Thunderbird Down

Wow!  One of the Blue Angels went down today too!

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/06/air_force_jet_crashes_thunderb.html

The Blue Angel pilot, Captain Kuss, is a native of my town. My prayers to his family.

A prayer to the Blue Angel.

Could it be their machines are now too old?

I watched a show on the Angels earlier this year and it was stated that the Hornets they are using are just about at the end of the lifespan of the aircraft.  Could have had something to do with the accident, if it was structural failure.  Too early to speculate.

The T-Bird looked to be salvagable in the shot that was on the news last night.  Mostly intact on it's belly in the dirt.

Every time there is an accident I think back to when the whole T-Bird team was lost several years ago.

The Blues are still flying the F-18 A and C models.  From what I've read they've rejected the move to the newer Super Hornets.  The older models are more nimble, weigh less and cost the Navy less.  It may also have to do with the overall state of the Navy.  The way the Navy is at the moment the Angels would only have 2 choices:  Move to the Super Hornet or wait for the F-35, and oh, by the way, both options would increase costs exponentially.  Tough position to be in.

I'm not sure how it is for the Air Force.  I thought they were using a more recent block of the F-16. 

I saw both groups this year.  The Thunderbirds at our local air show, and the Blues out at Mirimar.  My heart goes out to the family of the Blue Angels pilot.