355TH VIRTUAL FIGHTER GROUP
GROUP TRAINING OFFICE
TOPIC : FORMATION FLYING
SUBJECT : INTRODUCTION
FIGHTER FORMATIONS (DEFINITIONS OF TERMS)
1. THE BASIC UNIT OF A FORMATION IS THE SINGLE PLANE
2. TWO SINGLE PLANES FORM ONE ELEMENT
3. TWO ELEMENTS FORM A FLIGHT
4. TWO FLIGHTS FORM A SECTION
SECTION "A" IS COMPOSED OF RED (LEAD) FLIGHT AND YELLOW FLIGHT. SECTION "B" IS COMPOSED OF BLUE FLIGHT (WE CURRENTLY ONLY FLY THREE FLIGHTS IN OUR SQUADRON ALTHOUGH IT WAS HISTORICALLY FOUR)
5. TWO SECTIONS FORM A SQUADRON
6. THREE SQUADRONS FORM A GROUP
COMPOSITION OF FORMATIONS
THE ELEMENT
THE ELEMENT IS A TWO-PLANE FORMATION COMPRISED OF AN ELEMENT LEADER AND A WINGMAN. THE WINGMAN FLIES BEHIND AND SLIGHTLY BELOW THE ELEMENT LEADER OUT TO ONE SIDE. IF HE IS THE WINGMAN OF A FLIGHT LEADER, HE FLIES ON THE LEFT WING OF HIS LEADER AND SLIGHTLY BELOW, IN THE NUMBER 2 POSITION OF THE FINGER FOUR FORMATION. IF HE IS THE WINGMAN OF THE ELEMENT LEADER HE FLIES ON THE RIGHT WING OF HIS LEADER AND SLIGHTLY BEHIND IN THE NUMBER 4 POSITION IN THE FINGER FOUR FORMATION.
THE FLIGHT (FINGER FOUR FORMATION)
THE FLIGHT IS COMPOSED OF TWO ELEMENTS. THE FLIGHT LEADER LEADS THE FLIGHT AND IS IN THE NUMBER 1 POSITION, AHEAD OF AND ABOVE THE REST OF THE FORMATION. HIS IS THE LEAD ELEMENT OF A TWO-ELEMENT FORMATION. THE ELEMENT LEADER FLIES SLIGHTLY BEHIND AND BELOW THE FLIGHT LEADER, ON HIS RIGHT WING IN THE NUMBER 3 POSITION.
IN CLOSE FORMATION THE PLANES FLY 25 YARDS APART. IN OPEN OR BATTLE FORMATION THE PLANES FLY 250 YARDS APART.
THE SECTION
THE SECTION IS COMPOSED OF TWO FLIGHTS. THE SECTION LEADER IS THE FLIGHT LEADER OF THE FIRST FLIGHT IN THE SECTION. THE SECOND FLIGHT FLYS TO THE LEFT OF THE FIRST FLIGHT IN BATTLE FORMATION OR STACKS BEHIND AND BELOW IN GROUP FORMATION.
