Here is a diagram of a formation flown by the U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Bomb Group in an actual WWII mission flown on August 29, 1944. A picture is worth a thousand words, and this image shows what happened to the laggers...they were shot down.
The moral of the story in the image below is to get yourself tucked in close to your buddies and hold that position using the Autopilot Wingman Mode function so you won't drift apart when you are in your guns.
Because each bomber pilot controls 3 planes in his formation in Aces High it takes only 8 pilots to form a formation very similar to the diagram below, and we will fly smaller segments of the diagram when we have less than 8 pilots.
There were also altitude variations used in WWII bombing formations (high, center, and low positions within a formation), but as the war progressed the elevation differences were minimized to "pack'em in tight." So we will focus most on the horizontal and less on the vertical to keep things simple, fun, and VERY effective.
Whether flying with 3, 4, 5 or more bomber pilots, by using the formation concept below and holding it with the Autopilot Wingman Mode the chance for survival of the entire formation is greatly enhanced. The width of the formation makes it more dangerous for interceptors to approach the "Tail End Charlie" positions and the length of the formation makes raking frontal, top and bottom approaches by interceptors more difficult.
