Received some nice feedback on the below article on Buff Formation flying, so I thought I'd post it here. It has really made a difference when the Buccaneers get together and "buff it." Enjoy.
"Formation Flying In Aces High: Going from Mass Gaggle to Combat Box" by Sabre
Anyone who has tried to fly close formation in a flight simulation such as Aces High is aware of how difficult it is just to stay within a few hundred yards of the other buffs in your group. That problem becomes infinitely more difficult when the formation – or “mass gaggle” to use a bit of Air Force marching slang, since most of these amateur attempts at station keeping bear little resemblance to the tight “pulks” we’ve read about – is suddenly assaulted by the inevitable pack of interceptors.
It’s happened to many of us: we’re at the controls of our Flying Fortress, weaving and bobbing all over the place to stay at least near another B-17. We finally have pulled together a loose defensive formation when one or two enemy fighters appear. As the fighters attack, all the pilots jump to a gun position – typically, every pilot in the group will jump to a gun position, regardless of whether they’re a likely target or not – and begin banging madly away at the assailants. While the're all busy playing Sgt. York, the formation quickly looses any coherence, coming apart in a “star-burst” that leads to easy pick’ins for the follow-on attack.
This article describes a simple station keeping technique for keeping the pulk together through repeated fighter attacks. It takes discipline and practice, but will increase your chances of making it to the IP ten-fold. It involves careful use of the .speed command, a gentle touch on the rudders, and a firm hand on the throttle.
Because limits placed on the number of on-line players in Aces High (or any other on-line sim, for that matter), your faced with a cruel choice. Either a take a large formation, with pilots filling the duel role as gunners, or take half as many buffs, with two players in each (one as pilot, the other as a dedicated gunner). In the former, you sacrifice formation integrity during attack for a greater number of defensive guns. In the latter case, you have tighter formations, but half the number of guns. This becomes extremely important when face with multiple bandits attacking from multiple directions.
Note: WarBirds (WB) has “Sgt. Otto,” i.e. the computer will automatically act as gunner, firing at targets within the pre-determined parameters built into the AI. However, even in the case of WB, human gunners are preferable, as they can work together, prioritize threats, and are not restricted by factors that constrain Otto.
The method described involves flying from the nose gun position, instead of the cockpit. Why fly form a gun position, and why the nose? First, it offers an unobstructed view of the planes ahead and just to the sides (you don’t care how close you are to aircraft behind you…it’s their job to stay close to you. Second, while in the gunner position, the .speed command and “trim-on-speed” (TOS) autopilot still functions. Also, the rudders and throttle still work, and manipulating either will not disengage the autopilot.
Simply put, the lead plane (here after referred to simply as “Lead”) uses "Alt-X" to "trim on speed" (TOS), and selects a speed using the .speed command that will maintain the desired pitch attitude at a selected throttle setting. Lead MUST fly at something less than 100 percent (a manifold pressure (MP) of 40 is recommended), for reasons I’ll explain shortly. Lead announces his .speed setting to the flight, and must immediately relay any changes to it he makes. For a B-17 at 50% fuel load and 12x500 lb. bombs, a speed of 140 will give you a reasonable climb rate at 40 MP. Lead also fly’s from the nose gun, and uses gentle, pre-announced course corrections using only the rudders.
Everyone else simply uses the .speed cmd. (with the TOS engaged) to adjust range/closure rate to Lead. The rudder is used to adjust lateral spacing, and throttle to adjust altitude. Remember, the TOS autopilot cause the aircraft’s pitch to increase or decrease in order to maintain the speed set using the .speed cmd. If Lead has 140 set, and you have 140 set, you will both remain stationary to one another relative to two-dimensional spacing. If you’re sinking relative to Lead, throttle up; if rising higher than lead, throttle back. If you’re too far behind Lead, increase speed using the .speed command; if getting to close, set a lower speed. Throttle adjustments are again used to remain at the same altitude as lead. This all sounds somewhat complicate, so I’ll give you an example.
EXAMPLE: Let’s say I’m the second ship in a three plane combat box. All pilots jump to the runway. Lead calls “roll” and everyone throttles up. Once airborne and in at least a loose formation, Lead now throttles back to MP 40, then sets a speed of 140 using the ".speed" command and hits Alt-X to trim to speed. Everyone else in the formation does the same, then jumps to the nose-gun position.
Now let's assume that I notice I’m starting to fall behind. Therefore, I set a climb speed of 145. This lowers the nose to gain speed, so without increasing throttle, I’ll drop below the formation. Thus, I throttle up. Once I’ve closed to within 150 yards, I reset speed to 140, then chop throttle to 40 MP, coasting up to a position 75 yards behind Lead. A slight corrections with the rudder offsets me to Lead’s left, with the other Fort offset right.
Once I’m in positions, it’s extremely simple to simply tweak my throttle setting to maintain my horizontal position and my rudders to keep lateral position. Now when we’re attacked, all pilots can jump to whatever gun position necessary (remember to keep your feet off the rudder pedals while gunning). A formation stabilized in this manner will hold together for a long time while it fends off an attack. The key is for Lead to announce any changes in speed or direction in advance, and not to attempt either when enemy fighters are nearby. Once you reach crusing altitude, Lead must pick a speed and throttle setting that will hold level flight. REMEMBER, this is only effective with the .speed command. If Lead trims to level with "X" once you level off at altitude, instead of "Alt-X," it becomes much harder to hold formation -- triming to speed is the key to holding your formation together.
Obviously, if fighters attack while you’re on your bomb run, you’ll still be without defensive firepower. The way to get around this is to have one or two planes forego the bomb run to shoot at the fighters. Remember, the tighter the formation, the easier it is to defend. Some enemy pilots in Aces High will steer clear entirely of a large tight formation at high altitude. The Buccaneers have managed to fend off four and five enemy fighters at a time with only six Forts. The trick is to jump back as often as possible to the nose position, in order to arrest any formation drift that occurred during the attack.
This method really becomes quite intuitive very quickly. I had it mastered within the first ten minutes of flight when introduced to it. If I can do it, anyone can. Good luck, and good hunting.
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Sabre, a.k.a. Rojo
(S-2, The Buccaneers)
