# U.S. AIR FORCE THUNDERBIRDS HISTORIC FILM 1953-1969 23754

Made by McDonnell Douglas, this historic U.S. Air Force film shows the first flight of the Thunderbirds in 1953, just six years after the formation of the USAF, to the advent of the F-4 in 1969. In between it shows various iterations of the stunt team. This includes spectacular footage of the F-84 to the swept-wing F-84, to the North American F-100, to the Republic F-105 and finally the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom. After six months training in an unofficial status, the Thunderbirds were activated on 25 May 1953 as the 3600th Air Demonstration Team at Luke AFB, just west of Phoenix. The team had flown 26 shows by that August. The first team leader was Major Richard C. Catledge (1953–1954), and the first plane used by the unit was the straight-wing F-84G Thunderjet. Because the Thunderjet was a single-seat fighter, a two-seat T-33 Shooting Star served as the narrator's aircraft and was used as the VIP/Press ride aircraft. The T-33 served with the Thunderbirds in this capacity in the 1950s and 1960s. The next year the Thunderbirds performed their first overseas air shows, in a tour of South and Central America, and added a permanent solo routine to the demonstration. In the spring of 1955, under their second commander/leader (September 1954 – February 1957), Captain Jacksel M. Broughton,\[ they moved to the swept-wing F-84F Thunderstreak aircraft, in which they performed 91 air shows, and received their first assigned support aircraft, a C-119 Flying Boxcar. The Thunderbirds'…

- Kind: Film
- Genres: Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/23754ThunderbirdHistory)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/23754ThunderbirdHistory?play=1)