The "Thunder Tigers" are the Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force
aerobatic display team flying seven AT-3 Tz-Chiang jet aircraft. Their
planes are painted in white, blue and red colors and use similar color
smoke generators. All the team's pilots are drawn from the Air Force
Academy in Tianan where the team is also based.
History
The aerobatic display team of Republic of China Air Force
(ROCAF) in Taiwan was first formed in 1953 in Tianan Air Base, under the
name "Thunder Tigers Technical Flying Corps". On August 14, 1954, they
performed their first public display at the Air Force Celebration Day,
flying with four F-84G Thunderbird aircraft (this was the type's name in
Taiwanese).
On 6 June 1956, they received the title of "Flight Technical
Corps of China Air Force Thunder Tigers" and one year later began to
fly with nine formation aircraft.
The foreign debut of the team was on 15 December
1957 during the Phillippines International Air Show at Manila Airport,
when Thunder Tigers were one of the show highlights.
In 1959, Thunder Tigers began to fly with 11 F-86 "Daggers"
(Taiwanese name). Later in April the team was invited to World Congress
of Flight at Nellis AFB, USA, where Thunder Tigers pilots flew nine
F-86F Sabres borrowed from USAF Williams AFB, AZ. The borrowed Sabre
aircraft were painted in Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force marks. In
USA the team performed another three demonstrations.
In 1967, the team converted to F-5A Freedom Fighters. These
were then replaced in 1975 with F-5E "Chung Cheng" (Taiwanese name)
fighters.
On November 1, 1988, the "Thunder Tigers" transitioned to
the new Taiwanese-built AT-3 jet training plane. At this time, the
pilots of the team were drawn from instructors of the Air Force Academy
in Tianan. Initially they flew just six planes, but the following year
the team increased to its present count of seven aircraft. The "Thunder
Tigers" then received their current paint scheme in white, blue and red
colors and begin to use similar colors for the smoke generators.
On June 27, 1997, during four-ship barrel roll on a training
flight at Kang Shan Air Base, the leader of the team crashed and died.
