AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2013 - 62

RELEVANT REGS:

FAR 91.111 (a) No person may operate an aircraft so close to another aircraft as to create a collision hazard.
(b) No person may operate an aircraft in formation flight except by arrangement with the pilot in command
of each aircraft in the formation. (c) No person may operate an aircraft, carrying passengers for hire, in
formation flight.
For more information on formation flying, visit these websites:
• FFI (www.ffi.aero)
• FAST (www.flyfast.org)
• Traron (www.traron.org)
• Team Aerodynamix
(www.teamaerodynamix.com)

Civilian formation aerobatic performers such as the AeroShell Aerobatic Team,
Lima Lima Flight Team, Trojan Horsemen,
Collaborators, and Black Diamonds are airshow staples. Team Aerodynamix flies day
and night routines with a dozen RVs—most
of them built by the pilots who fly them.
Each formation organization sponsors
at least one annual clinic in which members standardize methods, hone skills,
introduce new pilots to the demanding
discipline, and offer checkrides for those
wishing to get wing- or lead-pilot endorsements. FFI limits attendance at its clinics
to 50 pilots and airplanes, and 45 attended
the organization’s three-day spring event
at Stanly County Airport in Albemarle,
North Carolina. About one-third of the
pilots there were attending their first formation clinic, and new pilots are the focus
of each gathering.
“If it’s the same people every time, it’s
just a get-together,” said Jerry “Widget”
Morris, a former Air Force and airline pilot
who teaches the FFI ground school. “The
new guys are the reason we’re here.”
62 | AOPA PILOT November 2013

Widget’s welcoming attitude is an FFI
custom—and so is brutal candor. The flying
standards are high, and there is no room for
compromise. Hyperachieving pilots accustomed to collecting accolades and advanced
ratings get a steady diet of humble pie.
A pilot attending his second clinic asks
flight leader Ron “Smokey” Schreck to clear
him to take a wing checkride, and Smokey
bluntly declines.
“You need more experience first,” says
Smokey, a former Air Force pilot and Team
Aerodynamix member. “Don’t be in a hurry.
Fly as much as you can this weekend, and
keep practicing when you get home. You’ve
got a great group of pilots to fly with, and
they’ll teach you a lot. Come back next year
and show us what you’ve learned.”
Postflight briefings are painfully detailed
and sometimes take up to an hour. First,
the lead pilot gives a warts-and-all assessment of the entire flight from engine start
to shutdown. Next, the pilot flying the number-two position shares his impressions, and
so on for every participant. Flaws are scrutinized and there’s no allowance for fragile

egos. Participants are graded on every task
beginning with the radio check-in, and their
progress—or a lack of it—is carefully noted.
Each attendee has a color code, and
flights are arranged so that new pilots get
the most opportunities to learn from more
experienced formation fliers. A pilot new
to formation flying is given a red code designating his status as “scary,” and he must
have an instructor in his aircraft to be part of
any formation. The next level is pink, meaning a pilot has some formation training and
can fly solo in two-ship formations only.
Yellow indicates pilots are safe to participate in four-ship formations. Green shows
pilots have passed a wing checkride, and
blue designates flight leaders.
A scheduler arranges four formation
flights a day for each pilot, and flights can
be comprised of two, three, and sometimes
four colors.
CLAUSTROPHOBIC. The most claustrophobic checkride maneuvers are echelon turns
and close trail, and this flight includes generous amounts of both.

http://www.ffi.aero http://www.flyfast.org http://www.traron.org http://www.teamaerodynamix.com

AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2013