Flight Formation

by Keith Davis

Has there ever been a time when you looked up in the sky to see a bunch of airplanes flying in formation and wondered what type of formation it is and why that particular formation? Well, believe it or not, there are names for these formations and the airplanes are not just flying in some random pattern that looks cool (in most cases). Hopefully I will be able to explain some of the major types of formations used and some of the advantages and disadvantages of them.

Straight Trail Formation: Aircraft fly in a straight line, nose-to-tail, usually each aircraft flies slightly higher than the one in front of it to avoid turbulence. This is the least desirable formation to fly in because it is difficult for the formation to determine what the lead aircraft is doing. Also in a combat situation, the entire flight may fly directly over ground anti-aircraft weapons and no one can cover the trail aircraft. In addition, this setup is the leading cause of most formation mid-air collisions.

Staggered Right or Left Formation: The first aircraft leads formation. The second aircraft flies 30° to 60° off of lead's wing. The third aircraft flies behind the first aircraft and 30° to 60° off of the second aircraft. The fourth aircraft flies behind the second aircraft 30° to 60° off of the third aircraft. This formation allows everyone to anticipate what the lead is about to do. This is a common formation for U.S. combat transport helicopters. Many helicopters can fit into a small landing zone at one time and adequate fire cover can be provided for each other.

Echelon Right or Left Formation: The first aircraft leads formation. The second aircraft flies 30° to 60° off of the first aircraft. The third aircraft flies 30° to 60° off of the second aircraft. The fourth aircraft flies off of the third aircraft. All aicraft will stay on the same side of each other. This is a common combat formation used by U.S. ground attack pilots. The lead aircraft would roll onto target and the flight would follow in, one at a time.

That just about covers the major formations used by most military and civilian aircraft. Of course there are many other types of formations out there, such as the "Vee" formation, diamond formation and the box formation. You can see most of the fancy ones performed at airshows.

So now that you studied these formations, find a few of your flying buddies that you can really trust, and go out and practice a few of these.