[stndbfrgrn]

That's what I meant, and these are the precise instructions provided by Desastersoft.

Order your wingmen to attack enemy aircraft:-

Always remember: You should have sufficient altitude, around 1.000 m respectively 3.000 feet.

After taking off you should close up your ranks a bit.

1. Open your radio menu

2. Choose option 6 - Formation

3. Choose option 2 - Formation – and set it to Close

4. Head to the target area

Once you encounter enemy aircraft you should

1. Open your radio menu.

2. Choose option 5 – Air Targets. There you see five options. As long as option number 5, Attack my target, is dark red you cannot order your wingmen to attack enemy aircraft. Should this be the case close the radio menu again until you see enemy aircraft nearby.

3. If all five options of the Air Targets mode are bright red choose the option you wish to choose. Only when all five options are active you can order attacks by your wingmen.
Should option 5 be inactive you need to assemble your unit again:

1. Open your radio menu

2. Choose option 6 - Formation

3. Choose option 2 - Formation – and set it to Very Close

Should you encounter enemy aircraft you should be able to order attacks on them. The order to attack depends on two key premises: You need to be able to see your opponent and your unit needs to be able carry out the order to attack.

But it won't always work.
About your wingmen's skill level, I've checked in the FMB and it's mostly set to "average", with the exception of section leaders which skill is set to "veteran".
But I haven't tried to edit those yet...