Ambassadors in Blue is a short 1971 film on the U.S. Air Force’s Thunderbirds. Presented by the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, the film features the aerobatics of the F-4E Phantom IIs at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and is set to the jazz music of the Air Force’s Academy Band, The Falconaires. The film opens with shots of the Phantom IIs taking off, flying through the sky, and being serviced. The film shows some of the various tasks performed by the U.S. Air Force outside of combat operations, including members of the Air Force evacuating a wounded person (00:50) and the Thunderbirds signing autographs (01:21). The Phantom IIs taxi at Nellis Air Force Base. Lt. Col. Thomas Swalm, commander of the Thunderbirds, speaks to the camera about the role of the demotion squadron (03:20). Men clean and maintain the Phantom IIs at Nellis. A truck tows a jet from a hanger (04:42). Viewers are taken through the halls of the building with a good tracking shot that ends in a briefing room with the Thunderbird pilots (05:41). The Thunderbirds start up the Phantom IIs and start taxiing on the runway (07:08). The film overlays several screens to show concurrent shots of the planes performing aerobatics from various points of view, including the nose, the tail, and the wing of a plane. Four jets fly together performing aerial maneuvers as bystanders at the base watch, including an eight-point roll. A fifth Phantom II joins the group. One Thunderbird hugs the ground flying just above the earth. The Thunderbirds fly wing-to-wing (11:35), and then they break off. There are shots of the individual planes doing their own maneuvers, including inverted flight (12:55). Thomas Swalm and other pilots sign autographs for the bystanders (13:20). The film concludes with the Thunderbirds flying more aerobatics.
The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron (“Thunderbirds”) is the air demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force (USAF). The Thunderbirds are assigned to the 57th Wing, and are based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Created 66 years ago in 1953, the USAF Thunderbirds are the third-oldest formal flying aerobatic team (under the same name) in the world, after the United States Navy Blue Angels formed in 1946 and the French Air Force Patrouille de France formed in 1931.
The Thunderbirds Squadron tours the United States and much of the world, performing aerobatic formation and solo flying in specially marked aircraft. The squadron’s name is taken from the legendary creature that appears in the mythologies of several indigenous North American cultures.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
