|
In 1947, the United States Air Force was split from the United States Army Air Forces to become a separate military service.
The new Secretary of the Air Force needed a way to promote this branch for recruitment and morale purposes.
Air Force officials decided that the best way would be to form a demonstration team of unparalleled skill, and it would tour the United States to drum up support for the new Air Force.
Hence, the USAF Thunderbirds was established at Luke AFB with 4 P-51D Mustangs and a core comprising the best instructor pilots available.
The team quickly captured the imagination of the public both at home and overseas.
|
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|
In 1976,
the Thunderbirds painted up a restored Mustang in a special scheme to celebrate
the nation's 200th birthday. During their 2,000th air show at Luke AFB that
year, where it all began, the Mustang performed in a short duo performance with
one of the team's T-38 Talons, marking the first time in history where a
professional aerobatic team used two different aircraft during the same
performance.
This was
a 'what-if' build for one of the Group Builds on ARC. The 1/72 Tamiya Mustang is
a really nice kit and is ideal for a relaxing break in between intensive builds.
The decals are from Warbird Decals and are also available in 1/48 and 1/32
scale. They responded great to Mr. Mark Setter and Softer, but care needs to be
taken when applying the decals around the nose area. Thankfully, WD have
provided some extra stripes of red and blue decals to fix any gaps or tears that
you might encounter when applying the markings.
Thanks for looking and happy modelling.
Eugene Tan
|
