Lead Aircraft Semi-Manual Control RadioButton and GroupBox

Select the Lead Aircraft Semi-Manual Control RadioButton to enable the controls in the Lead Aircraft Semi-Manual Control GroupBox and to stop any Pre-recorded Lead Profile that is in progress and to disable all the controls in the Pre-recorded Lead Controls GroupBox.

Use the appropriate Sliders to control the lead aircraft's Roll Angle and Roll Rate, Pitch Angle and Pitch Rate, and Indicated Airspeed and Acceleration. In addition, use the Wing Dip, Porpoise, Big Wing Rock or Small Wing Rock PushButton to cause the lead aircraft to perform the associated maneuver.

Note: Due to customer feedback, the sensitivity of the Acceleration Slider is most effective in the lower half of its range. The lowest setting provides about 10% and the medium setting provides about 70% of the maximum acceleration to the new airspeed.

For example, this is how to change the lead aircraft's roll angle: Use the Roll Rate Slider to select the Slow position and then use the Roll Slider to select a new roll angle. Since the Roll Rate Slider is in the Slow position, the lead aircraft's roll angle will slowly change to the selected angle. Conversely, if the Roll Rate Slider had been positioned on Fast and then the Roll Slider had been moved to a new position, then the lead aircraft's roll angle would have quickly changed to the selected angle.

Pre-recorded Lead Controls RadioButton and GroupBox

Select the Pre-recorded Lead Controls RadioButton to enable the controls in the Pre-recorded Lead Controls GroupBox and to stop any Lead Aircraft Semi-Manual Controls that are in progress and to disable all the controls in the Lead Aircraft Semi-Manual Controls GroupBox.

Use the Desired Profile ComboBox to pick the name of the desired Formation Flight Profile which in turn will cause the profile to automatically load. At this point, the Track Name and Number ComboBox will be updated with the first track of the Desired Profile selected.

Use the Track Name and Number ComboBox to go to any track in the pre-recorded profile, or use the Next Track PushButton to skip to the beginning of the next track, or use the Prev Track PushButton to skip back to the beginning of the previous track.

Upon changing tracks the lead aircraft will go to the position found at the beginning of the selected track and then Pause will be automatically selected. At this point, it will be up to the instructor to reposition the wing aircraft relative to the lead aircraft's new position. Repositioning the wing aircraft is accomplished by any one of the methods described in the Plan and Rear View Plots or Wing Reposition sections.

Once a desired track has been selected, the instructor may begin playing by selecting the Start Playing PushButton and of course may stop playing by selecting the Stop Playing PushButton.

Use the Pause PushButton to pause both the lead and the wing aircraft. Deselecting Pause will cause both aircraft to resume from their current positions.

Plan and Rear View Plots

The Plan View and Rear View plots are constantly updated to show the relative position of the wing aircraft with respect to the lead aircraft. The lead aircraft is always shown in the center of both plots. The Plan View only shows Fore/Aft, Left/Right position and the Rear View only shows Left/Right, Above/Below position.

To reposition the wing aircraft, click the left mouse button anywhere in either or both plots. The wing aircraft will be centered about the selected point. This procedure is refered to as a Touch reposition and upon completion, the ComboBox shown in the Wing Reposition GroupBox will have the text "Touch" selected. This serves as a reminder as to what type of reposition was performed to get the wing aircraft in it's current position.

The scales of both plots are automatically adjusted based upon the maximum distance, in any direction, between the lead and wing aircraft.

Wing Reposition

Use the Select Standard Formation Position ComboBox to select a common position, relative to the lead aircraft, in which to reposition the wing aircraft. The options are Touch, Fingertip Left, Fingertip Right, Close Trail, 100ft Route Left, 100ft Route Right, Starboard Parade, Starboard Turns Into, Starboard Turns Away (VMC), Starboard Turns Away (IMC), Port Parade, Port Turns Into, Port Turns Away (VMC), Port Turns Away (IMC), B/R 60 Degree Bearing and Lead. The last option selected stays selected so as to serve as a reminder as to what type of reposition was performed to get the wing aircraft in it's current position. Selecting the Touch option, in this ComboBox, does nothing.

Use the Reposition to Selection PushButton to actually cause the wing aircraft to move to the position selected in the Select Standard Formation Position ComboBox.

Lead Aircraft Parameters

The Lead Aircraft Parameters GroupBox displays the current Altitude, Heading, Latitude and Longitude of the lead aircraft. These parameters are not modifiable.