Missing man formation
The Missing Man Formation ( German Missing Man Formation ) is an honorary formation for fallen soldiers of the air force. During the funeral service, planes fly over the scene. A place in the formation remains empty to symbolize the now vacated place of the dead person to be honored. After the end of World War II , variants also emerged in which an aircraft breaks out of the formation during the ceremony.
description
The formation is available in several variants. In the United States , the "four-finger" combat formation , which has the shape of a "V", is usually flown. The swarm leader is in the lead, his wingman on his left. The leader of the second squad flies to the right, and his squad pilot follows right behind. This formation flies so low over the ceremony that it can be clearly seen. When they are exactly over the field, the leader of the second squad pulls up abruptly in the strongest climb possible without overturning , while all other aircraft continue to fly straight until they are out of sight. This variant is among other things in the film The Stuff of which the Heroes are to be seen right at the beginning.
If more than four aircraft are used or an aircraft has to turn back unexpectedly due to problems on the way to the ceremony, they usually fly in the same formation, but one position remains visibly free.
A variant is an approach from the south, if possible with low sun. A plane then breaks out west and flies into the sunset.
history
The first overflight at a funeral probably took place in World War I , when British fighter pilots paid their last respects to the German aviator Manfred von Richthofen .
In 1936, the first definitive overflight took place at the funeral service for the British King George V. The United States first adopted the overflight tradition in 1938 when General Oscar Westover was buried. 50 aircraft flew over the scene, one seat remained free. After the end of World War II, honor formations with breakaway appeared for the first time.
On December 6, 2018, 21 US Navy jets flew over the Presidential Library in honor of the 41st US President George Herbert Walker Bush. The last 4 jets flew the missing man formation.
Lost wingman formation or procedure
Occasionally the term "lost wingman formation" is used for this maneuver, but this is controversial in pilot and specialist circles. In fact, there is a "lost-wingman procedure ". This flight maneuver is to be used in the event that the wingman ( English "wingman" ) in a close formation - that is, the accompanying squad pilot - loses sight of the leader of the formation. The risk of a collision would be very high at this moment, since narrow formations are not flown primarily for entertainment at flight shows, but rather in order not to lose the squad leader in poor visibility (in clouds and haze). The pilot flying on the right is therefore required to move away to the right, the pilot flying on the left to the left.
If this happens in a curve immediately after take-off, this is a dangerous situation as it would force the pilot flying inside to pull harder, which could lead to a stall. To avoid this, (if radio contact is made) the Rotten- or flight leader (ger .: " Leader of the wingman who has lost visual contact with the radio command" ") Leader roll out given". The leader , i.e. the machine in front, changes over to straight flight and the Rottenflieger keeps his curve. When the two machines have re-established contact via radar or vision after the situation has been clarified (usually after approx. 30 seconds), the system unlocks and the formation is restored. Furthermore, there are further rules for special cases such as wind direction, visibility, time of day and various positions.
However, since the terms "missing man formation " and "lost wingman formation " have often been mixed up in many publications and articles , these terms cannot be clearly separated. When pilots get a comrade through z. B. Lose a crash, the term "lost" (ie: "lost") is not wrong. The delimitation of "lost wingman procedure " is still clear.
literature
- Billy C. Mossman and M. Warner Stark: The last salute: civil and military funerals, 1921-1969. - Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 1971 [i. e. 1972] <reprint 1974>.
