Category Archives: Dave’s Essays

Scale Matters, Part III

Posted on October 10, 2020 by atcDave

Big and Small Let’s call this, a grown man playing with his toys on a Saturday afternoon.

Posted in Dave's Essays | Tagged , | 19 Comments

Scale Matters, Part II

Posted on August 7, 2020 by atcDave

I never planned on revisiting this article.  But a visitor to this site, ericritter65, asked a question about scale and it just got me to thinking I had never really shown how big any of these subjects are in real … Continue reading →

Posted in Dave's Essays | Tagged | 9 Comments

The Value of an Ace

Posted on March 26, 2019 by atcDave

Readers of this site may recall about three years ago (!) a discussion about what an ace is worth to an air force.  Some of this came about from my previous post “How Sure Are You?” which was mostly about … Continue reading →

Posted in Dave's Essays | Tagged | 6 Comments

How Sure are You?

Posted on February 8, 2016 by atcDave

The Value of a Claim and Combat Intelligence In a swirling, twisting dogfight a highly trained but inexperienced fighter pilot gets his first shot at an enemy aircraft.  He fires, and after seeing a burst of smoke the unfortunate target … Continue reading →

Posted in Dave's Essays | Tagged | 24 Comments

What’s in a Name – Great Britain

Posted on March 30, 2015 by atcDave

“It’s the sort of bloody silly name they would give it…” RJ Mitchell, head designer of the Spitfire Uniquely among the wartime powers Great Britain used names as the primary designation for all production aircraft.  Let’s take a brief look at … Continue reading →

Posted in Britain, Dave's Essays | Tagged | 4 Comments

What’s in a Name – Germany

Posted on December 23, 2014 by atcDave

The German Luftwaffe’s aircraft designation system was one of the simplist employed during the war years After the jump, what will surely be my shortest article yet in this series!

Posted in Dave's Essays, Germany | Tagged | 3 Comments

The Best Airplane of World War II

Posted on December 2, 2014 by atcDave

We’ve already looked at several candidates for the worst aircraft of World War II, so what about the other side of the question?  What aircraft really stand out for excellence and overall impact? After the jump, another of my pointless … Continue reading →

Posted in Dave's Essays | Tagged | 17 Comments

The Worst Airplane of World War II

Posted on November 25, 2014 by atcDave

This is one of those discussions I’ve found myself in many times over the years.  Its a favorite topic among war gamers, model builders and amateur historians.  So as someone who fits all three categories, its come up before(!). Join … Continue reading →

Posted in Dave's Essays | Tagged | 17 Comments

What’s in a Name – United States

Posted on October 7, 2014 by atcDave

Aircraft Naming and Designations For the second post in this series let’s take a look at the designating and naming systems used by the United States.  I know this sounds dry, but I find it fascinating and I hope you … Continue reading →

Posted in Dave's Essays, USA | Tagged | 24 Comments

What’s in a Name? – Japan

Posted on September 2, 2014 by atcDave

This will be the first in a recurring series of posts on how aircraft naming/designating systems worked in different countries.  I thought I would start with Japan as the title I’ve chosen for this series has a particular meaning for … Continue reading →

Posted in Dave's Essays, Japan | Tagged | 5 Comments