Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds Dives Into the Intense Ups and Downs of Life As a High-Skilled Pilot

Time​ Magazine

24-05-2025

On May 23, a documentary about elite Air Force pilots will take flight.
Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds on Netflix profiles some of the most skilled combat pilots in the U.S. Air Force as they train for high-speed aviation demonstrations nationwide that are designed to promote a positive image of the military branch. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are Executive Producers of the doc.
More than 135 people comprise the Thunderbird team, and they take part in 65-75 shows over 210 days per year. Interest is soaring; applications to join the team have tripled since 2020.
While the Air Force would obviously love it if people saw these air shows and decided to sign up, the Thunderbirds featured in the doc believe the goal of the shows is to inspire people to reach new heights in any aspect of their lives.
'I always thought that if you could shape this team right, you would create a culture that inspires everyone in this country and beyond to do extraordinary things for the right reasons,' Lieutenant Colonel Justin 'Astro' Elliott, the boss of the Thunderbirds, says in the doc.
Filmmakers embedded with the 2023 Thunderbirds team, following them from training in the Nevada desert to shows across the country. Here's a look at the life lessons the Thunderbirds have learned from their work that can apply to any job or life stage.
How a Thunderbird pilot explains his job to his family
In the doc, Elliott, known as 'Thunderbird 1' to his crew, has 60 days to prepare his team for 62 air shows—what he calls '45 minutes of total chaos.'
Elliott always wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up. But midway through the application process, he got asked to be the boss of the Thunderbirds and felt like he couldn't pass up such a great opportunity.
In addition to shadowing him on the job, filmmakers got to follow Elliott at home with his two young boys, Declan and Revan. One day, while seeing him off to work, his wife Victoria gives her husband a big hug and says 'don't die.' That's her number one rule for him. The work is risky, but Elliott says, 'It's important for our kids to see us set objectives and go after things in the name of service to something bigger than ourselves.'
What keeps Thunderbird pilots going
Thunderbird Eric 'Miami' Tise talks about the need for speed.
'We're always under a little bit of the 'I'm gonna die' factor, but that keeps your adrenaline running and really focused,' Tise explains. Even ejecting from the aircraft can be dangerous and traumatic. Tise lost an inch of height after ejecting from a plane one time. His muscles shrunk after the ejections, and will calcify, leading to muscle knotting in his back.
Some of the Thunderbird pilots flying high had to overcome serious obstacles on the ground.
Zachary 'Zeke' Taylor opens up about his father, who was addicted to drugs. He recalls being a freshman in high school watching his dad get checked into rehab on Christmas Day. That's when Zeke says he realized, 'I do not want this for myself.'
His grandfather stepped in as a father figure and told him that every time he flies, he should look out towards the right wing of the plane, and he'll be there flying beside him in spirit. Taylor chokes up as he recalls that memory and says from now on, 'Every time I climb up the ladder, I look out on my right wing and say, 'Hey, grandpa, hang on. It's gonna be a hell of a ride.''
As Zeke greets young children who have come to see an air show, he can be heard saying, 'I'm a trailer park kid from Florida…You can overcome anything in life, and I'm just living proof of that.'
Why a fallen Thunderbird's mom has no regrets
The dangers of flying such complex formations are top of mind for crew members. They are haunted by a 1982 crash, in which four planes nosedived into the ground at a speed of about 400 miles per hour, killing the pilots onboard.
The doc features moving interviews with the parents of Stephen 'Cajun' Del Bagno, who died in 2018 in the last fatal accident involving a Thunderbird pilot. The 34-year-old crashed during a routine training flight after losing consciousness in the cockpit.
His parents say in the film that he always wanted to be a pilot. Even his first word was airplane. His dad Joe plays golf with his son's clubs, just so he can feel like he's playing with him.
Del Bagno's parents say they wholeheartedly supported Cajun's dangerous job because they knew he was living his dream, arguing that taking risks is just a part of life. As Cajun's mother Cindy says, 'If you're afraid to put yourself out there, to take risks in life, you're going to end up doing nothing.'