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HILL AIR FORCE BASE — The Air Force Thunderbirds touched down on Thursday and are preparing for this weekend's Warriors Over the Wasatch air show.
The show is a loud spectacle and hard to reproduce in video form. Major Eric Tice says to really get the best experience, you have to be in the crowd.
"I love it. You know. It's definitely a rush flying upside down," Tice said.
Tice, also known as "Miami," is the lead solo of the Air Force Thunderbirds and flies No. 5. The group performs about 40 shows a year, and he says he never tires of it.
"Never, no. We love doing it. We love meeting new people every weekend. We practice three times a day, six times a week," he said.
These six pilots are a well-oiled machine, thanks in large part to the remaining 129 Thunderbirds.
"You'll see during our show, like, we don't move our head, we don't look at any of the switches. And that's all due to our maintainers," Tice said. "They sweat, they set the switches prior, and we have full and total trust in them."
Thanks to some meticulous groundwork, it's a seemingly flawless show to the crowd. The men and women doing that work represent about 700,000 people who make up the Air Force.
Tice hopes their combined efforts will inspire future generations.
"To get to see kids' faces. And when they tell us they want to fly, it's pretty awesome," Tice said.
It is not only to show young people they can fly but to help them see they can be a part of something pretty important.
"If we can inspire just one person, you know, to dedicate their life to something bigger than themselves, whatever that is for the military, whatever it is, that's our job," Tice said.
Because of his group, teamwork makes this stuff possible by giving the community a look inside what they do.
"You know, I love it so much. So it's a blast," he said.
The show is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. Tickets for bleacher seating can still be purchased online, and children age 5 and under attend for free.
