Training Material

(Formation Flying (ver 1.0)

Introduction
Formation flying, it’s not all fun and games, and for the most part, can be quite a challenge. To fly in
well in a formation takes a great deal of trust in yourself and your wingmen, both of which will grow
with practice. This is not something you can learn in an afternoon and requires you to gradually get
better at judging speed and distance between the aircraft in your flight as well as communicating
efficiently with the other people in your flight.

Pre-Flight
The checks for Pre-Flight will be sorted out on the ground by your flight lead, you need to be aware of
these few things to make sure you know what you are doing before you go wheels up.

1) Flight positions (ie. lead, 1, 2, 3, 4),

2) Weather,

3) Airspeed/throttle,

4) Heading,

5) Altitude,

6) Formation type.

Most of the time we have plenty of space between us so it's not an issue, but as we get closer
together in flight this information becomes more important. One of the best ways is to just go out and
practice with each other taking turns at lead and wingmen. Also don’t stick to one position in a flight,
you will need to practice all positions so that you know what your wingmen are doing and so you can
fill that position if matters came to that.

Take-Off
The basic element of formation flying is "Flights of Two". It doesn't matter if there are twenty of us; we
always have a lead and a wingman. So when taxing out to the runway, we should take off in flights of
two.

The best technique is to have lead line up in front on the downwind side of the runway with his
wingman on his left or right slightly back. This way his prop wash gets blown away from his wingman
on take-off row, most runways are wide enough to provide the needed separation in case lead had to
abort for some reason and the wingman could continue his take off or abort also.

The next two aircraft don't begin their take-off roll until the first two have cleared the runway and
started a climb. On climb-out, lead shouldn't run off and leave everyone. The basic technique is to
reduce power and maintain an airspeed that allows the other flights of two aircraft to catch up.

Once the designated formation is achieved and all aircraft are airborne then it’s time to head out for
the mission objective.
Formations and Their Uses
Now we are up and ready to move out, but which formation is good to use? How do I know (as a flight
lead) which one to choose? Below is a list of the various formations that you may use with
explanations of their uses.

Echelon Formation
An echelon formation is a military formation in which members are
arranged diagonally. Each member is stationed behind and to the
right (a 'right echelon'), or behind and to the left ('left echelon'), of
the member ahead. Tactically, echelon formations are used
because of the excellent range of vision offered to each
participant in the formation.

V Formation
Visual contact is why V formations (and the echelon formations)
are also commonly adopted by flights of military aircraft engaged
on a common mission. The basic flight formation for military
aircraft in many air forces during World War II was a V formation

Line Abreast
This formation is an aggressive offensive formation that
is oriented to easily attack any enemies in front of the
line. This formation is also a good search formation,
especially with large numbers and wide spacing
between each pilot. Care should be taken to ensure the
spacing does not leave individual pilots unsupported.
Those pilots on either end should pay extra attention to their spacing as they only have support from
one side. Defensively this formation leaves a lot to be desired. Attacks from the rear cannot be
countered without making major turns
Line Astern
This formation is good for moving a formation between ground threats. The lead pilot picks a
path to reduce exposure to AAA concentrations. This formation presents little offensive power
to the front for air to air engagements but allows fairly quick response to threats off the main line
of advance. Pilots are still required to make large turns to engage threats 90 degrees to the
sides all the way back to the rear of the formation. The formation is very vulnerable to attacks
from the rear keeping a very active scan going for those threats are a vital requirement.

Basic Rules to keep you Alive

Number one Golden Rule: the wingman always keeps lead in sight whilst scanning the skies for
danger!

In Cruise flight, a couple of basic rules are;

1) The wingman never gets ahead of lead unless there's radio contact
2) Lead should always make shallow turns of 20 degrees or less.
3) It is important for lead to maintain the briefed airspeed, altitude, and heading.
4) The basic position for the wingman is 45 degrees off of lead's left or right with your eyes on lead
and your hand on the throttle - adjusting as necessary.
5) Always tell lead if you are going to slide in closer on his left or right. You must always be on alert
for overshooting!
6) You never want to approach lead in trail formation. By closing in on lead off to either side you have
an out if you begin to overshoot.

Landing
During Landing, we should touch down in flights of two on a normal wide runway, with the lead two
aircraft landing by touching down long, followed by the next flight of two aircraft landing short. This
allows us to get as many aircraft down and potentially back up again, in the least amount of time.

Practices will be available on the designated training days, so

don’t miss out.