ACROWRX - Formation Chase View

📢 - INFO

This page describes the Chase View panel of the Formation page, including camera controls, terrain, and the airplane-mounted camera mode.

Chase View

The Chase View occupies the top-right area of the Formation page. It provides a 3D perspective view of the formation that you can freely rotate, zoom, and reposition.

• Click and drag to orbit the camera around the formation.
• Scroll wheel (or pinch gesture) to zoom in and out.

Camera Modes

The Chase View operates in two camera modes:

Orbital Mode (Default)

In orbital mode, the camera orbits around the formation centroid — the geometric center of all airplane positions. You can freely rotate and zoom. This is the default mode when no chase airplane is selected, or when the leader airplane is set to "All".

📌 - TIP

The orbital camera centers on a point in space that is the average position of all airplanes. If the airplanes are far apart from each other, this center point may be in empty space with no airplanes visible in the view. For best results, select a leader airplane so that the Chase View can focus on a specific aircraft rather than the centroid. Orbital mode works well only when the airplanes in the formation are flying close together.

Airplane Mode

When you select a specific chase airplane (see Leader & Chase Airplane Selection), the camera mounts on that airplane, providing a cockpit-like perspective of the formation. This mode unlocks additional controls: Free-Look and Look at Center.

Chase View Buttons

The control buttons are located in the top-right corner of the Chase View:

Terrain Toggle

Toggles the display of 3D terrain in the Chase View. When enabled, the ground surface shows realistic elevation data.

• Tooltip (ON): "Disable Terrain"
• Tooltip (OFF): "Enable Terrain"

📌 - TIP

When terrain is loading, a progress bar appears at the top of the Chase View showing "Terrain Loading" with a percentage indicator.

Free-Look (Airplane Mode Only)

Available only when the camera is mounted on an airplane. Enables mouse-controlled free-look, similar to looking around from a cockpit. The initial look direction points toward the leader airplane or the formation centroid.

• Tooltip (ON): "Disable Airplane Free-Look"
• Tooltip (OFF): "Enable Airplane Free-Look"

Look at Center (Airplane Mode Only)

Available only when the camera is mounted on an airplane. When enabled, the camera automatically points toward the KML center or the judge location, keeping that reference point in view as the airplane moves.

• Tooltip (ON): "Disable Look at Center"
• Tooltip (OFF): "Enable Look at KML Center / Judge"

Distance Slider

A vertical slider on the right side of the Chase View controls the chase camera distance. Drag it to move the camera closer to or farther from the formation.

Distance HUD

When both a leader airplane and a chase airplane are selected, a Distance HUD (Heads-Up Display) appears in the top-left area of the Chase View. It shows real-time measurements between the chase airplane and the leader airplane, computed in the leader airplane's body frame.

The HUD displays different metrics depending on the distance between the two airplanes:

Close Range (less than 500 ft / ~150 m)

Metric	Description
Longitudinal	Distance along the leader's forward axis. Positive means behind the leader, negative means ahead.
Lateral	Distance along the leader's lateral axis. Positive means to the right of the leader, negative means to the left.
Vertical	Distance along the leader's vertical axis. Positive means above the leader, negative means below. Values beyond 100 m are shown as ">100 m".

Far Range (greater than 500 ft / ~150 m)

Metric	Description
Range	Total distance between the two airplanes (in km and nm).
Azimuth	Bearing angle from the chase airplane to the leader.

📌 - TIP

The Distance HUD is a key tool for analyzing formation spacing and positioning. All measurements are relative to the leader airplane's orientation, making it intuitive for formation flying analysis.

Protractor

The protractor overlay can be toggled using the keyboard key P. It displays angle references in the Chase View, useful for measuring the angular position of airplanes relative to each other.

Chase Airplane Selector

At the bottom of the Chase View, the Chase Airplane Selector shows chips for each available airplane (excluding the current leader). Selecting an airplane switches the camera to airplane mode, mounting it on the selected aircraft. For more details, see Leader & Chase Airplane Selection.