The missing man formation...

[wwwmwww]

Hello Guys,

I was working on this animation for a friend:

http://www.wwwmwww.com/TRON/flyby.gif

And after looking a pics of the missing man formation on line and reading what I could find about it I'm a little confused.

Is there any significance to the total number of planes in the formation? Is there any significance to the side or position in the formation the "missing" plane fills? Knowing this started with the military I thought all these points would have been nailed down and probably mean something however looking at pictures on line it looks to be much more free form than I thought it would have been. Am I missing something? I just want to make sure I'm not sending a message I'm not meaning to.

I know there are a few here that I'm sure can help.

Thanks,

Carl

Edited March 4, 2005 by wwwmwww

[Skull Leader]

I don't believe there is any significance to the number of planes involved, I've witnessed two of these before (one done by the blue angels and the other by the F-16s of the 188th TFW, the Arkansas air national guard). It seems as though the "open slot" missing man formation is probably more personal to military pilots. I've never seen it publically, nor have I seen any pictures of it. The significance of the single pilot peeling off from the group signifies the fallen comrade taking his last flight (his solo ascendancy to Heaven, or what have you). I believe it is probably just predetermined who will perform the salute... although it has always been the far righthand pilot that does it when I've seen it. I also believe it is significant for the maneuver for the parting plane to bank into the west (towards what where the setting sun would be), but I can't confirm that.