C152 Formation Flying

Originally posted by Whiskey Delta
Formation flying in aircraft where you have 2 side-by-side seats makes the observer a necessity. Sitting in the left seat makes any aircraft in close proximity on your right nearly invisible. Even with the extra pair of eyes we ended up too close a few times.

I can understand that and it wouldn’t make any diffference whether the aircraft were high or low wing

Formation flying in aircraft where you have 2 side-by-side seats makes the observer a necessity. Sitting in the left seat makes any aircraft in close proximity on your right nearly invisible. Even with the extra pair of eyes we ended up too close a few times.

The only reason we had 2 pilots in each of the C152’s was one of them was a spotter. Passengers are forbidden in the FAA as well.

Originally posted by PhantomII
Great pictures guys.

Personally I don’t see why a Cessna 152 formation is such a boring thing.

Any formation is neat to watch because it shows you how truly dedicated and skilled the pilot’s at the controls are.

They truly have a mastery of their airplane, and that in itself is quite a feat in my opinion.

I’ve learned on the 152, and I find it a wonderful airplane.

I wouldn’t care what airshow I was at, I’d love to watch a 152 formation.

Also, a 152 Aerobat would be fun to watch do aerobatics.

Mr. curill do you truly have the passion for aviation that so many of the rest of us do?

OK here we go.

1) I was not criticising as you would have realised if you read what I actually wrote instead of what you thought I wrote.

2) If you cannot spell my surname correctly don’t use it , call me mike like everyone else does.

3) Yes I am as pasionate about aviation as the other people on this forum. I am not just passionate about aviation I am a fanatic as my would very quickly tell you.

Great pictures guys.

Personally I don’t see why a Cessna 152 formation is such a boring thing.

Any formation is neat to watch because it shows you how truly dedicated and skilled the pilot’s at the controls are.

They truly have a mastery of their airplane, and that in itself is quite a feat in my opinion.

I’ve learned on the 152, and I find it a wonderful airplane.

I wouldn’t care what airshow I was at, I’d love to watch a 152 formation.

Also, a 152 Aerobat would be fun to watch do aerobatics.

Mr. curill do you truly have the passion for aviation that so many of the rest of us do?

Originally posted by YakRider
At the Coventry Airshow, the local flying club did a bit of Cessna formation flying before the main event began – nice gentle manoeuvres, and certainly something different.

The pic shows them taking off in formation. They also did a very impressive formation landing. Perhaps they could be coaxed to did their bit somewhere else.

YR

Great shot, lookin’ good I reckon

AWESOME PICTURE YakRider. I knew other airshows had to understand the interest in the GA formation. Those C152’s look sharp in the red and white paint.

At the Coventry Airshow, the local flying club did a bit of Cessna formation flying before the main event began – nice gentle manoeuvres, and certainly something different.

The pic shows them taking off in formation. They also did a very impressive formation landing. Perhaps they could be coaxed to did their bit somewhere else.

YR

Originally posted by SteveYoung
Whiskey Delta – nice one! 152’s are nice and docile to learn in, but I’d be petrified at the prospect of getting into close formation work in one. Great bit of flying there, well done.

We do indeed, and I have to say I enjoy these shows more than I do the big ones. The display at Little Gransden (this years is on 31st August – shameless plug!) has a bit of eveything; last year ranged from a trio of Turbulents doing flour bombing and balloon bursting to a Mustang pairs display. A C152 formation pass would have been a perfect addition to the display.

Mike – I don’t know where you’re located but in my neck of the woods (East Anglia) these smaller events are surprisingly frequent. FlyPast Fly-in at North Weald next weekend, Rougham Air Display near Bury St Edmunds a week later, and Gransden on the 31st. There you go, that’s just three I know of that are on this month. I’d urge you to make the effort to go and have a look. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Nowt wrong with plugging something close to your heart, go for it I say.

Unfortunately here in deepest Oxfordshire we don’t have events like this

Whiskey Delta – nice one! 152’s are nice and docile to learn in, but I’d be petrified at the prospect of getting into close formation work in one. Great bit of flying there, well done.

Originally posted by Whiskey Delta
Do you have fly-in’s at small fields where an airport puts on an event to draw in local pilots and airplanes?

We do indeed, and I have to say I enjoy these shows more than I do the big ones. The display at Little Gransden (this years is on 31st August – shameless plug!) has a bit of eveything; last year ranged from a trio of Turbulents doing flour bombing and balloon bursting to a Mustang pairs display. A C152 formation pass would have been a perfect addition to the display.

Mike – I don’t know where you’re located but in my neck of the woods (East Anglia) these smaller events are surprisingly frequent. FlyPast Fly-in at North Weald next weekend, Rougham Air Display near Bury St Edmunds a week later, and Gransden on the 31st. There you go, that’s just three I know of that are on this month. I’d urge you to make the effort to go and have a look. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Do you have fly-in’s at small fields where an airport puts on an event to draw in local pilots and airplanes?

Originally posted by Whiskey Delta
It has its place though like the little airshow at the local airport here. It was always a crowd pleaser to see a fleet of the schools own C152’s take to the sky and do some formation flying. At a larger, more professional gathering it wouldn’t really fit.

Someone did use to do a C-150 Aerobat aerobatics routine at the big annual airshow up the road here. They pretended that the instructor forgot to remove the wheel chocks and when he got out the “student” pilot rumbled down the runway and started do all sorts of crazy manuvers once airbourne. It was a great show but I haven’t see it in 5 years.

I think you have hit on the one place it would go down well but unfortunately we tend not to have su8ch things at many locations in the UK

It has its place though like the little airshow at the local airport here. It was always a crowd pleaser to see a fleet of the schools own C152’s take to the sky and do some formation flying. At a larger, more professional gathering it wouldn’t really fit.

Someone did use to do a C-150 Aerobat aerobatics routine at the big annual airshow up the road here. They pretended that the instructor forgot to remove the wheel chocks and when he got out the “student” pilot rumbled down the runway and started do all sorts of crazy manuvers once airbourne. It was a great show but I haven’t see it in 5 years.

Originally posted by Whiskey Delta
You definately don’t, I wonder why?

PRobably because someone somewher decided at some stage that it would not impress airshow crowds and they were most likely right

You definately don’t, I wonder why?

Great pics, WD, really enjoyed those! A formation of C152 – which I like a lot – is something you don’t see every day!!!

Amarillo, TX in June this year. I wasn’t piloting, but was along for a very happy ride in a formation of three T-6s and the T-34 in front. My first time in formation (and in a T-6) and hopefully not the last – it was huge fun!

I also want to add that the C152 is a very difficult aircraft to fly in formation due to the light wing loading. Being down low as the summer thermals kick up really played havoc on the flights. I would like to do more formation flying as I found it to be challanging and fun but next time I would like to have a more stable platform to play with.

Anyone have any other pictures or experiences they’d like to share?

Here’s the last of them. I did the formation flight for 1 other event after that and had a blast doing it. The current administration at the field doen’t allow it anymore for what ever reason which is too bad as it was a nice way to showcase the flight school. Oh well, I had my go of it and loved the experience.

Then we practiced a few passes in a different formation. It’s hard to tell but the aircraft numbers (not the N-number) are being flown in order: 11, 12, 13, 14 and we’re in 15. We had the best of the lot in my opinion. 🙂