The smile on Mike Chandler’s face is genuine. It goes from ear-to-ear, and his face just lights up. Like a Dad talking about his kid’s little league game, he’s beaming.

Let’s face it. We’re all airplane nuts.  We love this stuff. How many of us get to live our dreams, or even beyond them… that’s where “Chanz” finds himself now. As a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, 17 years after graduating from the Academy, he says this is the best job of all. He’s the new commander of the Thunderbirds.

In his dark blue flight suit, with the number 1 on the left chest, this native of Cedar Falls, Iowa is getting settled into the new job, even though the official change of command ceremony takes place in January. He’s being joined by a new #3 and #6 pilot, half the team, as usual, and they’re flying pretty much every day, getting accustomed to flying within inches of one another. “The serious formation work will start next month” he says, “right now, we’re learning the routines in single and two-ship flights”.

The ’04 season schedule also has some highlights. LtCol. Chandler tells ANN: “We’re flying San Diego for the first time…and doing the show over water, that’s a plus! Janesville, Wisconsin, a show we had to cancel this year, is rescheduled for 2004, and Cold Lake, Alberta. It’s their 50th Anniversary, and we’ve never been there.” There’s also a five-week box for a trip to Japan and Korea, the entire month of September, starting after Labor Day weekend. There’s also a weekend off set for early August.

In terms of proximity, team fans will see them joined by the Snowbirds in Redding, California, on October 9-10, and have only a couple of short trips to see Blue Angels and Thunderbirds on the same weekends, like 15-16 May, when The Blue Angels are at Andrews AFB and the ‘Birds are two hours away at Dover AFB. And at the start of the season, 3-4 April the Thunderbirds are at Eglin AFB and the ‘Blues are at MacDill AFB. That’s more like a 5 hour trip. On 8-9 May, that will find the Blue Angels at NAS Atlanta (the old Dobbins AFB) and straight down I-75 to Vidalia, Georgia, the Snowbirds, and another hour south from there, the Thunderbirds at Lake City, Florida (Where I-75 and I-10 cross, west of Jacksonville). Can you say “road trip”?

Like everything, the schedule isn’t written in stone, but airshow fans can start making their plans now.

FMI: www.af.mil/thunderbirds