If you can arrange the necessary logistics (sole access to a Yak-52 or an Extra 300 for a week, budget for 15 hours+ flying plus transits; ideally you should be comfortable with flying basic aerobatic figures in a safe, smooth and predictable fashion on type) then the North Weald formation week, run twice yearly, is a fairly unique institution, taught by serving and retired military instructors, is the best way for a PPL - probably anywhere, not just the UK - to get to grips with the subject.
I'd argue there are two distinct, but related, aspects of the training.
First is the art of flying close formation - for the formation members, station keeping, sequencing of formation changes, safety protocols for joining and departing formation. At first this is enough to fry your brain - you've spent your entire PPL career up until this point trying to stay as far away as possible from anything else in the sky, and then to be flying a few metres from someone's wingtip, but with expert tuition becomes, if not second nature, another skill to be practised. As a formation lead, the responsibility of having another anything from 1 to 8 aircraft depending on your ability to fly smoothly and predictably, and be mentally far enough ahead of not just your own aircraft, but the entire formation, is actually a far more demanding task.
Second, and probably more relevant to the OP and the concept of flying 'in company' is adopting a rigourous and standardised approach to the pre-flight planning, briefing, RT during the sortie, and finally post-sortie debrief. The training emphasises planning every aspect, from start-up, taxi, take-off, through to rejoin, landing, shut-down - and plan for failures or emergencies at each stage. Assume that at any stage comms and visual contact could be lost - ZA mentions a 'go to' frequency, known otherwise as a collector; 'safe haven' altitude spacings for each formation member in the event of visual contact loss. Notams, diversions, fuel planning, weather.....plan and brief as much as you can. The more preparation, the less RT within the formation is required, to the point of almost trappist minimalism. The post-flight debrief is as important as the pre-flight one, because something will *always* end up not going to plan - if not for you, then for someone else in the formation - you only learn from your mistakes if you learn you've made a mistake.
The course *is* bloody hard work, particularly for the first few days. Its also some of the best fun flying you can have as a PPL, bar none. I've been lucky enough to attend three courses (and would be there twice a year every year without fail apart from the inconvenient fact that my fellow Yak group members are also champing at the bit to attend).
If you have access to the relevant hardware, and want to learn about formation from the professionals, then you should seriously consider the NW course - but failing that, get some training from one of the other organisations. Self-taught formation is a formula for the same pseudo-Darwinian effect as self-taught aerobatics - not survival of the fittest or smartest, just survival down to sheer luck.
Last edited by eharding; 20th November 2007 at 20:46.