OK...stupid question probably...

[frog_flyer]

Wake turbulence is greatest at high lift and low speed. I'd imagine the blue angels' speed reduces the wake impact.

question on ppl written

wake turblence is worst when a plane is heavy, slow, and clean.

the clean part surprised me!

 

[mcjohn]

Clean and slow equals a higher angle of attack which disturbes the air flowing over the wings the most. I have a HUGE fear of hitting bad wake turbulence on short final and getting rolled into the ground. In reality, I should be more concerned about hitting it on takeoff behind a large heavy aircraft because I assume they take off clean but land with flaps.

 

[wmuflyguy]

Clean and slow equals a higher angle of attack which disturbes the air flowing over the wings the most. I have a HUGE fear of hitting bad wake turbulence on short final and getting rolled into the ground. In reality, I should be more concerned about hitting it on takeoff behind a large heavy aircraft because I assume they take off clean but land with flaps.

Almost all (there are a couple exceptions) large aircraft take-off with partial flaps.

 

[FL420]

The wingmen in formation(except line abreast formations) usually fly with "stepdown" meaning they are below the wingtip vortices and jet wash from the engines. If flying loose enough to not have wing overlap, airflow off the lead aircraft is not a factor.

When getting close enough to have wing overlap and high enough to get into the airflow off the leaders wingtip, wake turbulence of course becomes a factor. As you ease into the vortex it begins to push your wingtip down which requires a little opposite stick force to counteract. It is easily anticipated and corrected for with practice.

Where people get into trouble is when they try to get more wing overlap by flying tighter and tighter. There is a point where the downforce on the wingman's wing suddenly reverses and the wing feels like it is being sucked up into the leader's wing. It can be very disconcerting if unanticipated or approached too rapidly and can lead to "trading paint" and much worse. There is no need to fly that close for appearances sake.

When penetrating bad weather at night it may be necessary to fly with your canopy just a few feet from the leader's wingtip with a lot of wing overlap. That is best done with enough stepdown to stay out of the airflow from the leader's wing.

There is a whole lot more to formation flying than this, so.........

Don't try this at home!!

 

[Bjammin]

When wing tip vortexes really become a problem is when air-air refueling off a wing station on a large tanker like the KC-135 (707) or VC-10 (large Brit tanker/transport). You need almost full aileron trim AWAY from the tanker to just stay in the basket. It's very stable and easily antisipated, strange none the less.

 

[FL420]

When wing tip vortexes really become a problem is when air-air refueling off a wing station on a large tanker like the KC-135 (707) or VC-10 (large Brit tanker/transport). You need almost full aileron trim AWAY from the tanker to just stay in the basket. It's very stable and easily antisipated, strange none the less.

What's really fun is tanking off a wing station of a Marine KC-130 in an F-4 loaded for bear. In addition to dealing with the airflow from the wing and big turboprop engines, you often had to modulate one engine into and out of min. burner to stay in the basket as you get heavier at the slow speeds.

 

[Bjammin]

What's really fun is tanking off a wing station of a Marine KC-130 in an F-4 loaded for bear.

I bet, sounds fun.