Formation Flying - Keith Myles

It all started with a “Formation Clinic” given by Gregg “Wizz” Wilson at our annual American Yankee Association National Convention in Cody WY in 1998.

I’d witnessed with envy the early morning “Dawn Patrol” formation and photo flights at this convention of the most experienced Grumman American aircraft pilots, and finally coerced one of the best, Jon Maestre, to fly my plane and demonstrate how it’s done.  It was a memorable flight, where Jon at one point asked, “ Are you nervous?” as we were snuggled up about 25 feet from our lead plane in a 3-ship formation.  Jon’s excellent reputation had preceded him (I had sought him out), so I quickly responded, “No, not at all.  This is great!”  “Good,” he replied.  “You shouldn’t be way out here.”  He then moved in to just about overlap our wings with that of the lead plane.  “Here’s nervous.  It’s okay to be nervous in here, “ he nonchalantly quipped.  Jon and Lead were flying smoothly in the quiet morning air above Cody, and I was just enthralled with the smooth, precision flying.  “I want to learn how to do this,” I said to myself.  “This is good flying.”

Gregg’s seminar explained how it’s done, covering the different formations, takeoffs, joining up, maneuvers, changing formations, hand signals, radio protocols, escape procedures, and most importantly, how to do formation flying safely.  I was hooked.

Gregg formalized his presentation at our convention in Laconia NH in 2000, where he proposed incorporating Formation Flying into our convention activities at National Conventions and Regional Fly-ins.  This triggered discussion at the AYA BOD (with no endorsement) but also germinated thoughts of formal formation training for those interested Grumman pilots.  Gregg pursued the training route, resulting in 10 Grumman airplanes descending on The Airmen, Inc. in Greenwood MS in May 2001 for a 4-day intensive training program with Vernon Ricks and his hand-picked crew of experienced war-bird formation pilots as our “instructors”.

And intensive it was!  Fun, but intensive.  We’d all prepared ourselves studying the T-34 Formation Manual prior to arrival, had a morning of “ground school” with Vern reviewing this material and educating us on how to operate with safety in formations.  “Any engine can ‘hiccup’ at any time while in formation,” cautioned Vern.  “When that happens, that airplane instantly leaves the formation.  There better not be anyone behind him, or two airplanes will leave the formation,” he stressed.  Safe flying was continually and emphatically stressed during the entire course.

Starting the first afternoon, we practiced what we’d learned: station keeping, hand signals, Lead responsibilities, station keeping, element takeoffs, joining up, station keeping, cross-unders, fingertip and echelon and diamond formations, station keeping, breaks and re-joins, overhead breaks for landings, radio protocols, traffic scans.  Did I mention station keeping?

Our first flights were…….interesting.  If you’ve ever done any target shooting (firearms, archery, etc.), you can appreciate what it’s like to try to fly using your Lead plane as your target, at a fixed distance and position.  We start waaaay out, 30 to 40 feet, try to align the rear of the Lead’s nose-wheel pant with the front of Lead’s nearest main-wheel pant – and stay there.  But we can’t.  Just like a shooting target, the Lead plane is jumping all over. 

Up and down like a yo-yo (why is Lead doing that?  Oh, it’s not Lead, it’s me!),  full power, idle, full power, idle, left rudder, right rudder.  All controls moving all the time.  I’m tense.  My left arm is starting to ache, I’m pressing so hard on the yoke, trying to get that target to hold still.  But it won’t.  “Okay, now just relax,” says Randy, my experienced safety pilot.  “Relax that arm, hold the yoke with your thumb and forefinger.  Relax your body.  Just tell it to.”  Sure enough, things started to settle down.  The fluctuations start to diminish, the control movements less severe, the plane smoothing out.  If I were shooting, I may even be able to hit the bull's-eye.  “Hmm, I can nudge a bit closer to Lead, I think,” I say to myself, and apply just a little rudder to slide up along the line towards Lead.  “Now, why am I applying outside rudder pressure in here?” I ask myself, as the airplane is flying in a yaw aimed away from Lead.  “Relax that rudder,” purrs Randy.  “You’re doing fine.”

By the fourth day, we were all snuggled in tight in our formations, still constantly moving every control we had, but now just little movements.  We’re starting to predict what to do next: add just a little throttle, then back off (a spurt of energy is all I need), and that feeling of getting “sucked” (falling behind) immediately goes away.  And we’re now about 5 – 10 feet (3 – 6 feet?) from Lead’s wingtip.  It’s actually easier to stay on station (in position) up close to Lead than further out.  During turns, if I’m on the outside, I may exceed my plane’s ability to keep up, as my turning radius is so much greater than the rest of the formation.  And I can come close to stall speed if I’m too far out on the inside of a turn.

Now we’re doing steeper turns with climbs and descents, all in formation.  We’re actually getting this!  There’s no secret, really: Practice, Practice, Practice.  And concentration.  It has to be total.  Formation flying is no time to be thinking about those bills at home, or your significant other, or anything, except those wheel pants.  And we’re all striving for the same goal, for four airplanes to look like one up there, thinking, concentrating, acting, relaxing together in a common purpose.  And when it happens, when we’re all in position (especially in a close diamond, flying over the field, knowing everyone is watching), it brings on a real emotional high that I just cannot describe.  It’s precision flying with others who are flying with precision.  Together.  As one.  Wow!

Am I hooked or what...?

Keith “Bad Boy” Myles
July 29, 2001