Dancing Wings: Flying Every Position
- Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza
- 10 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Flight Lead? Number 4 in the Diamond? You are flying them all!
Professional airshow teams are made up of are made up of pilots from all sorts of backgrounds with immense amounts of experience. Whether it is a six-ship flying so close together their wings overlapping over their canopies or a daring solo pilot almost max performing an aircraft with a cool calm, air demo pilots are some of the best of the best. Upcoming indie game Dancing Wings: The Aerobatic Simulator plans on pressing its pilots to master the art of aerial performances one position at a time.
Flying Every Position
Of the few current and past games that made airshow flying the focus of their concept, the player mainly flies as the Flight Leader issuing orders to their computer wingmen to perform maneuvers. Dancing Wings' method during its airshows is notably different:
The Ultimate One-Man Show: Many of the videos for Dancing Wings are eye catching with up to six aircraft holding close formation. The twist here is, the player is flying each position themselves. From the lead aircraft to Number 4 slot of a Diamond Half Cuban Eight, how can one person be in six places at once?
Replay Overlay: Everything starts with one aircraft. The player flies their planned maneuver or routine as a single ship. With that replay saved the player can open replay overlay mode and fly alongside their aircraft from their first flight. As each replay stacks the play will find themselves flying in a formation of aircraft from their past flights.
Curriculum Mode: Though this game can be played with a standard game controller, between its realistic aerodynamics and the advanced skill set needed to hold formations, there is a training section called "Curriculum Mode". This is necessary considering that any mistakes made in a replay can only be undone by creating an all-new replay.
Shared Replay Freestyle: Downloading replays from other people around the world is possible. Did you see a nice VIC formation? Download it and make it a four-ship Box formation! Did you fly a nice solo display? Upload it and see if someone can make it a high energy two ship display.
Having the direction and quality of the formation rely all on one person certainly puts the heat on the player. Being able to fly with a recording of yourself is also a way to observe your own flying skills and see where you need to perform better.
About Dancing Wings
The concept of Dancing Wings is inspired by the Japan Air Self Defense Force Blue Impulse aerobatic demonstration team with height map data from Higashi-Matsushima in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Unlike many of its contemporaries, this game has no combat. The only goal players have is to provide the most precise and exciting airshows possible.
CloveTek is an independent game development studio based in Yokohama, Japan. Founded in August 2024 by Tomohiro Takayama, they are using over 20 years of their experience with PC and console game programming to continue their game development passion.
Though Dancing Wings has been delayed to release in October 2026 instead of April 2026, development progress has frequently been seen on social media. The simulator has made a few in person public appearances at game industry events like Tokyo Game Dungeon 11, Game Pavilion JP 2026 and INDIE Live Expo 2025.11.29.
In August 2026 there will be a publicly accessible demo, most likely going to coincide with Tokyo Game Dungeon 13 on August 8th, 2026.
CloveTek continues to develop Dancing Wings - The Aerobatic Aimulator with frequent updates on their social media channel. Follow them on social media to stary informed and enjoy more videos and pictures from development.
Connect with 'Dancing Wings'
About the Writer
Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info, the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. [Read Staff Profile]
