Aircraft wingmen in formation on demand

[Wolfowitzer 6]

I've been learning lots from these forums while trying to create my own Arma 3 scenarios so this is an attempt to return the favours.
This is a script that enables while flying your aircraft, you can spawn  one or more "wingmen" aircraft, same class as the one you are currently flying, and the spawned aircraft will spawn behind you and then fly ahead to join you at the supplied formation coordinates (while your aircraft is slowed down to wait for it), and can either fire the same weapons when you fire it, or not (last param, true(1) or false (0) ).
This script can in theory also be used to spawn wingmen to AI controlled aircraft (not tested though).

The formation flying is enabled with "attachTo", so it will look unrealistic when you do more sharper turns, but it will at least look quiet cool flying straighter.
Use "detach" to break out of this on your own conditions.

Put below into your own ".sqf" and call it as examplified below

 

// Example call:
// test = [[24,-12,-12,1,1],"fnc_wingman.sqf"] remoteExec ["BIS_fnc_execVM",2];
// Params explained:
// _xformpos = formation pos meters left/right of player vehicle
// _yformpos = formation pos meters front/behind player vehicle
// _zformpos = formation pos meters above/under player vehicle
// "should wingman fire when I fire" (1 = true, 0 = false)
// "should wingman aircraft approach with a fly in (1 = true) or spawn in formation immediately  (0 = false)

params [
	"_xformpos","_yformpos","_zformpos","_wingman_twinfire","_fly_in"
];  
	if ( _xformpos > 40 || _xformpos < -40 || _yformpos > 40 || _yformpos < -40 || _zformpos > 40 || _zformpos < -40 ) exitWith
	{
		systemChat "fnc_wingman: Formation position too far away. No dice.";
	};
	removeAllActions player;
	wingman_group = createGroup [(side player), true];
	wingman_aircraft =  createVehicle [(typeOf vehicle player), ((vehicle player) modelToWorld[0,-1000,(getposATL (vehicle player) select 2)]),[], 0, "FLY"];   
	wingman_pilot = wingman_group createUnit [(typeOf player), ((vehicle player) modelToWorld[0,-1000,(getposATL (vehicle player) select 2)]) , [], 0, "FORM"];
	wingman_pilot moveInDriver wingman_aircraft;
	createVehicleCrew wingman_aircraft;
	{ _x disableAI "RADIOPROTOCOL"; }forEach crew wingman_aircraft;
	[wingman_pilot] joinSilent group (player);
	wingman_aircraft enableDynamicSimulation false; 
	wingman_aircraft flyInHeight (getposATL (vehicle player) select 2); 
	wingman_aircraft setPos (vehicle player modelToWorld[0,-1000,(getposATL (vehicle player) select 2)]); 
	vel = velocity (vehicle player);   
	dir = direction (vehicle player); 
	wingman_aircraft setDir dir;   
	speed_veh_player = -10;   
	wingman_aircraft setVelocity [   
		(vel select 0) + (sin dir * speed_veh_player),   
		(vel select 1) + (cos dir * speed_veh_player),   
		(vel select 2)   
	];
	
	max_speed_veh_player = getNumber(configFile >> "cfgVehicles" >> (typeOf vehicle player) >> "maxSpeed");
    half_max_speed_veh_player = round(max_speed_veh_player / 2);
    _future = time + 60; // timeout after 60 seconds, attach wingman
	if ( _fly_in == 1) then{ 
		while {((vehicle player) distance wingman_aircraft > 300) && time < _future} do {   
			wingman_aircraft flyInHeight (getposATL (vehicle player) select 2); 
			wingman_aircraft moveTo getPosATL (vehicle player);  
			current_speed_veh_player = speed (vehicle player);  
			wingman_aircraft_speedLimit = round(current_speed_veh_player + 200);
			wingman_aircraft limitSpeed wingman_aircraft_speedLimit; 
			wingman_aircraft forceSpeed wingman_aircraft_speedLimit; 
			(vehicle player) setAirplaneThrottle 0.3;  
			(vehicle player) limitSpeed half_max_speed_veh_player;  
			sleep 0.5;
		}; 
	};
	[0, "BLACK", 0.5, 1] spawn BIS_fnc_fadeEffect;
	sleep 1;
	wingman_aircraft attachTo [(vehicle player), [_xformpos,_yformpos,_zformpos]];
	[1, "BLACK", 0.5, 1] spawn BIS_fnc_fadeEffect;
	if (_wingman_twinfire == 1 ) then{
		player addEventHandler ["FiredMan", { params ["", "_weapon", "", "_mode"]; 
				{ _x enableSimulation true; }forEach crew wingman_aircraft;				
				{ _x forceWeaponFire [_weapon,_mode]; }forEach crew wingman_aircraft;	
				{ _x enableSimulation false; }forEach crew wingman_aircraft;
			}
		];
	};
		
	wingman_aircraft addEventHandler [ "HandleDamage", 
	{ 
		if ( damage wingman_aircraft > 0.5) then{ 
			detach wingman_aircraft; { _x enableSimulation true; }forEach crew wingman_aircraft; 
		}; 
	}];
	wingman_aircraft addEventHandler [ "Killed", { detach wingman_aircraft; { _x enableSimulation true; }forEach crew wingman_aircraft; } ];
    driver wingman_aircraft addEventHandler [ "Killed", { detach wingman_aircraft; } ];
	
	(vehicle player) limitSpeed -1;
	wingman_aircraft limitSpeed -1; 
	wingman_aircraft forceSpeed -1; 
	
	// to prevent wingman pilots fading in small distance, and to prevent wingmanpilots from floating in the cockpit when manouvering
	{ _x enableSimulation false}forEach crew wingman_aircraft;
	
	// Brute force delete spawned wingmen, radius 80
	player addAction ["Delete wingmen", { _list = nearestObjects [(vehicle player), [(typeOf vehicle player)], 80]; 
		_list = _list - [vehicle player];
		player removeAllEventHandlers "FiredMan";
		{detach _x, _x enableSimulation true, deleteVehicleCrew _x, deleteVehicle _x, _x removeAllEventHandlers "HandleDamage",_x removeAllEventHandlers "Killed"} forEach _list; (_this select 0) removeaction (_this select 2);}, [],20,false,true];
    
	// Brute force make spawned wingmen, leave formation radius 80
	player addAction ["Wingmen leave formation", { _list = nearestObjects [(vehicle player), [(typeOf vehicle player)], 80]; 
		_list = _list - [vehicle player];
		player removeAllEventHandlers "FiredMan";
		{detach _x, _x enableSimulation true, _x removeAllEventHandlers "HandleDamage",_x removeAllEventHandlers "Killed"} forEach _list; (_this select 0) removeaction (_this select 2);}, [],21,false,true];	

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Wolfowitzer
Added some polish to script