Advance Acrobatics
 Progressive Aerobatics
We will try to show and explain some of the most famous Air show maneuvers to you, along with a description how they might be done in the simulation. All of the maneuvers are explained whit drawing. For flying air show maneuvers, it is important to know and master different formation, know where is your place in formation and what you have to do to perform a complex maneuver like a Delta Roll. It is also important to know all Landmarks around the airport so you can orientate in the Area.
The names for some of the formations and Acro maneuvers are self explanatory, but others are more obscure. Over the 70 years of Acrobatics the teams who have been performing them have put in existence most of the formation shapes possible with up to 12 aircraft, but from time to time an old shape is revived and given a new name.



 Air Show Formations
Before you can perform a acrobatic maneuver you must master some basic air show formations.
The position of pilots in this formations are marked as following:
- L1 is Flight leader . Usually if a team has more than 10 members then it is divided in 2 flights. If this is a case then there are
2 leaders. Each has his own set of wingmans. The second leader is refereed as L2 and is under L1 command.
- W1, W2, W3........W6 or more are wingman 1, wingman 2 etc..

Arrow Formation
Box Formation
Delta Formation
Diamond Formation
Echelon Formation
Line Abreast Formation
Big T Formation
Trail Formation
Wedge Formation
X Formation




 Rules and tips for performing Acrobatic maneuvers in virtual sky's:
- Always decide what maneuvers and in what order you will perform them before you begin whit air show.
- Always know where your place is in formation and what you have to do at specific time.
- Make your corrections and changes in formation as smooth as possible. Make sure your joystick is configured properly.
- Leader must notify his wingmans before he makes any changes in his flight path.
- Wingman must follow only the pilot in front of him.
- Connection speed of all pilots who are performing maneuvers should be at least 40kbs. ISDN and cable connection are preferred.
- If the team is performing tight formation especially trail formation make sure the "Mid Air Collision" option is off.*
- "redout/blackout" option can also be set off if the team is performing inverted flight maneuvers for longer period of time.*
- Since Jane's F/A-18 doesn't have a smoke generator use "Fuel Dump" function instead. Flares and chaffs can bee used as well.
- Unlimited Fuel should be on*
*This is no cheating.
In case of "Mid Air Collision" : Ther is almost always lag present in Mplayer games(ISDN,cable and other fast connection can also experience Lag) which is weary
noticeable in close formation flying and that can cost at least a demaged plane if not destroyed one. Because of this it would be foolish not to have this option set off.
In case of "Redout/Blackout": When flying negative G's for longer period of time you can experience Redouts especially in inverted flight and this is not weary useful
if flying in close formation.
In case of Unlimited fuel: Since Jane's F/A-18 doesn't have smoke generator , "Dump Fuel" option is the closest thing to smoke generator. Chaff and Flair in
particularly can also be used as an alternative to Smoke.
 Air Show Maneuvers
Diamond Take Off & Dirty Turn..........R1.5
Just after take off. F/A-18Es make a Diamond formation and turn 270' to perform low pass from the front of site maintaining take off configuration. The high rolling performance at low speed just after take off is peculiar to F/A-18E . The tight formation and low pass maneuver scene with the landing light ON are masterpieces in the show.
Change Over Turn..........R3
Five F/A-18Es make Level Turn while changing formation from Trail formation to large Delta. Then F/A-18Es change formation again to a tight formation until they complete 360' turn. The comparison between a large Delta and a tight formation surely deserves attention. but alert movement of individual aircraft during formation change from Trail to Delta also cannot be overlooked.

Inverted & Continuous Roll..........R1
This is a continuous flight maneuver consists of inverted flight and Continuous Roll, and its beautiful Inverted Straight flight is major feature. Large movement during roll is a point worthy of note and is peculiar to F/A-18Es which has a long span compared with F-15.
Level Opener..........R1.5
F/A-18E s make horizontal separation radially form Delta formation of 5 aircraft then individual aircraft performs Continuous Turn at predetermined time. Among these series of performances, beautiful trajectories of smoke when aircraft separate each other radially during Level Roll is worthy of special mention.

Slow Roll..........R1
The performance which aircraft make Horizontal Straight Turn slowly in 8 to 10 seconds may not be so impressive, but very high grade pilot technique is required. As roll time is rather long, you can thoroughly observe the beautiful design of upper and lower surface of the fuselage.
Rain Fall..........R3
This performance, also known as Bomb Burst which five F/A-18E s loop in Delta formation and make descent separation to forward 5 directions from nose-dive attitude. Although it looks serious, the hardest part is not the burst its self. Its the Formation loop which ends in burst. There are several versions of this performance, depending on when the "Burst "is initiated.

Double Farvel..........R2.5
In this performance that the leader(L1)and the W4 make Inverted Attitude fly-over in Diamond formation, high maneuver technique is required first of all to keep inverted tight formation flight. It is a points worthy of note that you can compare beautiful design of upper and lower surface of the fuselage and the fuselage silhouette.
Cupid..........R2.5
This performance is the F/A-18E Speed Demons original one in which a Shape of Heart is painted by the W1 and W2 and into it center the L1 breaks through while performing Continuous Roll to image "Heart + Arrow = Cupid". (There are 3 Heart Patterns, which are vertical, oblique and horizontal.).

Line Abreast Roll..........R3.5
Three F/A-18E s roll while keeping the Line Abreast formation. Extremely high maneuvering technique of the world level is required for this flight. From that point of view, simple three smoke trajectories are extremely beautiful.
Wide to Delta Loop..........R3
This is an acrobatic flight of the F/A-18E Speed Demons in which five F/A-18E s make a large Delta. Then formation distance is converged while performing Loop to form a close Delta at the end of Loop.

Delta Roll..........R3.5
The rolling maneuver by full 6 F/A-18E s with Delta formation make you enjoy dynamic scale feeling. Point worthy of note is formation position holding of individual aircraft during maneuver.
Star Cross..........R4
Upward opening Flower Pattern by 5 F/A-18E s followed by Star Shaped pictorial symbol gives beautiful imagination of flower petals opening in the sky. And further, the maneuver processes until a huge Star Shape is painted in the sky and the beauty after it is completed are as smart as a magic.

Mirror flight ..........R2.5 (4*)
While the L1 get in inverted flight at a known height and speed the W1 closes up as soon as possible. The Trick is to split the work: One pilot (normally the one on the back) has the easier part of holding a exact flying position, the other has just to concentrate on his close-up. There are 2 version of Mirror, which are blind (planes are mirroring belly's*) and normal (planes are mirroring backs). Note that blind mirror flight is weary difficult because pilots don't have visual contact.
Cork Screw..........R2.5
This three dimensional maneuver flight is very interesting that the L1 makes Continuous Roll flight around the W1 in Inverted flight. Smoke trajectory paints a spiral shape in the sky.

The Cross..........R1.5
This maneuver can be performed in many different ways, flying upside or downside, level or climb...or even flying side turns. Anyway, you always need at least two pilots coming in from opposite directions of the airport.