I came to this Formation Flying thread after a recent 'upgrade' in flying activity.
My eldest son Peter decided to try aerobatics for his birthday, so he took some lessons in a Citabria.
About this time, progress on my RV-8 took a decided slow down, as I couldn't pass up a great deal on a T-18. Peter was very enthusiastic about his experience, and was actively searching for a Citabria. I suggested that he might have more fun in an RV-4 for the same price range, and about this time, I got the T-18 flying. I'm pretty sure he had decided an RV-4 was in his future when I had gained enough confidence in myself & the T-18 to take him for a ride.
The rest is history, as they say.
So Marilyn my wife is having some difficulty nailing the landings in the T-18. Peter gives her the front seat of his RV-4, and the better spring rate on the main gear works it's magic. Then she informs us that Peter should take me back to S36 to get the T-18. (we're at WN-55) So off we go.
Now the meat & potatoes; we don't have much daylight left, so to be on the safe side we need to keep things moving forward. He gasses up and I preflight. when ready, I taxi out and meet him at the run up area. When the local training flight lands and clears the runway, we announce departure, flight of 2 and take the runway. I'm in #2 behind on the left due to the narrow runway. I have 1 notch of flaps down. Very slight crosswind from the right.
You formation guys know what happens next, don't you?
So we signal 'ready' and Peter advances the throttle. I wait a few seconds to let him get ahead a 'safe distance' and power up...I'm thinking I'll still be on the ground beyond his lift off point.
The T-18 lifts off wonderfully, maybe even a bit better than it should. I get 15 or 50 ft up, and hit his left wing tip vortex (I presume) with a very strong roll to the right, full stick deflection and still turning. So I ride this out, not happy, but feel I should be out of it to the right. Well that happens and I fly into the right wing vortex with a similar quick roll to the left. Now my lift component has not been straight up, so Peter is climbing away as you would expect, but I'm no longer gaining altitude, I fly out the bottom of the vortex directly under him and dropping behind. Everthing is fine now.
Needless to say, I was somewhat excited, and started thinking about the view the student pilot and instructor got while heading back on the taxiway.
So I came to this thread an followed the link to FFI's formation tutorial. This gives Section Take off, side by side, and in trail if the airfield is narrow. Aside form that, not much information on vortex, prop wash, etc.
Can someone shed a little light on appropriate 2 ship departures, enoute, and arrival proceedures for beginners?
My eldest son Peter decided to try aerobatics for his birthday, so he took some lessons in a Citabria.
About this time, progress on my RV-8 took a decided slow down, as I couldn't pass up a great deal on a T-18. Peter was very enthusiastic about his experience, and was actively searching for a Citabria. I suggested that he might have more fun in an RV-4 for the same price range, and about this time, I got the T-18 flying. I'm pretty sure he had decided an RV-4 was in his future when I had gained enough confidence in myself & the T-18 to take him for a ride.
The rest is history, as they say.
So Marilyn my wife is having some difficulty nailing the landings in the T-18. Peter gives her the front seat of his RV-4, and the better spring rate on the main gear works it's magic. Then she informs us that Peter should take me back to S36 to get the T-18. (we're at WN-55) So off we go.
Now the meat & potatoes; we don't have much daylight left, so to be on the safe side we need to keep things moving forward. He gasses up and I preflight. when ready, I taxi out and meet him at the run up area. When the local training flight lands and clears the runway, we announce departure, flight of 2 and take the runway. I'm in #2 behind on the left due to the narrow runway. I have 1 notch of flaps down. Very slight crosswind from the right.
You formation guys know what happens next, don't you?
So we signal 'ready' and Peter advances the throttle. I wait a few seconds to let him get ahead a 'safe distance' and power up...I'm thinking I'll still be on the ground beyond his lift off point.
The T-18 lifts off wonderfully, maybe even a bit better than it should. I get 15 or 50 ft up, and hit his left wing tip vortex (I presume) with a very strong roll to the right, full stick deflection and still turning. So I ride this out, not happy, but feel I should be out of it to the right. Well that happens and I fly into the right wing vortex with a similar quick roll to the left. Now my lift component has not been straight up, so Peter is climbing away as you would expect, but I'm no longer gaining altitude, I fly out the bottom of the vortex directly under him and dropping behind. Everthing is fine now.
Needless to say, I was somewhat excited, and started thinking about the view the student pilot and instructor got while heading back on the taxiway.
So I came to this thread an followed the link to FFI's formation tutorial. This gives Section Take off, side by side, and in trail if the airfield is narrow. Aside form that, not much information on vortex, prop wash, etc.
Can someone shed a little light on appropriate 2 ship departures, enoute, and arrival proceedures for beginners?
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