Nirmal Jayasinghe

Some of the most interesting activities available on the F-16 MRF simulator are formation flying. Course there’s no dedicated training mission for that, nor is one assigned as the wingman of somebody else in a mission. But it can be done in one of the numerous other training missions available for flying, landing, weapons etc., etc. The main training mission starts from Luke Air Force Base. Take off is from the huge Runway Right. Parallel, two F-15s take off from Runway Left. Immediately after them, a flight of three F-16s takes off on a routine formation patrol flight of the base. Wait a bit and can takeoff with them. My favorite pastime is go up with them, and enjoy hours of the pleasure of waltzing the sky within feet [sometimes inches,] from another F-16, trying to be it’s non-reversed mirror image.

Takeoff

Taking off is quite k given it’s not a formation takeoff. You’ve just got to wait till your flight arrives from the hangars to the runway. Of course you can take off early on and loiter till they arrive, but my love is to take off with them. Sometimes I take off parallel to them from Runway Right [somewhat easier], sometimes I share Runway Left for a formation takeoff. Needs a bit of touch there, but it can be fun.

A formation takeoff needs a bit practice. Power settings should be similar, and 70% work best. Still needs some tweaking for optimum effect. Get the wheels up as soon as they’ve got daylight under them for max. maneuverability. Then make a low altitude right turn with the lead, and continue on a straight line till the others come in. Then the formation turn left, away from the airfield, and then it’s Rock ‘n Roll.

Flight

Once upstairs with the guys, the mission is to be on the wing. The standard USAF formation requires the wingman to be slightly behind and below the wing of the lead. While training on T-38s, this involves keeping the wingtip of the leader superimposed on the star painted on his air intake [Cockrell], regardless he rolls, banks, loops or whatever. Here such precision is hard to acquire, especially without a joystick with throttle control. The normal 70% cruise setting is a wee bit underpowered for the formation mentioned, and the 100% military rating is way too much. Guess somewhere in between must lie the optimum, but hard to find out exactly without an analogue throttle control.

“Turn, turn, Master Joker!”

Turning is the only hitch. You must be careful not to lose or gain altitude, and in the beginning, to keep your fellow in your sights. Else you’ll have to go through the shame of using the radar to find them after a badly-coordinated turn. Usually, rudder control is not used and turns are just uncoordinated ones, using bank only. Here coordination is a must. Also it’s important not to bump into your own flight when it turns. In the turn, the lead stays the same, and the right and left wings exchange. Never happened yet, but have had several close shaves. So better lookout.

Formation in real life takes precision, patience and knack. Some cannot take it. I read that previously all USAF Undergraduate Pilot Training [UPT] pupils had to undergo highperfomance jet formation training before they were divided into fighter, bomber, transport and tanker [etc.] roles. People used to drop out cause they couldn’t hack the formation in the ‘38. Actually missing formation skills don’t mean one is a bad flyer. Now it seems the philosophy has changed.