Five airplanes Archives - Victor Romeo Formation

Echelon Break

VRF - PT - Echelon Break — Photo by Pierre Theuerkauf

The Echelon Break is one of the most fun formations to fly. We dive down in Echelon Formation, and then pull up sharply, one after the other.

<– This is what our dive looks like!

During this maneuver, the pilots must closely watch their speed. When diving down, the speed may not go over 140 knots, which is the highest speed our planes are allowed to fly. However, for pulling up we do need quite some speed. Our dive gets us to about 130 knots (240 kilometers per hour). And that while we see the beach and the sea get closer and closer…

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The Pull

The Pull allows the formation to quickly gain altitude without the formation breaking apart. It’s not a maneuver performed during shows, since the planes are already at the right altitude prior to entering the display area. The formation does frequently perform this maneuver on Sunday mornings during training.

The departure route from Rotterdam The Hague Airport to Hook of Holland is situated at 1000 feet (about 300 meters). More than high enough to fly safely, but for practicing formations we prefer to start a bit higher. The Pull brings the formation to 1500 feet, just about 450 meters. This allows for more leeway to correct any mishaps. Besides, the higher we fly, the less loud we are for people on the ground. We do like to entertain you on Sunday morning, but we don’t like to ruin your lazy morning, and six planes do produce quite some noise!

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Crossbreak

VRF Crossbreak by Gerritjan Huinink — Photo by Gerritjan Huinink

The goal of a Crossbreak is to create the illusion that the airplanes are flying directly through each other. Then they create a beautiful explosion with planes flying in all directions.

The Victor Romeo Formation flies crossbreaks with three, four, five, or six airplanes. It’s not an easy maneuver to perform and also not without risks. The formation has taken care of the risks though, by incorporating several safety measures that ensure that nothing can go wrong. The most important measure is separation: the planes need to keep enough distance so they can safely turn away in front of one another.

When the leader calls out “prepare for Crossbreak” over the radio, the planes start to form a line, alternating between flying on the left and flying on the right. The leader always flies left. Planes flying left will make a right turn and vice versa.

Because the leader is unable to see all the other planes from his frontmost position, he is relying on the last plane to check whether everyone is in the right position. Over the radio the last pilot will verify “in position”, and then the crossbreak can begin!

The formation will start a dive. They do this because they need to pick up speed to turn away (and sometimes pull up) sharply. When the formation nears the display line (when practicing in Hoek van Holland, this is the beach) the leader will count down: “three, two, one, go”. Then, all the planes will start their turn (or pull).

On our Instagram page you can find a pilot’s view of the Crossbreak, go to highlights > Pilot’s View. Have a look!

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Two-Seventy

A Two-Seventy is a maneuver, not a formation. This means that it’s a pattern flown through the air, much like lazy eights or chandelles.

As the name suggests, a Two-Seventy refers to a turn of 270 degrees. Three-fourth around the protractor! Such a turn in itself isn’t very special. However, the formation incorporates altitude differences throughout the turn. From the perspective of the audience, it looks like the planes are performing a looping!

You can see the flown altitude differences in this schematic. At the beginning of the turn, the formation is flying relatively high. They then dive down, picking up speed. A bit later they pull up again, trading speed for altitude.

A fun fact about the Two-Seventy: only the leader knows about where he is throughout the turn. He also knows when to dive, when to turn, and when to pull up. The numbers 2, 3, 4 and so on certainly know what is about to happen but they rely on the leader for the commands to guide them. They are too focused on flying a tight formation to know how much of the turn has already been completed. The commands used for guidance by the leader are the following: “Two-Seventy, left-hand”, and “dive… start banking… and pull up”.

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Star Formation

For a Star Formation, you need five or six aircraft. On this schematic, you see a Star Formation with five aircraft: three in Line Astern position with two planes in Vic, on the wing of the before-last airplane flying Line Astern.

With six aircraft the ‘base’ becomes longer – there will then be four planes flying Line Astern. The two on the wing will remain next to the before-last plane in Line Astern.

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Eagle Formation

Eagle Formation: almost a little American, isn’t it? If it weren’t for the fact that Robins are notoriously hard to find across the pond… Anyway, the Eagle Formation is best flown with six aircraft, as you can see on the schematic here. Five planes are also possible. The one behind the number one is left out in that case. The eagle’s ‘nose’ and ‘wings’ remain intact.

The Eagle Formation is a very wide formation as on both sides of the leader, two planes are flying in Line Abreast position. Thus, next to each other with about one meter between either wingtip. Due to its wide nature, it’s difficult to fly turns. This is due to the difference in speed between the outmost plane and inmost plane which is necessary to complete the turn in the formation. For more information about this, check out the Line Abreast Formation.

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Diamond Formation

You need five or six aircraft to fly a Diamond Formation. The difference between one with five and one with six is simple: the last plane in Line Astern position is lost with five and added with six.

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Cross Formation

In Cross Formation the planes create a symmetrical cross. It can be flown with five or six airplanes. When flying with five, the formation is a mix between Line Astern and Line Abreast. With six aircraft, it’s a combination of Line Astern and a Vic Formation.

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Delta Formation

The Delta Formation creates a letter D, starting with three airplanes up front in Line Abreast position. Row two consists out of two aircraft flying Line Abreast and the fifth plane flies behind them, on its own. It is possible to fly the Delta Formation with five aircraft only, as you can see in the top right image.

Zijaanzicht van vliegtuigen die recht achter elkaar vliegen — Zijaanzicht van een Delta Formation

In Delta Formation, each row of planes flies a little lower than the row in front of it. This ensures that the planes do not fly into each others propwash (air that is disrupted by a plane’s propeller).

The Delta Formation is a very wide formation. Therefore, watching the formation turn in Delta is spectacular to watch. The formation is very manoeuvrable, making it easy to do lazy eights.

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Dice Formations

Bovenaanzicht van de Carré Formation — Carré Formation

Bovenaanzicht van de Dice Formation — Dice Formation

Bovenaanzicht van de Dice Six Formation — Dice Six

The Victor Romeo Formation performs three different formations based on dice: the Carré Formation, the Dice Formation, and the Dice Six.

Out of these three, the Carré Formation and the Dice Six are the most difficult to fly, because these comprise several rows of airplanes flying Line Abreast. As there is only about one meter of air between the wingtips, there’s not much space for movement (or mistakes). As an extra challenge, the second and third row must keep not only the distance between the plane next to them neatly at one meter but also have to watch the distance to the leader or the row before.

The Dice Formation (five aircraft) is a bit less complicated. The two planes in front are flying Line Abreast but with more distance between the wingtips to allow the one in the middle just behind some space.

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