Mini Formation Clinic Today Paso Robles, Camarillo, LA

**mooneygirl** · July 9, 2017

What a blast. I wonder WHY I waited so long to fly formation. We met in Paso Robles CA this morning and planned to fly to Camarillo. We briefed a pretty straightforward flight to Santa Maria to avoid the fire TFR and then on to San Marcos VOR then Camarillo direct. Well the towering plume of smoke threw a wrench our plan. We flew in formation to Santa Maria, then out over the ocean and climbed to 9500. The top of the smoke was right about 9000-9500. We maneuvered all the way down to Camarillo. We did welded wing turns, echelon turns, and of course did a lot of climbing in 3-ship formation. Coming in to Camarillo we were in a left echelon on right downwind. It was fun to see Robert break for the right base, count to four, then Richard swooped into right base, then me and Maggie followed. It was 92 degrees when we left Paso Robles and about the same when we landed Camarillo.

Went to the Waypoint cafe, debriefed and had great food. Then Bob, Dallas, and Larry showed up from SoCal. We decided to do a 5-ship formation on the way back down to SoCal. That was super fun. We were called as traffic to about three other planes. Someone exclaimed, "Love seeing all those Mooneys in formation."

I really love flying formation. I love the math, the geometry and the precision required. Both my leads said that I did a great job. Robert and Larry broke off and went to practice, then a few minutes later I left the formation to head to Fullerton [for IFR test prep]. Bob peeled off for Chino and Dallas headed to San Diego. I am told there are some good photos available. Here's hoping I can see how Ms. Maggie looked. Look forward to the Caravan arrival on Sunday the 23rd.