Flying as a Wingman

[pagsab 25]

As shown on my channel at https://www.youtube.com/@philipsabin1653, I still do most of my tactical air gaming using my own total conversions of air board games, since this allows me to focus in on and savour the formation tactics which are hard to appreciate from the brief flurry of first person aerobatics in real time computer dogfights.  When I do play PC air sims, I like to fly entire missions as a wingman and spend most of the time practising formation flying to complement the far shorter and more frenetic experience of combat itself.

It is a shame that SF2 and FE2 do not allow the player easy access to this 'wingman experience' as in EAW and some other sims.  However, I have just discovered a simple workaround which fits the bill.  I am sure that some users have already discovered this, but I thought I would mention it just in case.

The first step is to create and save a single mission, either after aborting on the runway in FE2 or from within the mission editor in SF2.  Then, exit the sim, open the MSN file in your Third Wire Saved Games folder, and copy the entire block for [AircraftMission001].  Paste it after the final Aircraft Mission, and change its number to the next in sequence.  Change the Size in the original Mission 1 to 1, reduce the Size in the new final mission by 1, and in SF2 change the Name at the top of the new mission to an unused friendly call sign.  Make any other desired changes, save the MSN file, start the sim and load the amended mission.

In FE2, the leader of the new flight should start super-imposed with you and roar ahead as he takes off, allowing you easily to catch and formate with him.  In SF2, the new leader begins flying over the airfield, but you just need to take off yourself and then select and padlock the nearest friendly plane, allowing you gradually to climb and catch him at full throttle and join formation.  The new AI leaders fly at a stately pace, so you should not be left in prolonged and frustrating long distance pursuit as often happens in EAW.  There is more risk of overshooting the leader if you do not cut your throttle as you approach.  Formation flying is a fascinating and challenging endeavour in its own right, and it is well worth perfecting it as real combat pilots did as a matter of course during their prolonged journeys to and from the combat itself.     

[+1Patriot-of-many 24]

Thanks, I'll have to try this.

[pagsab 25]

It is a great way to relax, and you don't even need to have a combat at all.  This morning I moved waypoints on the WW2 Northern Europe terrain and spent an enjoyable hour flying down across the Highlands from Lossiemouth to Edinburgh in a Tiger Moth, formating as closely as I could on my leader in the morning sunshine.  I only wish I had discovered this simple workaround years ago!

[pagsab 25]

And flying an entire mission as part of a formation of 15 B-17s is far simpler and more immersive than Microprose's distinctly clunky dedicated sim of the bomber.

[pagsab 25]

I just found the perfect complement to my own tweak, namely a beefed up version of Stary's amended ENVCLOUDS.FX file, posted in 2022 at https://combatace.com/forums/topic/97376-clouds-altitude-hack/. At the expense of some added 'popping', this allows you at long last to drop scattered and broken clouds to a more realistically low altitude over flat terrains.  Flying in formation with patchy clouds below rather than overhead makes this wonderful sim even more atmospheric!

[UllyB 1,214]

On 8/14/2025 at 7:36 PM, pagsab said:

As shown on my channel at https://www.youtube.com/@philipsabin1653, I still do most of my tactical air gaming using my own total conversions of air board games, since this allows me to focus in on and savour the formation tactics which are hard to appreciate from the brief flurry of first person aerobatics in real time computer dogfights.  When I do play PC air sims, I like to fly entire missions as a wingman and spend most of the time practising formation flying to complement the far shorter and more frenetic experience of combat itself.

It is a shame that SF2 and FE2 do not allow the player easy access to this 'wingman experience' as in EAW and some other sims.  However, I have just discovered a simple workaround which fits the bill.  I am sure that some users have already discovered this, but I thought I would mention it just in case.

The first step is to create and save a single mission, either after aborting on the runway in FE2 or from within the mission editor in SF2.  Then, exit the sim, open the MSN file in your Third Wire Saved Games folder, and copy the entire block for [AircraftMission001].  Paste it after the final Aircraft Mission, and change its number to the next in sequence.  Change the Size in the original Mission 1 to 1, reduce the Size in the new final mission by 1, and in SF2 change the Name at the top of the new mission to an unused friendly call sign.  Make any other desired changes, save the MSN file, start the sim and load the amended mission.

In FE2, the leader of the new flight should start super-imposed with you and roar ahead as he takes off, allowing you easily to catch and formate with him.  In SF2, the new leader begins flying over the airfield, but you just need to take off yourself and then select and padlock the nearest friendly plane, allowing you gradually to climb and catch him at full throttle and join formation.  The new AI leaders fly at a stately pace, so you should not be left in prolonged and frustrating long distance pursuit as often happens in EAW.  There is more risk of overshooting the leader if you do not cut your throttle as you approach.  Formation flying is a fascinating and challenging endeavour in its own right, and it is well worth perfecting it as real combat pilots did as a matter of course during their prolonged journeys to and from the combat itself.     

Let's see if I got it right...So you like, instead of being in control and giving orders during a sudden dogfight to your wingmen, which can mean difference between death and remaining alive, your skill I mean, you prefer to let the leader be an AI controlled and you just prefer to see a good picture/movie jumping around the formation like a happy puppy. Did I get it right ?

I skip the part when, being a game where is just you there, changing roles is the same because you are human and the "leader" is AI controlled, which practically would be the same (you human "leader" and AI controlled wingman)

If I got it right I find this bizarre...almost a fetish...:) and I wonder who would do that in a military flight sim. But that's just my opinion.

[pagsab 25]

My preference is certainly unusual, or I am sure that others would have discovered my simple workaround long ago.  I like civilian as well as military flight sims, and the latter are attractive not just for combat but also for formation flying, which is routine for military aircraft but rare for civilian ones outside air displays.  Civil sims like FSX have better graphics, but one can forgive the shortcomings of SF2 in this regard if one is fully occupied keeping formation rather than just looking at the eye candy as in FSX.  Most people play the Third Wire sims mainly for the combat, and they fast forward through the rest of the mission or use the Dogfight programme to set up a succession of brief free standing duels.  As I said, I prefer to model air combat itself in slow motion through my manual designs, so the main attraction of computer sims for me is to complement this by modelling the long periods of formation flying in real time.  Keeping close formation is far more challenging than one would think, and probably more so in the sim than in real life.  Real military pilots spent far more time doing this than they did on the rare flurries of actual air combat, and it is nice to have the option of recreating this universal aspect, however 'niche' a taste it might be!  See my more recent thread at https://combatace.com/forums/topic/100072-following-your-leader-through-the-low-european-clouds  for more details including screenshots and complete step-by-step instructions.

 

[UllyB 1,214]

I see....Well if you are a more a  "looker" then a player, then I recommand you the "artificial" AWACS formations I built, tweaking the game a bit, in SF1 download page. Try them and let me know what you think :). It's more interesting when you have an AWACS (a converted transport aicraft) and 4 to how many escorts you like and give them order, in a patrolling area, to take care of the uninvited guests...:). This way, after giving them orders you can switch between their views and see how they perfom in a dogfight. I found it very interesting at first and then I joggled with new types and eras of aicraft, both AWACS and fighters. To build those formations around an AWACS I used a trick (actually a set of tested before coordinates) of a venerable old modder here, can't remember his name now, which helped a lot.

 

PS - Being just a set of coordinates in its core and a tweak (a transport mission), the mode works well in SF2 realm, too.

Edited Saturday at 04:02 PM by UllyB

[pagsab 25]

This reminds me of the AWACS control option available in the old Total Air War sim, which was great in its day but whose graphics now look terribly dated.  I will take a look when I get the chance.  Thanks for the heads-up, especially since your tweak is among the SF1 downloads.

[UllyB 1,214]

Yes indeed, TAW which was a  british Digital Design's "F-22ADF" add-on was ahead its time (1997 and had 3Dfx effects/Voodoo generation videocards) and, in my opinion , the best EVER simulator created. Along the time fan base tried to improve its graphics but, whatever one can do, that was limited.