Form = Fun

Today was my first experience flying formations. What a rush. It is so awesome, flying about 10-15 feet away from another aircraft. They definitely don't teach this to students at civilian flight schools after only 45-50 hours. It is soooo cool because 1. when you are the wingman (wing) you are constantly adjusting to stay in position. So, you are actively doing something the entire time. Second, you are completely dependent on lead. He controls you life. All you do as wing is stay in position. 

My IP was telling me how important it is to fly smartly as lead. He told me as story about the Air Force Thunderbirds when they flew the F-5 (a really small maneuverable plane that plane that I could potentially train in next). Basically, because lead controls the destiny of the other aircraft in the formation he is responsible to make any corrections to the formations position in relation to the outside. The wings can't see what is around them or even in their cockpit because their complete attention is on lead. So anyway, he basically screwed up on a maneuver and flew himself and the other three aircraft in the formation straight into the ground. The other three didn't know it was coming and could do nothing about it. 

So, now that you know I could potentially kill myself without even knowing it, you should feel nice and warm inside. Another thing, I'm going to do this solo in 4 more flights. 

Chris