The Quick and Dirty Guide To Winging
Introduction
When I started flying in a squad, I was asked to wing. I had no idea what I
was meant to be doing. I kept losing track of my wingman. When I kept high
and watched him fight, an enemy usually came up behind me and killed me. If
I came down to join in, I would wind up draggging my wingman into a hopeless
situation.
Over time, I started to learn a few rules of thumb that seemed to work well.
Here are a few notes on winging -- read Shaw for a more detailed guide to
specific tactics.
Preflight
Decide on what planes you are going to take. Pick either a single type, or two
planes with a similar top speed. B&Z planes are easier to wing in than T&Bers:
if wingies are twisting around in a furball, it's very easy to lose track of each
other.
Decide what type of flight you're going to do. Are you going to keep the E-advantage
and pick off the sitting ducks? Or are you in kamizake furball mode?
Important tip: you should both take off from the same field :) Decide on the field
before jumping into the plane. Do a .hl xxxx where xxxx is your wingman.
Philosophy
Loose Deuce seems the best winging philosophy for Warbirds. The pair has a designated
leader and wingman roles.
The Leader's Role
The leader has the easier of the two roles. He assumes that his wingman will keep track
of him. The leader just needs to concentrate on tactical decisions and his current
victim.
The leader calls "in" and attacks an enemy. He fights until he has made his kill, or
until he feels he is losing the advantage. He then calls "out" and disengages, ideally
grabbing some altitude.
If he can, the leader calls the type of plane he is attacking, e.g. "in fw" or "in 38."
He gives a direction on his outs, as well, if possible. E.g. "out n" or "grabbing e."
Once the leader is out, he becomes the wingman, and the wingman is now the leader. These
roles may reverse many times in the course of a sortie. It is good idea for both planes to
disengage and grab some altitude every now and then. This allows you to regroup, designate
the current leader, and check each other's fuel and ammo situation.
The Wingman's Role
The wingman has the harder time. In addition to keeping track of his leader, he needs to
watch for bandits attacking either him or the leader.
With the leader engaged, the wingman should starting looking for an attack on the same
aircraft that the leader is attacking. The wingman's attack should be separated from
the leader's flight path, either in space or in time. This gives the enemy two separate
threats to contend with -- often, he will be intent on the leader's attack and not even
see the second fighter.
Separation in Time
The wingman flies along the same path as leader, a little behind (say d12 for a FW190.)
At 400ias (depending on alt), this translates to about five seconds separation. I've
winged with both Mcar and Dcor using this method, often will excellent results. The
leader booms onto an enemy, pinging him until he breaks hard. The leader extends, letting
the wingman finish the kill of the now vulnerable enemy. We are often able to B&Z until we
run out of ammo.
Note that the wingman often gets more kills than the leader! One night, flying with mcar
in FW190s, we got eight or so kills, all scored from the wingman position. In most cases,
the leader got an assist.
Separation in Space
The wingman flies a divergent course (maybe 30 to 90 degrees away from the leader,) trying
to set up a bracket on the enemy plane (one friendly on each side.) Once he has enough
separation, he turns into the enemy, thus threatening him from a new angle. Ideally, you
want the pair to be attacking with at least 90 degrees of separation between their cannon
fire.
You can also separate in the vertical. The wingman slowly climbs as the leader works the
enemy below. The wingman dives when he has the opportunity. This requires more care:
the wingie is slower than his leader, and, if he is jumped, must be aware that the leader
may not have enough E to climb to his defense.
Rules of Thumb
Separation
You want to be close enough together that you can provide support to your wingman if he
needs it. You do not want to be so close that you would have trouble tracking an enemy
on his six. The actual number depends on the type of planes, and type of fight. For
FW190s that have the advantage, ideal separation might be d50 to d10. For Ki-43s, good
separation might be d6 to d2.
Aviate, Navigate, Communicate
In that order! Your most important task is flying your own plane -- this includes evading
enemies, avoiding hitting the ground, and taking shots. Next, make sure you're going where
you want to be going -- towards your wingman, setting up a drag, alting, etc. Only then,
use the radio.
This is hard to do if your wingman is yelling "help, wru?" The desire to talk to him is
strong, but you will help him more if you follow the order above. You can't help him if
you get shot down yourself. You can help him a lot faster if you get on an intercept course
as quickly as possible. Once you are going the right way, tell him you're otw, ideally with
a range or eta.