Valdosta – The Thunderbirds arrived at Moody Air Force Base Thursday afternoon for the Thunder Over South Georgia Air and Space Expo this weekend.

While many of the Thunderbird pilots may be new to the area, Capt. Erik Gonsalves, who flies the No. 8 jet, was a pilot at Moody Air Force Base from Oct. 2013 to July 2016.

“My commander asked if I’d ever considered the Thunderbird mission,” Gonsalves said. “I didn’t realize as an A-10 pilot that I could fly with the Thunderbirds.”

He soon found himself visiting with the Thunderbirds and seeing not only what they do in the sky, but what they do within communities, and knew he wanted to be a part of it.

Gonsalves has now been flying with the Thunderbirds for a year, which is no simple feat. Thunderbird pilots travel 250 days a year and train twice a day, every day.

The Thunderbird team is comprised of 130 people, 60 of which travel to shows. Eight jets are brought to shows with six taking flight and two spares. The team flew in Thursday afternoon from Las Vegas, allowing Friday to be a practice day before the big show Saturday and Sunday.

While Gonsalves is excited for the show, as a Gainesville, Fla. native and Florida fan, he laughed that he was “torn” between the game and the air show.

The Thunder Over South Georgia Air and Space Expo will be Oct. 28-29 and is free to the public. Both days will begin at 9 a.m. and the Thunderbirds will take flight at 3 p.m.

The complete schedule can be found at http://www.moody.af.mil/Home/Air-and-Space-Expo/.