After a Thunderbirds air show, the pilots get immediate gratification by greeting spectators and signing autographs. Now, with COVID-19, there is no more audience interaction, just social media appreciation.
The mission of the U. S. Air Force Thunderbirds is to recruit, retain and inspire. Lately, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the military recruiting and retaining parts are out the window, but inspiring is front-and-center when the air show team does its city flyovers. The recent exercise doesn’t provide the immediate feedback to the pilot that a normal air show does, but the social media after-effects are as rewarding, or so says Michael “Thorny” Brewer, a 36-year-old father of three who flies the Thunderbirds No. 3 F-16. Below, in edited excerpts from a longer phone conversation, Brewer discusses this topic and more.
Jim Clash: During a normal air show, do you get much feedback from the audience?
Michael Brewer: Before COVID-19 and all this broke out, after we fly the airshow we go into the crowd and sign autographs.
