Well.. the name says it all has any1 done it? pics or videos would be nice

formation crashing video on our club site www.rcflyers.net
we also formate at 180mph when running the quickies together..
formation prophang with 3 or more up at once
but it's also quite possible to get ww1 bipes to fly together quite happily, getting them staying together either needs two good pilots talking, or one very good pilot to follow the first ok pilot

i've only ever seen formation aerobatics once, it was by two TOP pilots, but it was nothing compared to the real deal.

It looks a lot easier than it is!

Jerry

Here are a few pics of my Byron 30% Cub in formation with my friends full scale Cub. Had someone in the front seat taking pictures. Also flew my Hangar 9 33% Cap 232 a couple weeks ago, seemed to be a little easier than the Cub.

Jetrench, love that last pic.

Tannerlb, I've flown formation with a couple of friends.

With one friend, we were flying nearly identical Dynaflite 40 sized mustangs (I built them both side by side, mixing the wood to normalize the weights, etc).
With the other friend, I was flying the mustang, and he was flying a Midwest 40 sized 109. We also flew formation with small aerobatic slope soarers.

The KEY to success was that we were very familiar with each other's flying styles/habbits. Of course you also need to be thouroughly familiar with your models flight capabilites, especially at the low end. One pilot is lead (that's the easy part) the other pilot flies as the wingman (that's the hard part).

When it was good, we were able to complete several circuits around the field in formation (model separation ranging from 3 feet to 6 feet) including mild aerobatics (aileron/axial rolls, half rolls to inverted). We also did formation takeoffs and landings

Some tips:

For the lead:
Fly smooth and predictably and consistantly (scale-like).
Throttle set at 60 to 75%
Calls out manuvers
Does NOT try to hold formation together (beyond flying smoothly)

For the wingman:
Controls model separation via throttle settings and subtle manuvering
Easiest place to close or increase separation is during the formation turn by flying slightly outside or inside the turn.

Sorry, no pics of the formations, but you can see the mustangs that we flew formation with here:
http://www.elliotfan.com/temp/p51.html

and the slope soarers here (midjet and obelix)
http://www.elliotfan.com/temp/slope.html

Regards,
-E

I have not done this in a while but in the late 80 early 90 two friends and I were quite good at it. Now we mainly tried to fly close on the runway and once in the formation would do split-S's at the end of the box. We started by dividing the sky over the runway in to nine lanes labeled 1, 2, 3 across the runway and wimpy, low, and grass stained (High, medium, and Low respectively). After a turn the lead guy would call which lain he was going to take, then the second guy would call his lane. This was all done while pulling out of the Split-S.

We all had Ultra Sport 60's we never had a mid air, I still have mine. We would start with one guy low passing the runway and the other two would join in and we would adjust our position in relationship to each other in the split-S by shortening up the vertical pull. We were always at full throttle, the planes were all within 5mph of the others speed. The only problem we had was one of the pilots was relatively new to R/C three years experience when we started and he did not understand how to lift vector or use his rudder. It did not take long for him to figure it out how to stop his plane from crossing lanes.

Loads of fun, good luck!

Joe

I did it in full scale quite a bit and it was not easy in the turns because of the different radius in the turns. If you fly in tandem that problem goes away but it does not look real impressive. I have not tried it in models but tow gliders....heck I have a hard time just following the towplane.

If you have VOX walkie talkies, it will help with formation flying. The leader should fly lead and the other pilots should follow his lead. With the walkie talkies, the leader can tell the others on the team when to turn, what manuever is next and when to execute.

It is also beneficial to have the same models with the same engines, etc. There is a group in my club that are learning to fly in formation. We are using the World Models P-51 Mustangs and aren't doing too bad.

Bear with me while I try to attach a photo from this year's Dawn Patrol in Dayton Ohio

The near Neiuport 28, being flown by me, is owned by Doug C. of the HAWKS (it won the scale event at their Four Cycle Rally). The other is being flown by the right honorable Tmoth4 hisself, Jim S. Jim flew lead, and it worked very well. Both machines are semi-stock Balsa USA kits.

Lots of throttle and rudder used to keep the line and spacing right.

[img][/img]

I also got in some formation flying with another flyer at the Dawn Patrol, but unfortunately I didn't get his name. This time we were flying quite different planes, but it still worked well. He had the all-black 1/4 scale BUSA Fokker Triplane (that unfortunately crashed on Sunday), and I had a 1/5 scale Great Planes Triplane. Despite the size difference, we manage to do some reasonably close formation aerobatics.

Y-e-a-r-s ago I used to fly in a showteam, and a couple of us polished up a formation routine with pattern airplanes. You may have heard of one of the guys I flew with - a kid named Mike McConville - got a chance to see him in Cincinnati (actually Hamilton) this summer at the GCRCC Flying Circus doing formation aerobatics with another guy by the name of Frank Noll - now THAT was some formation flying:

... and ...

... and finally:

How about this?

http://www.oktv.se/hemsida/tmfk/ek/image3.jpg

And here's how its done!

http://www.oktv.se/hemsida/tmfk/ek/image1.jpg

WinterHawk,
The Dr1 that crashed was being flown at the time (a little dogfighting match) with a Sopwith Pup being flown by Art Shelton. The two of them put on a pretty good show together on Saturday (big grins afterward!). They were having a ball, and it was a unfortunate what happened to the Tripe on Sunday. I know that Art would like get in touch with the Tripe's pliot if you find out. (BTW, great Avatar, it's so DR1!)

We've been having some fun around here (cen. IN) too with formation flying. Below is a pic with a couple of BUSA Fokker Eindeckers from this past summer.
The red one was Art Shelton's (now mine) and the other is Greg Emerick's. We were all at DPR 2003.

Hi, Mike,

Been meaning to send some stuff to your website for sometime now since the DP. Four of us made the show, and are actively building new machines for next season - I'm hoping to hook up with y'all at some fly-ins next summer.

My avatar is the GP Fokker Triplane, and it has been an experience. Del J and I tried some formation flying with them at the 2002 HAWKS 4C Rally, and managed to get them close enough for at least one decent photo (it was one of Del's first flights with his!):

Fokkers

Fredde,

Yep, Been there m-a-n-y years ago - as I recall, the delta formation was from one of the magazines - we had one in our showteam done up in Naviesh colors (kinda like the Blue Angels).

As I recall, it flew like a dumptruck with all of the drag. It looked neat, and was perfect for show work, but wasn't too much fun to drive.

Lee McDuffee
the WinterHawke

Hi Lee,

Nice to hear from you again. What planes are you guys working on? I'm not sure what to build next as far as WW1 types go. I have a Dennis Bryant 1/4 SE5a that I started and put it aside for a couple of other projects but might get back to it this winter.

Jim

Happy Holidays, Jim . . .

I'm currently working on a Balsa USA Fokker Triplane, incorporating many of the modifications you mentioned on yours (undercamber, landing gear, tail incidence, etc.) - been gathering documentation since the Dawn Patrol, but have recently actually started making balsa dust! Been flying my GP Fokker DR1, and the good news is that I haven't had to fix anything on it lately!

Del Johnson is currently working on a Glenn Torrence Fokker DVIII - he has pictures of it both at Glenn's website as well as on the RCM Giant Scale Forum - it's looking pretty good (love the cockpit kit he got for it from Glenn). Del's also been buying up used machines, and now owns a Flair Fokker Triplane (is that thing ever a handful on the ground! Nice in the air, though) and a Fokker DVII (not sure who's - it seems bigger than the Proctor Kit at 80" - maybe Ultravich) "Von" Johnson's Staffel is coming together nicely.

Stephen Hill-Harriss is currently working on a 1/6th scale Sopwith Pup, scratch-built from some English plans he dug up. It's kinda small, but awefully cute. He also has a set of awesome plans for the SE5a - English, again, I believe (Taylor, maybe - I'm horrible with names). Now he just needs to start! Before that, though, I think he's going to build the Proctor Nieuport 17 he won at Dayton, probably done up as Billy Bishop's mount.

Doug Cox is currently building a MONSTER sized Curtiss Jenny. 150" wingspan, scratch-built from plans - it's looking really good so far.

Gonna be gone for the next week - visiting family and friends in Cincinnati and Milwaukee, but am taking my documentation, plans, and wing ribs, and am still gonna make more balsa dust during the turkey break.

Finally, here's a picture taken by Del of my triplane during a decidely happier moment than my avatar shows (which was my second best landing of four that weekend!):

'til later - happier holidays all,

Lee McDuffee
the WinterHawke

I used to do alot of RC formation flying. We had .40 sized bipes. We used the Uravitch Se5 and Fokker DVII 's. We spent ALOT of time getting used to flying close together.
The lead ship must fly a STEADY course. The wingman "flys" the leader's wing. That is to say the wingman concentrates on keeping station. We found that bipes with a light wing loading permitted a slower flight speed. This translated to less control input in keeping station.
We started with 2 planes and when we had that looking acceptable we increased the size by one plane. We had it to a point where we regularly had a 4 plane flight in stepped up echelon formation. It looked great. I found that learning to control a plane at low speed and in tight quarters improved my piloting my abilities. We used this formation flying in a World War One show that we put on at local contests and fly ins. It always was a big crowd pleaser. Our record was 6 planes in 2 vic's of 3 each.
Well that's it. Happy landings, Tony