I just finished watching History of Weapons at War and they were discussing fighter tactics. They mentioned the keys to successful fighter engagements and one of them stuck out; don't lose sight of your wingman. That has always been a problem. No matter the era of sim, I always manage to completely get seperated then either I go down, my wingman goes down or we both go down. What is the best way to keep track of you wingman in a flight sim?

Well, if you have padlock...then map a key to "padlock wingman" or similar.
Or, if that ain't possiple get yourself on his tail and watch him, after you give him the attack orders. That way your primary job is to guard his ass.

awj

A comment on terminology. 'Wingman' usually refers to the #2 plane in a two-ship...the #1 plane is the 'leader' or just 'lead'.

Lead has the job of flying the attack. As a rule, the wingman's job is to fly in the briefed formation position, lookout for bandits, and back up lead on navigation.

Therefore, we need to know who you are referring to...the lead or the wingman.

In a typical sim, the pan views are a good way to monitor the wingman if you are the lead. Some sims have a wingman padlock...if so, use it.

As a wingman, use your forward views or side snap views to maintain position. Use the pan views to check for bandits.

Andy

This is a great topic with lots of variables. For starters I would recommend guys grab a copy of Boots Blesse's "Not Guts, No Glory" for a Korean War approach to welded wing fighting. The Sabre AI actually flies this formation in Rowan's MiG Alley[Paul Gaudette Books in Tucson sells photocopies for $10 or so] Blesse to this day swears this is the correct way to fight air-to-air including his tour in SEA as the 366 TFW/DO in the F-4 (respectfully I must raise the Bullsh*t flag to this notion). Then I would suggest guys read Robert K. Wilcox's "Scream of Eagles" about the creation of the Navy's FWS (Top Gun) and how the USN treats the Lead/Wing relationship in air combat. The ole Loose Deuce/Double Attack "first guy with the tally is the engaged fighter" theory.

In a sim, sometimes it is impossible to keep sight of Lead (as the wingman) because he takes you into a furball and you become defensive (flying for your life). Likewise as Lead it is sometimes impossible to keep a Wingman from engaging short of ordering him to RTB.

Either way I find myself flying my best 1-v-X BFM then looking for a bugout when things turn to crap.

During Real Life [tm] ACM/DACT sorties I formed the impression that maintaining the visual was not always a requirement (tied up defensively or closing for a guns kill) as long as my SA was "up." Lead/Wing tells me "Tally, visual, press" is a good thing and I don't need to look for him. "Blind and No Joy" is a time to explore my options to get back together in an expeditious manner.

For similar reasons, in sims I never charge straight into a furball. I try to put it off to my 10 or 2 o'clock to isolate the threat (build SA) and go from there.

Robey

Some excellent suggestions re 'the contract' :-)

Especially Robey's about assigning a threat sector that you can look thru your lead into...

One more: if you're flying an advanced avionics fighter with an IFDL (data-link) your wingie will show up there as well. Excellent SA tool in sims <g>

Basically it all comes down to practice.
Multi is *ideal* for this polishing up this kind of stuff.


FAngs-444th
F4 RP Group
http://rpg.falcon40.com

Robey

>>respectfully I must raise the Bullsh*t flag to this notion)<<

Me too.

We were trained in Fluid Four when I first checked out in the F-4...the AF had yet to accept F2/DA as workable. Once the engagement heats up, I have never understood how anyone could fly the FW position and still maintain that they were 'checking six'...Blesse has probably forgotten more about A2A than we will ever know, but on this score, I choose to differ. Too much time in the #2 and #4 position, I suppose!

In any case, FW was a 'guns only' formation that came out of WW2...in a missile environment like Vietnam, it was a death sentence for the wingman. See the SEA air war analysis, "Clashes", for the straight skinny on this.

Andy

Since you put it that way, I kind of see the error of my ways. In modern sims (F/A-18, for example) I am usually flying lead. I would tend to cut my wingman loose then lose him in the resulting furball only to hear him desperately calling for help while I am fighting off bandits myself.

In other sims (EAW is a fine example) I am flying wing and we won't even go into what I do there. Needless to say, I usually end up isloated with 3 or 4 bandits circling me like vultures over a sick elephant.

[This message has been edited by awj112 (edited 05-18-2001).]