Danny Deger wrote:

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...


Danny Deger wrote:

snip
I'm not a Naval Aviator but I've done quite a lot of energy
maneuverability research with them flying T38's and have a few hours
in the F14 doing ACM.
Section is the common term used in the Navy for an element pair
whether in fighting wing or double attack spread formation which is
the old loose deuce section. The section in DA can be split between
lead and the wing as to who is engaged at any instant in time.

Is DA line abreast about 6,000 feet apart? We called this "tactical"
formation in the Air Force and we used it 99% of the time when egaging
an enemy. Like you said, number 2 is just as likely as number 1 to
become the primary offensive guy post merge.

Nuke strike was single ship, so we didn't have to worry about all that
formation stuff on that mission.

Danny Deger

P.S. Did you get any stick time doing ACM in the F-14?



Double attack is just another name for loose deuce. Formation changes
between the engaged and free fighter are common and position is usually
held by yo yo'ing high or low on the call into or away from lead. Your
AF counterpart would be fluid two or fluid four.
Never flown the F4, but the lateral separation sounds about right. It's
usually a consideration of turn radius and lead would usually have the
section a little above corner to account for snatch factor in a switch.
Double Attack I think works much better for the wingman than fighting
wing where if lead suddenly pulls max allowable g the trailer can be
sucked in trail. In double attack, the trailer yo yo's and either goes
high or low maintaining position.

On the Turkey; No, the Navy was smart enough to stick my butt in the
back. Being a civilian, even a fair stick with a fighter just ain't
enough to get stick time in the Turkey.
The T38 on the other hand was all mine to do with as I wished. Had the
Dash 1 for a week and they gave me the front seat; no problem.
To tell you the truth, I liked it that way. The Natops on the Turkey is
6 inches wide. The Talon was a piece of cake. Loved flying that airplane.
Dudley Henriques