Author Archives: atcDave

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About atcDave

I'm 5o-something years old and live in Ypsilanti, Michigan. I'm happily married to Jodie. I was an air traffic controller for 33 years and recently retired; grew up in the Chicago area, and am still a fanatic for pizza and the Chicago Bears. My main interest is military history, and my related hobbies include scale model building and strategy games.

Theme Build 5

Posted on August 14, 2022 by atcDave

Spitfire It seems obvious to have a Theme Build of all one type of aircraft. And there’s a few types I have many examples of. I think I’ve mentioned a few times that I have so many Mustangs I hardly … Continue reading →

Posted in Theme Build | 9 Comments

Panzer III Ausf.N

Posted on August 13, 2022 by atcDave

Panzer III is one of those weapons that went from state of the art, to obsolete over the course of the War. Let’s take a look at the final form of this medium tank.

Posted in Armor, Germany | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Republic P-43A Lancer

Posted on August 3, 2022 by atcDave

Among the less known types of the USAAF in World War II. Let’s take a look at an aircraft that was important as a development, if not for actual combat.

Posted in Fighter, USA | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Thunder Over Michigan – 2022

Posted on July 27, 2022 by atcDave

I’m running a little late on this one for this year. The one drawback to getting my wife’s help with taking better pictures than I could ever do, is then we need to find time to sort through and save … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Show, Museums | Tagged | 4 Comments

Island Infernos by John C McManus

Posted on July 26, 2022 by atcDave

This is book two of John C McManus epic trilogy on the US Army in the Pacific War, the sequel to “Fire and Fortitude”. That makes it a bit of an oddity, no doubt the Pacific War is usually about … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Churchill Mk VII Crocodile

Posted on July 23, 2022 by atcDave

The heaviest tank used by the western Allies, the Churchill Infantry Tank proved very useful in spite of some notable deficiencies. Let’s take a quick look at an important part of the British arsenal.

Posted in Armor, Britain | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Theme Build 4 – Complete

Posted on July 4, 2022 by atcDave

Captured! This group all represented captured fighters(ish). From very early until shortly after the War. These were all fairly simple builds, only the Do 335 got a little complicated, but that was mainly due to a more involved finish (natural … Continue reading →

Posted in Theme Build | 5 Comments

Dornier Do 335A-12 Anteater

Posted on July 3, 2022 by atcDave

The end of the War led to a lot of exciting acquisitions and a lot of flight tests. Let’s look at a pretty outrageous German plane with an unlikely user.

Posted in Germany, Trainer, USA | 13 Comments

Sneak Peak

Posted on June 24, 2022 by atcDave

What is Dave working on? The bad news is, this is still a ways from being finished! But the good news is, it is coming…

Posted in Miscellaneous | 5 Comments

Supermarine Spitfire Mk VIIIc

Posted on June 21, 2022 by atcDave

The third most produced Mark of the famous Spitfire, the Mk VIII served exclusively outside of Great Britain. That mainly means Mediterranean , Pacific and CBI. Let’s take a look at the late Merlin powered type.

Posted in Britain, Fighter | Tagged , , | 15 Comments