Multi-Ship Operations

Check-in — before anything else happens. Wingmen answer by number, in order, nothing else.

Frequency change — lead pushes, everyone follows, everyone checks in again.

Talking to ATC as a flight — lead states the flight size every time. Wingmen say nothing.

Fuel check — lead calls, everyone reports in order.

• "Check" — sound off in order, confirm everyone is up.
• "Push [freq]" — whole flight changes frequency now.
• "Visual" — I see the aircraft you mean.
• "Blind" — I have lost sight of my formation. Say it immediately.
• "Tally" / "No joy" — I do / do not see the target or traffic.
• "Anchored" — I am holding at the assigned point.
• "Bingo" — I am at the fuel state that ends my participation.
• "Knock it off" — everyone stop the current manoeuvre. Anyone can call it, no one argues.
• "Terminate" — stop this engagement, continue the mission.
• "Say again" — repeat. Never "what?" or "huh?"

1. Brief the flight. Lead covers: formation type, route, altitudes, TOT, comms plan, abort criteria, contingencies. Ten minutes now saves an hour of confusion.
2. Assign callsigns. From the squadron pool. Lead takes the first, and positions run in order — BONE 01, 02, 03, 04.
3. Agree the sim build. Same aircraft add-on and same sim version across the flight, or the aircraft will not behave the same. Mismatched builds is the most common cause of a formation nobody can hold.
4. Set weather and time. Everyone on the same real-weather setting and the same clock, or you are flying different missions.
5. Confirm everyone can hear everyone. Radio check on Discord before engines.

1. Spawn in position order. Lead at the front of the ramp, wingmen behind in sequence. Avoid spawning on top of each other — stagger by a few seconds.
2. Check in on Discord. Full flight sound-off before lead requests clearance.
3. Lead gets clearance for the flight. One clearance, one flight plan, flight size stated.
4. Taxi in order with spacing. Keep one aircraft length minimum. Do not push into lead's tail on the taxiway.
5. Line up as briefed. Single file for interval departure. Do not attempt formation takeoff — heavies do not, and the sim handles it badly.
6. Interval takeoff. 20–30 seconds between aircraft, standard. Lead calls the roll: "BONE 01 rolling." Each wingman calls their own.
7. Climb on runway heading until the flight is airborne and lead calls the turn. Wingmen do not cut the corner to catch up.

After an interval departure the flight is strung out. The rejoin brings it back into cell. Lead sets the conditions and everyone else closes — slowly.

1. Lead levels off and sets rejoin speed. Typically 250–280 KIAS, called on Discord: "BONE flight, rejoin, 260 knots."
2. Wingmen accelerate to close. No more than 50 knots of overtake, and bleed it early.
3. Each aircraft calls visual when they can see the aircraft ahead of them — not lead, the one directly ahead.
4. Take position in order. Two behind lead, Three behind Two, Four behind Three. Nobody leapfrogs.
5. Call in position. "Two's in." "Three's in." Lead then sets cruise speed.
6. Stabilize before the next event. Do not start the AR or the target run with the flight still sorting itself out.

• Lead calls the turn before starting it. "BONE flight, right turn heading zero-nine-zero." Never turn unannounced.
• Wingmen turn at the same geographic point, not at the same time. Fly to where lead started the turn, then turn.
• Keep the bank gentle. 20–25° maximum in cell. A steep turn opens the formation up badly.
• Expect the accordion. Trail spacing compresses on the inside of a turn and stretches on the outside. Adjust with small power changes, not with cutting the corner.

1. Flight arrives at the anchor in cell. Lead coordinates with the tanker for the whole flight.
2. One at a time. Lead takes fuel first while the rest hold in observation or on a racetrack behind the tanker.
3. Each aircraft calls off. "One's off the boom, clearing right." Next aircraft moves in only after that call.
4. Aircraft that finish rejoin on lead, not on the tanker.
5. Lead confirms the flight is complete before departing the track.

1. Deconflict before the IP, not on the run-in. Every aircraft must know its own target, its own run-in heading, and its own TOT.
2. Stagger TOTs. 30–60 seconds between aircraft minimum. Simultaneous release on the same target puts the trailer through the leader's frag pattern.
3. Separate run-in headings where possible. Different axes are safer than the same axis in trail.
4. Each aircraft calls its own release. "Two's away." Lead tracks the flight's progress.
5. Egress on the briefed heading, as a flight where possible. Do not turn back through the target area.
6. Rejoin at the briefed point once everyone is clear.

1. Lead coordinates the recovery with approach as a flight, and states the intent: in-trail approach, or breakup for individual approaches.
2. Default is breakup. Unless briefed otherwise, the flight splits before the approach and each aircraft flies its own. Simplest and safest.
3. Lead calls the breakup point. "BONE flight, breakup, contact approach individually."
4. Wingmen check in with ATC individually from that point — this is the one time wingmen transmit on VATSIM.
5. Sequence by fuel state. Lowest fuel lands first, regardless of position in the formation.
6. Minimum 3 NM final spacing, more for heavies on the same runway. Wake turbulence is modelled and a B-52 behind a B-1 at 2 NM will feel it.
7. Everyone reports down on Discord. Lead confirms the whole flight is safe before the debrief.

• Do it while it is fresh. Five minutes on Discord after landing beats a forum post the next day.
• Timeline first. Did we hit the TOT? Where did time get lost?
• Then formation. Where did spacing break down, and why?
• Then comms. What was unclear? What got stepped on?
• Everyone speaks, including lead. Lead's errors are the most instructive ones in the flight.
• Log the flight in Flight Ops with the formation position noted.

The most common formation problem and the one with the clearest fix. Say it immediately — there is nothing embarrassing about going blind and everything dangerous about hiding it.

1. Call it. "Two's blind."
2. Lead responds with a deconfliction plan. "Two, lead is at flight level two-six-zero, come left heading three-one-zero and climb to two-seven-zero."
3. Take altitude separation first. Vertical is the fastest way to guarantee no collision.
4. Re-establish visual before rejoining. Do not close on a contact you cannot see.
5. If you cannot regain it, lead assigns a holding point or sends you home individually. A safe single aircraft beats an unsafe formation.

• Discord drops for one aircraft: they leave the formation, take 1,000 ft of separation, and reconnect. Rejoin only after re-establishing voice.
• Discord drops for everyone: flight breaks up, everyone proceeds individually, regroup in the text channel.
• VATSIM comms lost for lead: element lead takes over ATC comms and the flight continues. Brief this beforehand.
• Total sim disconnect: the remaining flight continues. Do not orbit waiting — the disconnected pilot cannot rejoin mid-mission safely.
• Brief a text-channel fallback. When voice fails, everyone needs to know where to look.

• Any aircraft may abort at any time for any reason — sim problem, real life, discomfort with the situation. No explanation required in the air.
• Aborting aircraft calls it and separates. "Three is aborting, descending to two-four-zero, turning south."
• The flight renumbers only if lead says so. Do not silently become Three because Three left.
• If lead aborts, element lead assumes the flight. Brief this before every mission — it takes ten seconds and prevents a scramble.
• A cell that drops below two aircraft is no longer a cell. Continue as a single or terminate.

• Wingman transmits on VATSIM. Coach: "Lead talks to ATC. You talk to lead."
• Flying too close. Coach: "This is a bomber cell, not the Thunderbirds. Give it two miles."
• Excessive overtake on the rejoin. Coach: "Check your closure now, not at a quarter mile."
• Cutting the corner in a turn. Coach: "Turn where lead turned, not when lead turned."
• Not calling blind. Coach: "Blind is a call, not a failure. Make it."
• Chatter during critical phases. Coach: "Discord is quiet from the IP to the egress."
• No abort brief. Coach: "If lead drops, who has the flight? Say it before we launch."
• Mismatched sim builds. Coach: "Same aircraft, same version, checked before spawn."

• Formation type, spacing and stack stated
• Route, altitudes and TOT for every aircraft individually
• Comms plan — which channel carries what, and the text fallback
• Every pilot states their own target and run-in heading back to lead
• Deconfliction method named explicitly: time, altitude, or geography
• Abort criteria and succession — who takes the flight if lead drops
• Blind and lost-comms procedures confirmed understood
• Recovery plan: breakup point and landing sequence
• Sim build and weather settings confirmed matching across the flight