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I am a former Naval Aviator. At least 2/3 of
my 1600 military hours were flown in formation. I have another hundred
hours or so of civilian formation. The skill of the civilians I have flown
with reflected the skill of the nasal radiators I have flown with, given a
comparable number of hours of formation training. In other words, I have
flown with some boys with golden crotch keys who scared the bejeezus out of me,
and I have flown with some civilians who I would put my canopy within 5 feet of
their wing-tip and feel just as confident as with the best of my squadron
mates. It comes down to basic stick & rudder skills and the proper
QUALITY of training. You MUST get training from a competent, qualified
instructor (not necessarily a CFI) and you MUST fly form on a regular basis, or
you will be dangerous to yourself and others. If you don't have a full
understanding of relative motion, intercept angle, sight picture, running
rendezvous, cross-under, and being acute or sucked, don't even think about
flying close to another airplane on purpose.
My 2 cents.
Lee "Moondog" Metcalfe
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