Between the 1956 and 1963 show seasons the United States Air Force Precision Flight Demonstration Team, otherwise known as The Thunderbirds, flew North American F-100C Super Sabres. Their F-100Cs made them the world’s first supersonic flight demonstration team. The Air Force, with an eye toward positive publicity for the service, made a film about the team and their first supersonic mounts in 1958. The Thunderbirds even produced a sonic boom or two (just for demonstration purposes of course) during their performances until the FAA banned supersonic flight over the continental United States. Thanks a bunch FAA! The film is awesome in that late-1950s kind of cool way.
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The Thunderbirds flew the Republic F-105B Thunderchief beginning in 1964, but after only six performances the Thud was deemed unsafe due to an accident that occurred at Hamilton Air Force Base (AFB) in California. Captain Eugene Devlin was killed when his Thud broke up in midair during a pitch-up maneuver prior to landing on May 9th 1964. The Thunderbirds went back to flying the F-100, albeit the D variant, for another four years until they began flying the McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II in 1969. Thanks to YouTuber Classic Airliners & Vintage Pop Culture for uploading this period film about the Team and their aircraft.
Got this straight from the horse’s mouth, retired Brig Gen Paul Kauttu, Thunderbirds Leader at the time of the F-105 mishap. Accident investigation revealed a structural problem with F-105 and the entire fleet was grounded. Since all the pilots were qualified to fly the F-100D and wanted to get the team back on the road quickly, decision was made to transition to the Super Sabre.