Enjoyed stepping in for Widewing while he had technical problems. Sorry I had to bow out a bit early but it was my wife's birthday afterall! Hope everyone got something out of it. For those that feel the maneuvers were challenging don't worry about it. After a while it'll become second nature. To clarify a few things I've posted a few diagrams as to what the maneuvers should look like in case I confused anyone with my verbal descriptions.
First, a little about lookout. Flying in section means you always have to keep track of your wingman. Combat Spread makes this easy. Your lookout responsibilites (in this case YOU are on the left of the formation) would extend from about your 10, through your wingman to your own 6 o'clock. By concentrating on this sector you cannot only spot bandits but also easily keep track of your wingman. Also, a very important point here is that YOU have a better view of your wingman's 6 than he has. If your wingman dies from an unobserved attack on his 6 IT'S YOUR FAULT. Sure, we always want to check our own 6 but, since that's the most vulnerable avenue of attack you need to put a lot of emphasis on keeping it clear.
A quick note on terminology here. In formation flight there is one position you're supposed to be in. If you're ahead of that position you are "accute". If you're behind you're "sucked". Remember that you can fine tune your position by climbing to slow down (without loosing E) or descend a bit to accelerate to move up into position. Usually, it's a combination for instance, say that after a turn the wingman is sucked. The lead climbs while the wingman noses over a bit so the wingman can catch up. If the wingman is more than just a little out of position use a Shackle turn (discussed at the end).
OK, the first maneuver we looked at was the "Tac Turn" (short for "tactical turn") The whole objective is to maneuver the section such that you can maintain a good spread formation and the 90 deg TacTurn is the basic maneuver you'll use. Remember that you need to use climbs and descents to adjust your position.
Although the Tac 90 left (or right) is pretty standard, the TacTurn can be easily done with more or less of a turn as shown below:
I won't cover the cross turn since Widewing already diagrammed that for you so the last new one we covered is the "Shackle Turn". The primary purpose of the Shackle is to redress the formation when the wingman is significantly behind the lead. It's simply a delaying turn to allow the wingman to catch up. It's very typical that a Shackle will be used after an engagement and as the fighters bug out. The Shackle not only lets the wingman get back into position but also allows the lead to attack any bandits trailing his wingman.
