Bovenaanzicht van de Dice Formation

Dice Formations

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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Bovenaanzicht van de T-Formation met zes vliegtuigen

T-Formation

The T-Formation creates a T-shape. It can be flown with three, four, five, or six aircraft. However, there is a significant difference between a T-Formation with three aircraft and a T-Formation with more than three aircraft, as you can see on the two schematics above.

With three planes, the leader will fly either front-right or front-left. To tell the other two pilots which side he wants them on, he will call “Left-hand T-Formation” or “Right-hand T-Formation” over the radio. When flying with more than three aircraft, the leader will always fly in the middle. He will then simply call “T-Formation” without a left-right indication.

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Bovenaanzicht van de Oscar Formation

Oscar Formation

Bovenaanzicht van de Oscar Formation
Oscar Formation

For the Oscar Formation, you need six planes and as one would expect, this forms a letter O. To create the Oscar Formation, the team starts with Double Vic. The number four (flying directly behind the leader) will slow down to fly behind the numbers five and six.

In this formation, the first three airplanes fly at the same altitude. The second set of three flies a bit lower to make sure they don’t fly into the number one, two and three’s propwash.

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Bovenaanzicht van de Double Vic Formation

Vic Formation

Vic Formation comprises three, five, or six aircraft. When flown with three or five airplanes, they create a single V-shape.

In Vic, all planes that belong to one V-shape fly at the same altitude. Those ‘on the wings’ use their leaders’ horizontal stabilizer as a reference point, keeping their own wings on about the same line as the stabilizer they are looking at.

When flying the Vic Formation with six aircraft, it is no longer possible to create a symmetrical V-shape. In this case, the formation is split into two smaller V-shapes both consisting of three aircraft (see the top right schematic).

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Bovenaanzicht van de Box Formation met zes vliegtuigen

Box Formation

The Box Formation is one of the most frequently flown formations. It is also used during a formation take-off with four aircraft. Here, the first three aircraft take off in Vic and number four will take off alone. Number four will join the first three in the air by flying behind the number one. He is then flying in the “box” created by the first three aircraft.

In a formation of six aircraft the take-off procedure is different. They will start in two groups of three, two Vics. The second formation – in this case called the Blue Section – will join the first section (Red Section) in the air. When the Blue Section is approaching the Red Section, the Blue Section’s leader will call “Blue Section, split” – the sign for the number two and three of the blue section to move towards the outer wings of the Red Section.

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