June Image: Thunderbirds Fly Abilene Show After Skipping Fort Worth Stop

After a 33-year streak, the Thunderbirds skipped Fort Worth — but our creative director captured their high-speed magic during a rare “low show” in Abilene.

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For the first time in 33 years, neither the Thunderbirds nor Blue Angels, the air demonstration teams for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy, respectively, included Fort Worth on their annual tour of cities with large airstrips. A major bummer, to say the least. But as a slight consolation, the Thunderbirds did perform at an airshow in nearby Abilene at Dyess Air Force Base on April 19-20. Fort Worth Magazine’s creative director, Craig Sylva, made the two-hour trek out west with his family and captured the above image. Flying a “low show” due to overcast skies, the photo shows the No. 5 (lead solo) and No. 6 (opposing solo) F-16 fighter jets performing a maneuver known as the Inverted Pass. The No. 6 pilot (who’s not inverted in this picture) is Maj. Laney Schol of Columbus, Texas, the seventh female pilot to fly with the team.