Formation/Fighter Flying

[alphaone]

I figured this would be the best place post these questions since there are at least two guys on here who can answer.



If your flying in formation, how do you fly in IMC and how do you shoot an ILS to Mins?

 

[MikeD]

I figured this would be the best place post these questions since there are at least two guys on here who can answer.



If your flying in formation, how do you fly in IMC and how do you shoot an ILS to Mins?

IMC is done one of two ways. If you want to see each other, then the wingman has to be in "close" formation (~3 ft wing clearance, or as required to stay visual). I've had a number of formation flights where I had to maintain formation integrity as the wingman, and the WX was so bad, I'm flying off the other guy's wingtip and position light. The worst was on the wing of a KC-10 crossing the Atlantic, and was this way for 3.3 hours......extremely mentally taxing.

If visual formation isn't needed, then the wingman can be in trail of the lead aircraft.....either in radar trail for air-air radar equipped aircraft, or in instrument trail using air-air TACAN. This is accomplished by the two aircraft setting their TACAN (military VOR) receivers 63 channels apart...thereby being able to receive DME from each other.

ILS to mins.....one of two ways. If landing in formation, wingman flies off the wing of the lead aircraft, and follows along on the approach...ALL frequencies and NAVAID settings; since as a wingman, you HAVE TO be able to assume the lead for the formation at any given time.....you ARE NOT just along for the ride. Lead flies the ILS down to breakout and lands with the wingman on the wing, or goes missed the same.

IF conditions do not permit a formation landing (wet/standing water on runway, crosswinds, etc) then the formation can either separate prior to commencing the approach, and perform individual approaches; or there are specific instrument approaches known as ASLAR instrument approaches.....these can be precision or non-precision, and they look just like a normal instrument approach with a few exceptions. They're designed to recover formations of aircraft rapidly, and the flight commences a formation penetration. However on the final segment, there are specified Drag (wingman reduces power and takes distance from lead), Decel (lead begins slowing), and Final Approach Speed (both aircraft assume computed final speed) DME points, and are noted on the plate. This way, aircraft are rapidly recovered to the field rather than ATC having to vector them all around for individual approaches and get saturated doing so.

 

[ian]

Mike pretty much summed it up. In my vast experience *Sarcasm* of 5 formation flights, it's actually pretty fun. I have only had to fly in fingertip through the weather once and it was for about 2 minutes to get on top of the clouds but it was pretty cool.

 

[///AMG]

I have yet to do any section approaches in IMC, but for training in VMC they are pretty fun. 2 jets going to mil simultaneously on missed approach sounds pretty cool :rawk: