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Media flight tops off Thunderbirds

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Ned T. Johnston
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Projecting airpower around the world is only possible with the aid of aerial refueling. That capability recently had a sky-high date with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.

On Feb. 19, 2016, a KC-135 Stratotanker crew from MacDill Air Force Base, Florida flew out to New Mexico to rendezvous with the Thunderbirds and refuel them on their way to their destination in Daytona Beach for the Daytona 500 flyover.

Several civilian media reporters tagged along with the aircrew to capture the refuel mission for documentation and to generate buzz around MacDill's upcoming Tampa Bay AirFest 2016, which is scheduled to take place March 19 and 20.

Wheels were off the ground early as the four crew members and six media representatives rode the sunrise all the way to their meetup spot 36,000 feet over New Mexico, and the Thunderbirds were right on time.

The tanker mission was key to the timely arrival of the Thunderbirds in Daytona Beach. In order to perform aerial feats, the Thunderbird F-16s "fly slick," which means they fly without external fuel tanks.

"The Thunderbirds would have needed to land three times without us," said Capt. Jonathan Barillas, the aircraft commander with the 91st Air Refueling Squadron.

Instead, MacDill's KC-135 crew provided aerial refueling support twice, once over New Mexico and again over Louisiana, keeping them from ever touching the ground.

With the tanker crew and the Thunderbirds together, it was time to line up at the gas pump. Each one of the six Thunderbirds only takes a few minutes to refuel, so by the time the gaggle was over Texas, they were ready to jet.

The red, white and blue F-16s stayed in formation with the KC-135 all the way to their second refuel location, which allowed photographers and broadcasters the opportunity to capture imagery of the jets.

Around the time the Thunderbirds were over Louisiana, it was time for another top off. The reporters gathered in the boom pod, the compartment of the plane where the boom operator works, to get the final imagery needed for their news pieces. When the last F-16 had enough fuel to get to Daytona Beach, the Thunderbirds gave a big "thank you" to the aircrew and the media coverage by forming the Delta formation mere feet from the boom pod.

The Thunderbirds and the KC-135 crew split from there. One team headed off to Daytona Beach for a weekend full of flyovers and fun in the sun. The other went back home and gassed up for another upcoming refuel mission - this time to get the Thunderbirds back to Las Vegas following their Daytona 500 performance.