I got the Thunderbirds ride! Unbelievable! Didn’t want to get too excited because anything can happen from a schedule change to a malfunction at the hold-short line. But it happened!
And get this . . . I have 1.0 hours dual received in the logbook! In the F-16D. If it gets any better than this, I’m not sure I can handle it.
Airspeed Podcast: Thunderbirds Flight - The Ride and Thoughts from the Ramp
:: "You incredible pagan god!" is what I yelled at Capt. Tupper when he called me after completing the first ever USAF Thunderbirds Media Ride by a podcaster.
Capt. Tupper serves as a Recruiting Officer in his home squadron in Michigan, but nights and weekends he dons his alter-ego as "Stephen Force," the host of the Airspeed podcast.
You've heard me talking about CAP on the podcast, and I even got to co-host an episode when we attended the Red Bull Air Races in Detroit.
In a culmination of years of great work advocating for aviation via the podsphere, Tupper got his wish on no less than July 4th, 2008. The Thunderbirds were the first team to broadcast a demonstration on the internet, and now they have the first to extend the opportunity to experience Air Force flying to an internet broadcaster.
With adrenaline still pumping, Tupper decided that he would start by simply getting me on the phone, and together debriefing the experience. This gave him a chance to just talk it out over the course of 90 minutes. Much less structured than a typical interview, we just treated the session as some hanger flying that happend to get recorded.
Steve is churning out a ton of content from his day in the reclinded back seat of Thunderbird 8, so keep an eye on the Airspeed blog and podcast feed for more audio, more video, and more pictures.
Nice job Captain.
Ok, Data. It's been 4 months! Talk to me!! :)
Posted by: FO Martin | November 14, 2008 at 09:54