Hi ya'll,
This isn't really RV related, but it is formation flying related. I'm a bit of a software geek, and I'm working on a new recreational project. If you are experienced in formation flying I'd appreciate your advice. I've never flown formation in my RV, so my only knowledge is doodling ideas on paper.
The project: Have an electric UAV form up as wingman on a (participating) hang-glider pilot and follow that pilot has he conducts his flight. If the UAV gets too close to human, fall away to ensure safety then rejoin. When falling away be careful to not plow into the ridge (ridge lift as opposed to thermal lift) which is likely to the left/right of the hang-glider.
For those concerned about UAV safety: there would be a human safety pilot for the RC plane monitoring from the ridge/in communication with the hang-glider and the plane is a small foam thing with the prop on the back. The safety pilot could can take over the plane at any time (mechanical failure, software failure etc...). I've written a lot of similar software in the past and I'm starting from the very nice Ardupilot codebase.
The question: Is there a guidebook of best practices for formation flight? Something like wingman should approach from the rear, increasing throttle to overtake then decreasing when in position X. etc... I've pondered on paper and I think I have a good set of rules I can encode into my software, but I'd like to learn as much as possible.
I fly a fair amount of gentleman's aerobatics in my RV, but I've never learned formation flying. Someday I'll devote adequate time to this
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For my UAV - a guide to formation flying?
Linear Mode
