- Joined
- Oct 31, 1996
- Posts
- 1,286
- Type aircraft owned
- Carbon Cub FX-3
- Base airport
- KFCI
- Ratings
- COMM, IFR, MEL, SEL
I'm glad he lived to tell this story. I predict someone in these gaggles is going to have a mid-air someday and someone is going to die. Since getting into backcountry aviation and watching a lot of flying on YouTube it's shocking how many are flying formation when not trained for formation. I can't begin and refuse to try and train formation flying in this discussion. I know how intense formation training is in the military. I'm glad Trent shared this story and hope many can learn from it.
As I commented on the video, this is why I have BRS. The original founder of this forum (Flightinfo.com) - Mark Schaden, a good friend of mine, died in a mid-air. My first assignment, two A-10 pilots in my squadron both perished from a mid-air when losing sight of one another during a rejoin. The list goes on. It can and will happen. I bought mirrors for my plane so if I'm flying "the same way" with others that I know are not trained in formation I can monitor them. We use mirrors in A-10's to be aware of our wingmen and also for air-to-air combat reasons as well but they are critical for formation ops as well. I'll stop there, again, this is not to train formation flying. I just cringe when I see this non stop on YouTube. I'll offer one tip as I did to Trent's video. Someone needs to be in charge, the others need to follow. There is one flight lead, the others are wingmen. I hope Trent realizes too that someone flies, someone films. That should not be one in the same.
As I commented on the video, this is why I have BRS. The original founder of this forum (Flightinfo.com) - Mark Schaden, a good friend of mine, died in a mid-air. My first assignment, two A-10 pilots in my squadron both perished from a mid-air when losing sight of one another during a rejoin. The list goes on. It can and will happen. I bought mirrors for my plane so if I'm flying "the same way" with others that I know are not trained in formation I can monitor them. We use mirrors in A-10's to be aware of our wingmen and also for air-to-air combat reasons as well but they are critical for formation ops as well. I'll stop there, again, this is not to train formation flying. I just cringe when I see this non stop on YouTube. I'll offer one tip as I did to Trent's video. Someone needs to be in charge, the others need to follow. There is one flight lead, the others are wingmen. I hope Trent realizes too that someone flies, someone films. That should not be one in the same.
