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Air Force Thunderbirds inspect Offutt AFB

Posted at 12:05 AM, Feb 11, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-11 11:10:04-05

They're one of the world's most famous aerobatic teams and this summer they'll show off their precision flying skills at Offutt Air Force Base.

But the Air Force Thunderbirds came to Offutt AFB on Wednesday to give it a pre-flight look over.

This will be the Thunderbirds first appearance at Offutt in over 6 years.

They usually come months in advance of a show to inspect the facility including the runways for safety reasons.

"We look at concrete, this F16 has over 30-thousand pounds of thrust that it puts out, and you can see how close it sits to the ground so it ingests anything that is sitting loose from the ground," said Major Scott Petz.

Cracks and divits on this runway have been a concern but Offutt officials say there's nothing to worry about for this show.

The Air Force Thunderbirds are a squadron of 8 highly skilled pilots, four supporting officers, four civilians and more than 100 enlisted personnel performing about 30 different job specialties. They perform about 40 formations flying and solo maneuvers in a demonstration.

"It's great to have the community come on the base to see what the taxpayer dollars go to and what we actually do and the airmen do day to day out there," said Sgt. Hunter Horste.

Laurie and Chip Stuart are from Papillion and came to Offutt AFB to watch their nephew who was one of the F-16 pilots.

"We were hoping that they would get to Omaha this year and be able to fly," said Laurie Stuart.

"You never get the chance to see one of your relatives do something like this we're looking forward to it," said Chip Stewart.

The two of them have been to Thunderbird shows before but never with their nephew in the cockpit of a F-16.

"A kid from a small town in South Dakota to make it to the top--it's just unbelievable," said Laurie.

Petz said this will be a nice homecoming for his family, the closest show this year, "It's awesome and you're going to see the whole Petz clan come out here from North Dakota and South Dakota. Be ready we are an exciting group".

The Stuarts said they've been warned by several family members that their house will be packed for the show which is July 30th and 31st at Offutt Air Force Base.

It's free and open to the public, officials expect a large turnout-`150,000 people.