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The beautiful Thunderbirds flying cross county in their North American F-100D Super Sabre aircraft. The first time I saw the Thunderbirds was at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico at a summer airshow at the bases open house. I was used to seeing F-100's flying over my home town, Portales, New Mexico but I had never seen them in their beautiful red, white and blue markings painted on beautiful polished aluminum. When they took off thunder rocked me and then they disappeared. It was quite for several minutes and you could hear a Santa Fe train in the distance. The Thunderbird Narrator was talking to the crowd about the history of the team and the different aircraft they had flown since their beginning in 1953. Just when I was wondering if they were actually coming back the announcer said "ladies and gentlemen, your United States Air Force Thunderbirds". And just like that they came over the crowd from the rear, very low and line abreast, and it was a beautiful shock and awesome opening to the next thirty minutes of the air show. It was a beautiful New Mexico day with a deep blue sky, and the aircraft and their performance  was highlighted with the sun bouncing off the polished aluminum and the red, white and blue markings.  I was completely astounded with the whole show and to this day have been an avid Thunderbird fan. 

Over the years the team has flown newer aircraft and although  they have been the same wonderful team, I'll always remember them best in the Super Sabre.