Controlling my dudes

[LA Snow]

I'm just startin out and I was wondering what the best way to control my wing is. If I make a wing (me and 2 wingmen in that beginning mission) then I have to go to My Property and go to Wings to open up the control console for the wing. If I assign myself to the Wing, when I hit SHIFT+C to open up the control console, whenever there is an order, my ship goes on autopilot and even auto-fires at targets. The only way to keep autopilot off is to cancel the wing orders or remove myself from the wing. Got to be a better way.

Also, can I make ships I own but are docked fight for me, or does there need to be a pilot onboard? I know I can make my other ship fly to me and dock and all.

[surreal]

The best way I found is to not include yourself in any wing.
As for your second question, sure, just make sure they have fight cmd (not that expensive). Just issue your orders and they should undock.

[Lethal_Sting]

Its hard to use wingmen properly as a true wing. From what I've heard, they worked great in X3-R, but got buggered in TC. If your ship is slower then your wingmen, they will do crazy maneuvers to stay "in formation".

But some tips. Like surreal said, put them in a separate wing. If you need them to protect you, use the attack nearest enemy of.. and select your ship. They will fly close, but then peel off to engage enemies that get near. <--- Reallly useful when flying a larger ship that has docked fighters. Will also re-dock when no threats are near.

Never use the follow me when going through gates. Tell them to "fly through gate" or "fly to sector".

[LA Snow]

Is there an easier way to bring up the wing command console, or is going through the property menu and going to wing the only way?

[Zikco]

Check the controls setup interface (under options).
If there isn't a keybind for it, you can make one. ;)

[JKflipflop]

I love how the AI is coded to fly in crazy patterns and smash into you and all your other wingmen to stay in "formation". I guess backing off the throttle is out of the question.