Text and photos by Dave Higdon

Many pilots lust after hanging one of those magazine-cover-quality air-to-air shots of their airplane on the wall. Speaking as a pilot lucky enough to spend part of my life working my cameras to create some of those photos, you should think long and hard before forming up on another airplane. What you don’t know can easily kill you.

With some solid planning and execution, one of those great photos could soon be hanging on your wall. But, even armed with solid preparation, flying formation for photos presents some significant risks, even if you have some well-founded formation flying experience. …