The United States Air Force Thunderbirds are here in Rochester. The team arrived at the Greater Rochester International Airport Thursday afternoon.
In a preview demonstration, the Thunderbirds showed off their skills by flying low, close together and turning upside down - as they arrived at the airport.
"It's incredible,” says Major Joshua Bordeaux, who has been flying with the Thunderbirds for a year now. It really is. Flying this aircrafts here it goes to speeds of access to 1,400 miles per hour, if you want to get it up that fast."
The F-16 fighter jets are the same that are used in combat. The Thunderbird team travels the globe performing air acrobatics in up to 65 cities from March to November.
"And demonstrating air power and the precision that it takes to maintain and fly these aircrafts,” Bordeaux says. “We connect ourselves with the American people. We tell them our stories, our mission and it's just a way to communicate both through our people and our performance of what the air force is all about."
The airshow is Saturday, August 16 and Sunday, August 17. It includes military and civilian exhibits with the Thunderbirds as the main feature.
The event pours millions of dollars into the local economy.
The Thunderbirds were last in Rochester in 2011, when they drew crowds of more than 75,000 people.