Finger Four Formation Origins (1 Viewer)

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Njaco

The Pop-Tart Whisperer
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Feb 19, 2007
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I've always read that the "Finger Four" formation of flying was developed by Werner Moelders during his time with Condor Legion J/88 in Spain. A book I recently added - "Bf 109: The Operational Record" by Jerry Scutts - makes mention that Moelders did NOT invent the formation , he just improved on it as it had been in use even before the Spanish War.

Whats the history on the formation?
 

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The history of it was just a modified echelon formation that has been used since WWI. Definiatly used by the Germans in Spain. I think the Fins ' invented' it. not 100% sure on that though.

EDIT: wiki ( :rolleyes: ) says the finger four formation used by the Fins in the mid- 1930s was adopted from various airforces in the early- 1930s.
 
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Most military tactics are an evolution of existing tactics. I suspect this aerial formation is no different. So you cannot point to a single inventor.
 
I didn't point to anything. Hence invented in quotes me stating I'm not 100% sure. And to get to the bones of things, I'm sure most military aviation formations, maneuvers are variations of what birds have already been doing for tens of thousands of years.
 
too add: The Finnish air force claims to have adopted a finger four pair of wingmen as early as 1935, and the mutually supporting wingmen on which the finger four is based dates back to the summer of 1915, when the Fokker E.I, with its synchronized machine gun, began decimating Allied aircraft. That August, pioneer German ace Oswald Boelcke disobeyed a standing order to stay within his own lines – to prevent his secret weapon from falling into enemy hands – and while attacking one Allied plane was almost shot down by another. For him, the incident revealed what we now consider obvious: Lone wolf tactics don't gain control of the air.

Boelcke responded by formulating the idea of two Fokkers working as a team, with a wingman flying slightly above and to the side, to guard the leader's tail. In spite of the friendly rivalry that developed between him and his partner, Max Immelmann, the two worked well as a team. Their scores were tied at six on January 12, 1916, when both were awarded the Orden pour le Mérite. Immelmann's lack of Boelcke's tactical vision did not prevent him from working with other wingmen, such as Max Mulzer, when Boelcke was assigned elsewhere.

As is often the case, it's hard to state that anything is "the origin" of an action or a device, because you can usually find a precedent elsewhere.
 
In a book I have read recently, there was a quote by RAF Group Captain J.E. Johnson, that described the "new" German flight formation used in the Spanish Civil War (this quote was credited to G/C Johnson's book: Wing Leader):

Before the war our own fighter squadrons, together with those of other countries, flew in compact formations built up from tight elements of three airplanes. Such formations were ideal for spectacular flypasts, and although every fighter pilot must be able to 'formate' closely on his leader to climb through a cloud, this close style was to be of little value in great air battles.

In Spain the German fighter pilots soon realized that the speed of thier 109s made close formation impractical for combat. The large turning circles of the curving fighters dictated that a loose pattern was the only method in which individual pilots could hold thier position in the turn and keep a sharp lookout at the same time. The high speeds, especially from the head-on position, made it essential to pick out and identify enemy aircraft as soon as possible, so that the leader could work his way into a good attacking position. The simple requrement was for a loose, open-type of combat formation with the various airplanes flying at seperate heights which would permit individual pilots to cover each other and search a greater area of sky than before.

Credit must be given to the Germans for devising the perfect fighter formation. It was based on what they called the Rotte, that is, the element of two fighters. Some two hundred yards seperated a pair of fighters and the main responsibility of the number two, or wingman, was to guard his leader from a quarter or an astern attack. Meanwhile the leader navigated his small force and covered his wingman. The Schwarme, four fighters, simply consisted of two pairs, and when we eventually copied the Luftwaffe and adopted this pattern we called it the 'finger-four' because the relative positions of the fighters are similiar to a plan view of one's fingertips.

The book I mentioned, is titled: Me109 (Me109: Willy Messerschmitt's Peerless Fighter) by Martin Caidin. Which, by the way, is a really good read...lots of good information and photos (even if they are all in B&W)
 

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