The Blue Angels now fly the FA-18 Hornet. They would really be something in the F-22, for sure.
Why the last? What’s changing?
I’ve never even heard of the Thunderbirds.
I saw the Blue Angels plenty of times, though, when I was a kid growing up in San Francisco. That shit was pretty spectacular.
Supplies. Fat Albert is pretty much the only plane using JATO anymore, but I think the bottles they use for it aren’t made anymore.
I got to see it at an airshow 2 years ago. Spectacular. I think that was the same airshow that had the Warthog doing tactical demos (awesome) and the best heritage flight I’ve ever seen.
This year they had a half dozen WWII era Japanese Zero replicas bombing the far runway. It was pretty sweet, but I hated the commentator. I dislike commentators in general, but this guy really took away from the spectacle of these planes swooping in again and again and again while charges went off all over.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLFB7q8tyd8 Nice video of Fat Albert using JATO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65VhEFS_DQw&feature=browch A complete performance by the Thunderbirds, for anybody who has an hour to spare.
http://pics.livejournal.com/slvrfire/pic/0002hz53 The best shot of the Blue Angels I got last time I saw them (holy cow, that’s CLOSE!). I don’t have a “best shot” of the Thunderbirds, probably because they’re so hard to photograph because they are faster and cooler than the Angels. 
Kidding, I just haven’t bothered uploading the memory card from the last show we went to.
I should have some decent video of the Harrier on there though, so I should probably get on that.
Part of my five year plan is to make it out to the RIAT.
Heh, this is cute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DFNa60i3x0 The Thunderbirds did something like that at the show I went to last month except the heart came out at the end of their Missing Man formation. It was way cool.
Anyway, I hope to see them someday.
I voted for the Angels. I am completely unbiased in every way. I swear.
Uh huh… 
I knew about the T-birds long before the Angels. Anchorage has a large AF base nearby and the T-birds often came to perform when I was growing up. Back then they flew F-100 Super Sabers. 
Someone once pointed out to me that Navy aviators never have to land in a crosswind either, and that their predeliction for landing planes on boats shows a lack of sense more than a surplus of skill.
Personally, I like the Thunderbirds more. So what if the Blue Angels have a cargo plane that now doesn’t do anything particularly noteworthy other than carry the spare parts and the mechanics? The Thunderbirds have the cooler paintjobs and the cooler planes.
At my first airshow I saw the Blue Angels in one of their last A-4 shows. The A-4 was such a cool plane for a demo team- it was like a hot rod. The F-18s are cool but they lack a certain je ne sais quoi that the A-4 had.
Anyway, several times when the Angels have come to town, I swear they have chosen my house as one of their ground markers. They meet up at the start of my street, get their formation set as they fly down the street, and immediately after flying over my house they turn back towards the airport. I sit on my roof and they fly right over my head. The Thunderbirds have dissed my house every time they have come, so screw them, I’m voting for the Angels.