[US_GRANT]

During the opening days of WWII, the British RAF were taught to fly that close. The pilots hated it. The German pilots had a formation (called the Finger Four?) that was MUCH more loose. This enabled them to watch each others tails. When flying as close as the F-86s were, the pilot has to spend all his time keeping in formation and can't scan the sky. Later the RAF and the USAAF adopted the German formation. As for the F-86s flying that close, when I was in the USAF, we used to see that formation usually only when the flight was coming over the base to land or on their way out to the MOA (Military Operating Airspace?). When in a combat area, they would adopt the looser formation to better cover the sky and each other.