Thunder 1

HCBR "I've waited 25 years for this!"

I've been playing flight sims since the very earliest days of PC sims and as an avid airshow fan, I've been enthralled by real life aerobatic display teams since my childhood. All I ever wanted to do was to recreate the excitement and spectacle of a formation display team on my sim.

I fly in VR and when the guys tuck in close behind me in it feels so real. There's absolutely nothing better than to work up a display with the guys, perform it live on stream - anywhere in the world.

In real life I'm a bit of a speed deamon and I love anything that goes fast and pulls G so when the MB-339 came out for MSFS I just had to have it. It's a beautifully put together model and it perfectly meets our needs as a display team - if only we had smoke.

I was with Hammy, Frozen, Epic and TestPilot in the very first days of the Thunderflys and it's been a real white knuckle ride as we've learned to do more and more manoeuvres with more and more pilots, all we need now is smoke (did I mention that before?).

As leader, everybody else flies below me. When we fly very low, say before a break, it's not unusual to hear cries of "H!!! Pylon!!!" or "H!!! Tree!!!". I have been charged with the murder of countless virtual squirrels and the occasional hippo. I once led the entire formation inadvertently into the side of a hospital and for some reason the guys won't let me forget it.

Being leader of the Thunderflys has been such a rush and we have so many more exciting things planned. I never thought this would happen but I'm so pleased it has.

Thank you to TwoToneMurphy who has made all this possible. Thank you to the guys who practice 5-6 hours almost every night. And a huge thank you to all the Fireflies who have given us such amazing support right from day one.

Thunder 2

DannisG "Silent but friendly"

I have just about zero experience with GA aviation in real life. It’s limited to a couple of visits to an aviation museum and a ride in a moving simulator when I was a child. At one point I wanted to get into gliders but with no opportunities anywhere close to home and the fact that I had no money kept it well out of my reach (I mean, who knew you needed money to own and operate an airplane?!?). But my interest in everything with buttons has always brought me back to aviation, motorsports, science and especially computers.

My first experience with sims was Flight Simulator 95... or maybe it was 98… not sure, but to be fair, it’s been a while. I have tried different flight and racing sims on and off since, but nothing got me hooked like MSFS 2020 did. As soon as Microsoft announced it I started to annoy friends and family with how good it looked but always saying that it probably wouldn’t look half as good when it got released. I am really happy to be proven wrong.

One day I was browsing through twitch for someone to fly along with and came across this funny Irish dude who was planning a big group flight with three other streamers for the release of the Spitfire for MSFS. I immediately thought  “I want in on this!”. I joined in and soon realized that I felt at home in the twotonemurphy community and have flown along with the streams ever since. The community is truly one of the greatest, friendliest and most welcoming online communities I have ever seen.

When Murph announced that they were having a “Fly Along with the Thunderflys" event I thought that I really wanted to, but didn’t know if I dared to, join the voice chat. So when the day came I figured it was now or never and jumped in without knowing what to say or do. The guys were great and it really got me hooked on formation flying.

Group flights with GA makes MSFS really fun and being able to fly along with the Thunderflys has taken this to a whole new level. I never thought I would actually be a part of the team! Huge thanks to the guys for letting me in on the fun!

Thunder 3

fr0Zen7 "We need smoke!!"

I was introduced to aviation quite early in life and I've always been interested in aerobatics. My grandfather was an aircraft mechanic for the military and he took me to many airshows around Europe.

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I have a few GA flight hours and was planning on becoming a glider pilot...I spent a lot of time on the airport and in the workshop but then, covid changed everything.

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I have been a Radio Controlled Aircraft pilot for 15 years, 9 years of which have been aerobatics to competition level. The training is repetitive but I learned so much! I have designed and built my own RC planes and my latest project is the A400M.

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I used to fly on FSX but MSFS 2020 has given me so many more opportunities and now I fly almost daily. Other sims I have used are FS2004, DCS and Aerofly FS(2). My first ever flight sim was FS 98 which I started using in 2001. 

Aerofly FS is awesome for aerobatics...no multiplayer but I still use it for aerobatics practise. In total I have about 2500h of overall flight sim experience.

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In late October 2020, I started following Murphy and practised some formation flying. I remember the names HCBR 1100 and WARHAMSTER01 always flying in close formation.

During Murph's "India Special" HCBR 1100 parked next to me in the MB-339 and we started flying together. Testpilot72 and Epicfool joined us in the air. Afterwards I received a message from HCBR 1100 on Discord and we began flying in formation regularly. This was the beginning of the Thunderflys.

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Now (May 2021) our team has over 350h of formation practice in MSFS 2020 and more than nine active members. Nine is a really significant membership because most of the display teams around the world display with 9 pilots and it means we can try to emulate some of their moves. Considering the MSFS server issues and the "simulated horror", it feels as though we have progressed really fast.

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I'm so glad to be part of Murphy's community, which unites great people and made the Thunderflys possible. (Thank you Murph :D) 

Thunder 4

Mesonic "I'm not going to lie, this is so much fun!"

I love all things aviation and have a keen interest in aerobatics; I am planning on getting my licences and doing both powered and unpowered fixed wing aerobatics in the future.  I have done gliding in the past and started working towards my PPL but unfortunately have had to put it on hold for now, but looking forward to getting back in the sky in the future.  I also very much enjoy the challenge of helicopters and have many virtual hours in them, but none in the real world... yet.

I have flown nearly all sims that are out there starting with FS2004 and ranging from Aerofly/Xplane/IL2 etc.; most of my time is in DCS, but MSFS is very quickly catching up!  Before joining the Thunderflys my formation experience was limited to straight and level with an AI on DCS, but with no-one to fly with, I never got to develop my skills further... until now!  I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be part of an aerobatic display team, but with persistence and practice, the sky is literally the limit - If I can do it, anyone can.

It's an absolute pleasure flying, learning and improving with the ThunderFlys.  Seeing all the overwhelming comments from the wider community is so heartwarming, and makes me so proud to be a part of the community.  Thank you to TwoToneMurphy, the Fireflys and of course the rest of the ThunderFlys for all the support, and for making it all possible.

When not flying, you can usually find me tearing up the streets on my motorbike (legally of course!) or attempting to play guitar - emphasis on 'attempting'.

Thunder 5

SkyDiveMann

My first flight sim experience was with FS2004 A Century of Flight and since then one common theme is flying in formation and stick and rudder flying however it is only really with MSFS that group flying has taken off. <