FSX Skyblazers

Hello,

My name is Chris and I am a 24 year old graduate student and FSX enthusiast. I have been working on the formation of a new FSX demo team, the Skyblazers. As many of you know, the Skyblazers were a USAFE team from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. The USAF Thunderbirds were formed by two brothers who flew on the USAFE Skyblazers in the early 1950s. I have chosen to reproduce the 1955-1956 air show season in which the team used the F-86 as their mount. We will use the freeware F-86 produced by SectionF8, and the "selectware" Skyblazer paint scheme created by Garry Smith and available at GJsmith.net.

I am interested in creating a team of professionals. The Skyblazer routine is not particularly difficult, so I am more interested in people of good character than I am in highly proficient formation flyers. My philosophy is that we need a team of dependable, open, and eager pilots, and that the formation skills can be developed in practice. If you feel that you are a real Hunter/Killer then please visit the website at http://fsxskyblazers.webs.com/ and apply.

Best,

Chris
FSX Skyblazer-01

FSX Skyblazers, This looks real nice guys. Welcome to the formation community and I hope you guys become a successful team on Flight Simulator. Remember if you have the desire to have a great team and everyone in the group has the heart for it, you will succeed.

Foxy,

Thanks for the good wishes. I'd really like to see this team get off the ground, I think the Skyblazers are long over-due for representation in the virtual world. My father flew #3 on the Skyblazers back in the late 1950s, so creating this team is something i've wanted to do for a while. I had the good fortune to grow up going to Skyblazer and Thunderbird reunions at Nellis and that left a good imprint on me. I think the team you fly for is doing some great things, and I can't thank you enough for the forums you have up to connect those of us interested in formation flying.

Best,

Chris
FSX Skyblazer-01

Here is an example of our f-86 in Skyblazer colors. The model is by SectionF8, the paint is by Garry Smith at GJSmith.net. Check us out at FSXSkyblazers.webs.com

looks good. i would like to tryout. i applied already so let me noe what i have to do to join

Hello All,

I've been working on the team now for about a week, and I think it's really coming together. I can't thank the FSX Thunderbirds enough for all of their support on this project. Interest in the team was initially low, but thanks to the FSXTB Forums and some gamespy sessions, the applications are starting to pour in. I've been busy making sure everyone can get access to the aircraft and the wonderful paint job by Garry Smith. I've also been leading formation cross countries in the FSX Skyblazer session and flying aerobatics with some very talented people. No position is completely solidified, and we are still looking for 2-3 pilots, so please don't hesitate to apply. Formation flying skill is not a requirement, but interest and a willingness to learn is. If you check out the website at FsxSkyblazers.webs.com you can see some new photos of our F-86 in a 2-ship formation during a recent session. If you have any questions, you can contact me through the FSX Skyblazer website, or send me a PM here on the TB forums. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer.

Best,

yehp skyblazers is on there way lol

Good Luck To You Guys

Viper,

Thanks for the encouragment. Things are really rolling along. The website is progressing, we now have forums and we hope that postings there will generate more interest in the team. Our sessions are also attracting pilots who have either been searching for a Skyblazer team, or who want to learn who the Skyblazers are. I keep getting applications, and now I'm sorting through all the ones I have, as well as those that roll in. I'm on the look out for good and mature people to fill our ranks. I think there is some pressure to get a team up and flying soon, but I think patience will win out. This is not a grab-bag team, and I want all of our pilots to be high-caliber people, not just good formation flyers. I want to go ahead and publicly thank the pilots and crew of the FSX Thunderbirds, the Blue Eagles, and the Flying Dukes for their help and encouragement as we get off the ground.

Check Six,

Best of luck to you guys. The road to a successful team is a hard one. But its always good to make friends with other teams to have a little support.

good luck and hope to see your full team in flight. i think you guyys will become very sucessful

there aircraft and the colors look almost like the geico skytypers

Mark of FSX,

Thanks for the post, I was not familiar with the Geico Skytypers, it looks like those guys have a lot of fun. The markings on the fuselage are rather similar. The colorful stripes running diagonally along the fuselage originated on D-day during WWII. They were to distinguish allied aircraft from German planes. During the first deployment of F-86 Sabres to Korea, a veteran pilot from D-Day recommended placing black and while stripes across the Sabre fuselage in order to distinguish the Sabre from the Mig-15. Later in the war, the commander of a fighter-intercept squadron decided to paint his aircraft with a broad yellow stripe. The iconic yellow stripe caught on with the other squadrons, and most adopted it or some variation. As the pilot's returned home, state-side squadron's began to adopt the motif. I suspect that the Skyblazers, who adopted the F-86 in 1953 were paying homage to those markings from Korea. I also suspect that the Geico Skytypers might be doing the same. By 1956, with the transition to F-100s, the Skyblazers ceased to use the diagonal stripes.

Check Six,

beautiful plane!

Hey Everyone,

I just thought I would post another update. We have our slot pilot and right-wing pilot solidified. I will be flying the lead. We still need a left wingman and a solo. We are also interested in a narrator. The narrator is a critical position, but it will still be a flying position. While the narrator will be on the ground during air shows, he will fly our "spare aircraft" to and from air shows in formation with the rest of the team.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Best,

Chris

Awesome! Cant wait to see you boys in action!

Just wanted to let folks know that we have the Diamond together..... and that we won't have a solo. I was able to speak with a pilot who flew with the Skyblazers in 1956 this week. He was a great help in getting us information on the Skyblazers. Bud, who flew left-wing (and told me he was the best Left Wingman in the world) remembered the routine in extreme detail, he knew entry altitudes and airspeeds, the flight-path across the field, the details of maneuvers, and the airshows they flew. He also told me some good stories about trying to out-drink Russian and Norwegian pilots at international airshows. We've got some big shoes to fill here on FSX. We'll do our part to recreate that "devil-may-care" atmosphere of formation flying in Europe. Now let's see some of you other guys put together some historic European teams. I'd love to see 22 black Hawker Hunters doing a formation loop, or a French, or Italian, or Norwegian, or Belgian team tearing up the International show at Oslo or Paris. Let's go get them!

Check Six,

Chris

I would like to see you all soon when you think your display is looking good. This would be a great way to share ideas as well to see what it looks like from the ground. Keep up the training and hopefully we can see you all in October.