(Loose) formation flying
Just an idle thought, nothing serious for now planned...
Suppose I have a need to fly two aircraft a fairly long distance (say cross-channel) and the other pilot is not suffiently experienced enough to make such a long flight on his own, or we just like each others company, and we decide to make this a formation flight.
Mind you, not the military-style, white-knuckled, wingtip-to-wingtip aerobatic formation flight you see on shows, but just a leisurely, safe (25 meter or more separation in all three dimensions) formation of two aircraft. Take-off and landing not in formation but separate. Assume two basic PPLs 100 to 200 hours each, no IMC/IR and decent VFR forecasted.
Can anyone give me pointers on how to do this safely, how tiring it really is, and how to handle ATC (incl. transponder) in a formation? Terminology? Other tips? Any legislation specifically covering this sort of thing?