Sm Tall alk I
just returned from four days of great flying in Tucson, AZ at their 3rd annu- al Watts-Up all electric fly-in. Because of the less then desirable travel fore-
cast I decided to go a day early to miss the bad stuff in southwest NM, so ended up with an extra flying day to boot. And since I’ve been going down that way for almost 20 years now, we’re getting to know each other pretty well, and it’s always fun to gather with old friends, swap ideas, and fly each others models. Meanwhile, the high point of the weekend
was formation flying. We’ve done a fair amount of that over the years, but this time there was as many as five of us flying the pattern and shooting landings in a tight for- mation that made for some very interesting and exciting flying.
Formation flying is a learned skill The secret to success in formation flying is two-fold: first, the airplanes need to be close- ly matched in speed and performance, and second, the pilots need to be of pretty much equal levels of flying skill. I’ve thought for a long time that the hardest thing you can do with a model airplane is to fly straight and level, and when flying formation this is a must, and a smooth steady hand is the tick- et to success. To learn formation flying, pair up with a
pilot whose skills and flying style you are fa- miliar with, and do it with models of similar speed and performance—and to get started, slower models are the best bet. Put the least skilled pilot out front, with the more ad- vanced flyer following. Don’t pull it in too close too soon, take your time to get used to what the other pilot is going to do, and lim- it the maneuvers to a simple racetrack pat- tern until you’re able to stay together for several laps around the patch. The main thing is that if things do start to come un-
by pat tritle You can reach Pat Tritle at 10313 Snowheights NE, Albuquerque, NM 87112 or via e-mail at
patscustommodels@aol.com
PHOTO: JOHN POMROY
John Pomroy’s Cleveland Fleetster is finished now and looks great in the air, once again proving the old theory that if it looks good, it’ll fly well too.
done, which is not uncommon early on, break off gently. Radical moves can be big trouble.
Communication between the pilots is also important, so before you get started, come up with the signals that the leader will be calling so that everyone knows what’s going on throughout the flight. That alone will go a long way in the ability to keep the forma- tion together, especially in the turns. And in the turns, the follower will need some dili- gent throttle management to stay with the leader. If you take the inside, you’ll need to slow down a bit so not to overrun the leader. Likewise, if you take the outside your trav- el distance through the turn will be greater,
so a little extra speed will be needed to keep up.
Then once you’ve got the pattern down,
start working on shooting formation land- ings. Begin with low passes, which are re- ally nothing more than what you’ve al- ready done; it’s just closer to the ground. Keep the communications going so that both pilots know who will take the inside and the outside of the runway. And again, if things start to fall apart, break it off and start over. Meanwhile, it won’t be long be- fore you’ll find it quite easy to stay togeth- er and to correct those little inaccuracies with your position and stay tight on the leader.
PHOTOS: PAT TRITLE
The main thing in successful formation flying (above left) is to work with models of similar speed and performance. But the main ingredient in formation flying is to always keep at least a little light between the airplanes. Formation
50
flying can be a ton of fun (above right), and will make a much better flyer out of those who make the effort to get good at it. It does take practice, but the rewards are definitely worth the effort.
MAY 2012
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