Recovery Phase

CHAPTER THREE

T-34C PRIMARY FORMATION FLIGHT TRAINING

Wing will accept the lead by patting his helmet once on the left side with his left hand and

giving a single chopping forward motion (Figure 3-40). If Wing shakes off the signal or does not

acknowledge the signal, Lead will maintain the lead position and repeat the lead change signal.

Lead Change Procedure

Establish 20 feet wingtip clearance by using a slight wing dip away from the new leader.

Arrest lateral motion with a slight wing dip toward the new leader.

Establish 20 feet of step-down and slide aft of the new leader in one fluid motion by

lowering the nose while simultaneously reducing power.

Arrest descent by raising the nose slightly and continue to slide aft, allowing the pitot tube

to slide forward along the bottom edge of the black portion of the engine cowling.

Add power to stop with 20 feet of nose-to-tail separation as the angle of attack (AOA)

probe intercepts the "prop arc" and the "V" in NAVY appears above the "cutout". For the word

MARINES, use the letter "N" above the "cutout". Place the trailing edge of the port exhaust

stack tangent to the leading edge of the wing to ensure 20 feet of stepdown.

Make a normal crossunder to the starboard parade position with 20 feet of stepdown.

When stable, move up into the starboard parade position.

Common Errors

Lead does not initiate the Lead change in a good position in the area (i.e., with sufficient

space in the area, pointed at a good landmark).

Wing fails to get correct lateral separation from Lead (i.e., flies in front of Lead or gets

excessively wide).

Wing misses lead change signal.

Wing slides aft prior to establishing 20 feet of stepdown.

Wing slides aft too quickly (i.e., Wing reduces power too much).

315. RECOVERY PHASE

The recovery phase begins when back in Parade position with another fuel check followed by the

descent to the course rules recovery. Lead should navigate the flight to allow a comfortable

descent to the appropriate entry point while maintaining VMC.

3-42 SECTION PARADE