1 00:00:03,220 --> 00:00:05,387 It was actually a really great feeling 2 00:00:05,387 --> 00:00:07,387 showing up here and flying down the 3 00:00:07,387 --> 00:00:09,609 tower fly by line that I used to fly on 4 00:00:09,609 --> 00:00:11,720 as a student here seeing the dry lake 5 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:13,831 bed again . It's just an incredible , 6 00:00:13,831 --> 00:00:15,831 incredible national treasure . It's 7 00:00:15,831 --> 00:00:19,510 good to be back the Thunderbird . 8 00:00:22,170 --> 00:00:25,440 This is a rare opportunity to go inside 9 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:28,050 the cockpit of Thunderbird one . As 10 00:00:28,050 --> 00:00:30,950 Lieutenant Colonel Justin Elliott calls 11 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:33,580 for the four diamond College to perform 12 00:00:33,580 --> 00:00:37,010 simultaneous aileron rolls in close 13 00:00:37,020 --> 00:00:40,570 formation . Wow now 14 00:00:45,940 --> 00:00:48,530 this is about as close to flight test 15 00:00:48,530 --> 00:00:50,641 as I've done in the Air Force believe 16 00:00:50,641 --> 00:00:53,090 it or not , I use very much all the 17 00:00:53,090 --> 00:00:55,312 skill sets the test pilot school taught 18 00:00:55,312 --> 00:00:57,423 me here is the Thunderbirds lead uh , 19 00:00:57,423 --> 00:00:59,368 stick and rudder skills , worrying 20 00:00:59,368 --> 00:01:01,590 about energy curves , energy diagrams , 21 00:01:01,590 --> 00:01:03,701 constantly picking turn radius is 180 22 00:01:03,701 --> 00:01:05,757 degrees out having to go open versus 23 00:01:05,757 --> 00:01:07,923 closed loop . A lot of the skills that 24 00:01:07,923 --> 00:01:09,979 I picked up in test pilot school are 25 00:01:09,979 --> 00:01:11,923 applying very directly to what I'm 26 00:01:11,923 --> 00:01:15,590 doing here is Thunderbird one . Tps is 27 00:01:15,590 --> 00:01:18,080 really the bedrock of test for the 28 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:20,490 United States Air Force . This is where 29 00:01:20,500 --> 00:01:22,410 all test pilots and flight test 30 00:01:22,410 --> 00:01:24,521 engineers for the Air Force get their 31 00:01:24,521 --> 00:01:26,200 first education into what is 32 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:28,422 developmental test . How do you take an 33 00:01:28,422 --> 00:01:30,478 aircraft that has never flown before 34 00:01:30,478 --> 00:01:33,850 and do a safe methodical approach to 35 00:01:33,860 --> 00:01:35,582 deliver that capability to the 36 00:01:35,582 --> 00:01:37,638 warfighter fastest . Actually worked 37 00:01:37,638 --> 00:01:39,749 backwards a little bit . I grew up in 38 00:01:39,749 --> 00:01:41,971 Houston texas where my influences , the 39 00:01:41,971 --> 00:01:43,971 people that I would see on tv or at 40 00:01:43,971 --> 00:01:46,193 Nasa space and were the astronauts . So 41 00:01:46,193 --> 00:01:48,138 I looked at their career paths and 42 00:01:48,138 --> 00:01:50,138 curious about how they got to where 43 00:01:50,138 --> 00:01:52,249 they were as astronauts and found out 44 00:01:52,249 --> 00:01:54,471 most of them were Air Force test pilots 45 00:01:54,471 --> 00:01:56,582 are Navy test pilots ended up chasing 46 00:01:56,582 --> 00:01:58,416 that dream by doing ROTC at Yale 47 00:01:58,416 --> 00:02:00,527 University where I swam and then went 48 00:02:00,527 --> 00:02:02,693 straight into the Air Force from their 49 00:02:02,693 --> 00:02:04,925 flu at 15 for a while and just continue 50 00:02:04,925 --> 00:02:07,510 to chase that dream . So astro was my 51 00:02:07,510 --> 00:02:11,510 student uh in 2015 . He , he 52 00:02:11,510 --> 00:02:13,732 was , he was just , you know , he stood 53 00:02:13,732 --> 00:02:15,454 above the rest in terms of his 54 00:02:15,454 --> 00:02:17,566 personality and his charisma . He was 55 00:02:17,566 --> 00:02:19,910 really a great guy to work with just 56 00:02:19,910 --> 00:02:22,077 his willingness and you know , and the 57 00:02:22,077 --> 00:02:24,132 and eagerness to get things done . I 58 00:02:24,132 --> 00:02:26,188 mean he was just impressive to watch 59 00:02:26,188 --> 00:02:28,243 and it was very fun to see . I think 60 00:02:28,243 --> 00:02:30,354 he's the right guy for that job and I 61 00:02:30,354 --> 00:02:32,577 was really proud to just see his name , 62 00:02:32,577 --> 00:02:31,930 you know , attached to the Thunderbird , 63 00:02:31,930 --> 00:02:34,220 especially as a commander . I'm sure 64 00:02:34,220 --> 00:02:35,950 he'll do phenomenal . 65 00:02:39,810 --> 00:02:41,866 My favorite maneuver that that we do 66 00:02:41,866 --> 00:02:43,977 with the team is the trail to diamond 67 00:02:43,977 --> 00:02:45,921 clover loop , which is where we're 68 00:02:45,921 --> 00:02:48,143 going to drop all four jets in front of 69 00:02:48,143 --> 00:02:50,366 you in a stack and then climb through a 70 00:02:50,366 --> 00:02:52,366 loop and then halfway up the loop , 71 00:02:52,366 --> 00:02:54,477 we're gonna explode into diamonds and 72 00:02:54,477 --> 00:02:53,730 then continue that loop and when we 73 00:02:53,730 --> 00:02:55,563 come back on the other side will 74 00:02:55,563 --> 00:02:57,674 actually twist 90 degrees and fly out 75 00:02:57,674 --> 00:02:59,786 the other way just before hitting the 76 00:02:59,786 --> 00:03:01,563 ground . Um , it's an extremely 77 00:03:01,563 --> 00:03:03,619 complicated maneuver in the way test 78 00:03:03,619 --> 00:03:05,674 pilot school made that significantly 79 00:03:05,674 --> 00:03:07,619 better for us is that it taught me 80 00:03:07,619 --> 00:03:09,841 openly flight controls , which is where 81 00:03:09,841 --> 00:03:12,008 you're gonna set a full field and hold 82 00:03:12,008 --> 00:03:13,841 that full field no matter what's 83 00:03:13,841 --> 00:03:16,174 happening with G through the turbulence , 84 00:03:16,174 --> 00:03:15,970 all that stuff , the wingman are gonna 85 00:03:15,980 --> 00:03:18,258 bounce with me as long as I don't move , 86 00:03:18,258 --> 00:03:20,480 but if I start putting in a closed loop 87 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:22,591 input um and going high gain on the G 88 00:03:22,591 --> 00:03:24,313 meter , then they're all gonna 89 00:03:24,313 --> 00:03:26,424 accordion and crash into me . So it's 90 00:03:26,424 --> 00:03:26,220 very important to use those open loop 91 00:03:26,220 --> 00:03:28,387 concepts when you're flying the demo . 92 00:03:31,010 --> 00:03:33,430 Have fun . You will appreciate being a 93 00:03:33,430 --> 00:03:35,820 graduate from test pilot school more 94 00:03:35,830 --> 00:03:38,052 every day that test pilot school passes 95 00:03:38,052 --> 00:03:40,163 And I mean that from the bottom of my 96 00:03:40,163 --> 00:03:42,274 heart , from the time I was brand new 97 00:03:42,274 --> 00:03:44,386 graduate test pilot school , I didn't 98 00:03:44,386 --> 00:03:46,497 really know what the future was gonna 99 00:03:46,497 --> 00:03:46,305 hold for me . Now . Looking back back 100 00:03:46,305 --> 00:03:48,416 at it eight years later , it has been 101 00:03:48,416 --> 00:03:50,583 better every year . I absolutely enjoy 102 00:03:50,583 --> 00:03:54,005 it . Um and the sky is not even the 103 00:03:54,005 --> 00:03:56,227 limit for test pilot school grads , you 104 00:03:56,227 --> 00:03:58,338 can , you can do it all so have fun , 105 00:03:58,338 --> 00:04:00,061 appreciate being back here and 106 00:04:00,061 --> 00:04:02,283 appreciate you guys coming to watch the 107 00:04:02,283 --> 00:04:01,265 team