How to join up ?

[Wazaza]

Hello! Haole,

I'd like to know about join up tips. If I'm in a one-mile trail position as a wingman and be ordered a close up formation such as fingertip, at what speed should I join up to the leader ? Is there any rule of thumb? (Suppose that the leader is crusing at 350 Knots)

Thanks in advance,

Wazaza

[Haole]

Hello! Haole,

I'd like to know about join up tips. If I'm in a one-mile trail position as a wingman and be ordered a close up formation such as fingertip, at what speed should I join up to the leader ? Is there any rule of thumb? (Suppose that the leader is crusing at 350 Knots)

Thanks in advance,

Wazaza
You just kind of "eye it". You look at your radar and see what the guys airspeed is and how far away you are. In this case you would see that he is going 350 and one mile off the nose. So no need in speeding up to 500 knots! Just push the power up a little and smoothly move in. If he is 10 miles away, then you can push it up and once you get in closer start backing off the airspeed a little.
I know this is vague, but thats the way we do it. Some people use this rule of thumb once you get in close...for every thousand feet that you have left inside of a mile your closure should be that number minus 2 zeros (5000 feet to go=50 knots of closure, 3000 feet to go=30 knots of closure,etc)
Hope this helped you out!
:beer:

[Wazaza]

Thank you for the kind reply :thumb:

"Eye it ! " - I could see what your point is. Thank you again!

[Sierra Tango]

Is IFR as difficult in real life as it is in falcon??. it sems hard to close on the tanker when there always turning, just when I get close the tanker enters a turn, is the hose and drouge method easier than the boom method??

[Haole]

Joining up and refueling in IFR is very sporty! In real life it seems like the tanker turns just as you get there, too! They have airspace restrictions and have to fly orbits, so yes they turn a lot.
I have never used anything except a boom, so I cant answer that last question for ya. Sorry!:bigsmile: