Formation flying (in bad weather)...

[Volker_Nemsch]

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Maybe a silly question, but were there official proceedures for formation flying in bad weather (clouds, rain, limited vision due to other reasons)?

Close formations were necessary to see the signals of the flight leader or they were needed for defensive action against attacking aircraft. But but even while flying trough just one several hundred meter thick/long cloud the danger of collisions between aircraft of the same flight was considerable. Did the flight split up in smaller formations of would the flight leader order the others to fly different routes and to re-assemble over a defined location (a town, a river, etc.) after leaving the zone of bad weather?


Any ideas or comments are welcome...

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[Volker_Nemsch]

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"Maybe a silly question, but were there official proceedures for formation flying in bad weather (clouds, rain, limited vision due to other reasons)?"

Well, since the daily threads in connection with "100 years ago" are so numerous () I'll try to ask again before my thread is swept away to "page 2" or "page 3"...

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[Barry Hickson]

G'day Volker!
Cant say I remember ever seeing anything in print on this subject.

Hopefully someone will have some knowledge on the subject.

[regular122]

In the manual "Practical Flying" published in 1918 for British pilots, there is a section in Chapter 9 about flying in overcast clouds, fog, heavy rain and rough wind. No mention is made about formations. Generally, the pilots were instructed to avoid these conditions and if they happened upon them, to find their bearings and make for their fields or a place to land. Steve

[Pips]

I don't know of any 'official' rules regarding formation flying in bad weather.

However, instances of formations flying in bad weather are rife in numerous pilots biography's. And invariably the rule seemed to be the stay in formation at all times. That doesn't mean that formations were indeed held in all instances. Many accounts are mentioned of pilots losing their flight and returning home or simply stooging around until they sight other friendly aircraft. But nevertheless it seems formations were expected to be held, or immediately regroup after passing through heavy clouds.

Important to keep in mind that visibility in WWI era aircraft was far superior to their more modern enclosed cockpit counterparts. Also the slower speed (it's all relative) made formation flying somewhat easier.