Formation takeoff
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Strong apologies if this is covered in the manual or on the forum (a search in both was fruitless), but what has happened to formation takeoffs with my wingman? In 4.32 my flight used to depart by element, with 1 and 2 together, then 3 and 4. I know some hanged have been made to the ATO and AI takeoff procedure, but does this translate to no more paired takeoffs?
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IRL, formation takeoff is mostly never done.
In 4.33, the type of departure depend of the weather and time of the day. -
Hi!
There was no formation takeoff in 4.32 … it always has been individual takeoff.
A formation takeoff is this:
@Amraam:IRL, formation takeoff is mostly never done.
In 4.33, the type of departure depend of the weather and time of the day.Yep, as Amraam said.
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Please refer to F-16 OPERATIONS PROCEDURES - Air Force Instruction 11-2F-16 Vol3.pdf of your Docs folder for more info.
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Departure procedure is a mix of:
Taxi
Lineup
Takeoff
Departure/RejoinWith taxi there is centerline (300’) and staggered (150’). In BMS it’s always centerline and of course you can collapse to smaller distances at the halt.
Lineup is how the flight occupies the runway before takeoff. You can have single ship line up on centerline (all else behind the hold short line), by element, by elements (>500’ longitudinal spacing), and grouped flight. In BMS it’s always single (1) or element (2) at a time.
Takeoff itself can be interval or formation assuming more than one airplane per lineup. Formation takeoff obviously requires formation lineup. Formation has restrictions on crosswind, load, load differences, runway length, RCR, etc. You’d never form takeoff with bombs for example. Interval depends on throttle use, load, and rejoin.
Departure and rejoin can be visual prior to climb or after, instrument by procedure and/or radar tied.
And you can (within reason) mix and match all of these techniques according to the situation.
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In BMS I’ve noticed that sometimes wingman follows me for the lineup and sometimes he doesn’t. It seems (no solid testing) that he won’t in poor weather or perhaps it is due to payload or time scheduling. I wish I knew exactly when wingman decides to line up with me or not. I feel silly line up in one side of runway and no one joins. In BMS 4.32 there was no formation takeoff, just very short (5 sec?) interval which is actually very dangerous. Formation the exhaust isn’t ingested by the other airplane to the side. Long interval the exhaust and wake can go away before the next takeoff. The old short interval was a good way to get afterburner blowout or power loss or wake problems by following so close (not modeled but IRL).
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Bad weather, nighttime TO-> 20sec spacing - single on runway ;).
Not sure about heavy payload, probably 20sec spacing with lineup 2 aircrafts. -
Hmm. Looks like we have a terminology fail on my part. I was definitely referring to a lineup with two ships on the runway. Not an actual formation takeoff. I had never seen the AI only do single lineups and was confused, but knowing all that goes into it (weather, payload, etc.) I feel less concerned that I’m doing something wrong.
