know lah..i work in sg.buloh...
    Nice photos u have here..

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  18. Maslight - Well, at least you're on the way already :D

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  19. Carol - Yes, the preview show was last Friday and the actual exhibition was on Saturday :D

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  20. Kadusmama - LOL! I would have thought the same too if I wasn't at the TUDM base ... It must have been two whole noisy days of planes zooming by for you, ya :D

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  21. I'm a girl and even to me that looks pretty cool looking!!!

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  22. Tammy - I know what you mean, my wife had a blast too :D

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  23. err,Nick,the pasukan khas udara guy looks so garang ler.U didn't ask his permission kah b4 u snap his photo? hehe...

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  24. Mama Mia - No la, I was afraid he might shoot me. They all looked garang la ... LOL!

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  25. When they were practising early in the morning day before the show Nick.. my house bergegar ar.. so bising i tell you..and not to mention..everytime they fly low..it scare the hell out of Gummi, made me squeal like budak (excited)and the whole neigbourhodd car alarm goes blarring like crazy! Hahahahah..

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  26. Emelda - Hahaha ... ya kan, you place is pretty near to the flight path of those TUDM aircraft ... Poor Gummi must have been scared for the entire one plus hours that the exhibition was on and they also had it on Saturday too ...

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