USAF F-84 Thunderjets formation team?

[Erik H]

Hi!

Last night I uploaded a short film from an airshow at Fornebu, Norway 31.May 1953 onto youtube.
In this clip you see four F-84 Thunderjets performing a formation display.
Was there a team (officially or unofficially) within the USAF flying the Thunderjet at this time?

There is also a B-45 Tornado making a pass shown in the film, that might catch some attention here.

See:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNF9m8gez9c

-
E

[K5DH]

The Thunderbirds' first aircraft was the F-84G Thunderjet, which they flew from 1953 through 1955. The Thunderbirds did their first European show in 1963, so the jets in the video are not being flown by the T-Birds. There were a number of jet teams operating in the '50s using various types of aircraft.

The Albatros JATO takeoff is pretty cool!

Cheers,

The USAF "Skyblazers" jet demo team flew in Europe from the late forties until the early sixties. They flew F-84 Thunderjets in the time frame asked about.

From the "Wikipedia" encyclopedia:

"The "Skyblazers" were the USAF demonstration team representing the United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE) from the late 1940s through the 1950s. This team was formed in early 1949 by a group of 22d Fighter Squadron pilots from the 36th Fighter Wing at Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base in Germany. At this time they were flying Lockheed F80B Shooting Stars. The unit transitioned to the F-84E in 1950, the F-86F in 1955 and the F-100C in 1956. Unlike the Thunderbirds, the Skyblazers seldom appeared outside of the realm of USAFE operations in Europe.

The Skyblazers were disbanded in January 1962 when their home squadron was rotated back to the United States and their assigned aircraft transitioned to the F-105 Thunderchief."