Belly Turn

This type of turn is also known as an echelon turn.

Lead rolls into a turn and the Wings simultaneously roll with the Lead, climbing just slightly to position themselves nearly on the same horizontal plane as Lead, while matching Lead's bank angle. The fuselage of the aircraft ahead will be bisected by the horizon line. Each successive Wing is now flying a larger and larger turn circle and so each will have to add incrementally more power to maintain position.

Belly turns away from the flight are accomplished differently than in fingertip. As we covered earlier, in fingertip, everyone maintains the same position references and relative position. In belly turns, the wing pilots maintain the same lateral spacing, however they do not move up vertically to stay on the same lateral plane as Lead. Instead, all aircraft will move up just enough to be on the same horizontal plane as Lead. This gives the wing pilots a bigger power advantage to stay with Lead. As Lead rolls into the turn, match bank angles and climb only slightly to split the lead aircraft's fuselage with the horizon line. Since you are on the outside of the turn, your turn circle will be larger, you will be travelling a greater distance, and you will have to fly faster to maintain position. Add power to stay in. Maintain the same lateral spacing from Lead in the turn. When Lead starts to roll out, reduce power as you roll back out with Lead.