- This is gonna be one of those moments
that you look back on your career
and it's somethin' that's really exciting
and somethin' you'll definitely remember,
tell your kids and your grandkids about.
- This is a sortive year for sure, for me.
To get to be a part of this experience,
for you guys to cover it in this manner,
absolutely just fantastic and a career high
for me at this point.
- It was a professional experience
through and through and something
I never expected to do again in my life.
- I got a phone call from
Lieutenant Colonel Cook,
askin' about a specific aircraft that we had
in our fleet out here,
and he asked me if we had it,
and we do, we got aircraft 177,
which was the aircraft that he flew while he was
a member of the Thunderbirds in the early '80s.
- I flew with the Thunderbirds from '79 to '82,
and the T-38s.
Colonel McCurdy contacted me and said there was
some interest in getting to fly,
which was...
not even believable almost to me because,
when you're a fighter pilot, the only place
you can fly a fighter airplane is the military.
And we you step out of your airplane
for the last time, you think,
"I'll never do this again."
- The 70th Anniversary, you know,
and that's a big thing for us,
it's celebratin' the history
of the United States Air Force, so,
we're looking for opportunities to capitalize on
historical events and historical things,
that we can push out to the public
to tell our story, which is ultimately
what air shows are all about.
- For 35 years,
I haven't, hadn't seen it and now to fly in it,
is unbelievable.
(majestic orchestral music)
- The flight today with Dale Cook was
a dream come true for me.
You know our job in the Thunderbirds
is to inspire.
Inspire the next generation of airmen.
And I'm that next generation
of airmen to Dale, right?
So to bring this kinda full circle and
now have the current slot pilot flying with Dale,
was incredible and extremely meaningful for me.
- It's just, I mean it's an
unbelievable experience, it just puts you
on this high you can't really even believe.
And then today to go out and, and get in,
the Slot Machine one more time, god!
- The Air Force's 70th Anniversary
breakin' barriers,
Dale is breakin' barriers, the fact that
he can still do somethin' like that,
and then the fact that we get to honor, you know,
the legacy of the Thunderbirds
that have come before us.
- It's a dream.
And it's something, that no fighter pilot ever
expects to do this,
particularly after 30 some years,
to get to go do that,
and I'm just grateful beyond words.