Word: flatley
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With other youngsters, like Lieut. Commander "Jimmy" Flatley, he shouted for more training in deflection shooting - i.e., "leading" the enemy plane, as a hunter fires ahead of a speeding duck to intercept his course. From gunnery it was a short step to tactics-the science of placing and maneuvering planes to do the most damage to the enemy...
...Plane Section. By constant experiment and discussion (often by long and argumentative letters), Thach, Flatley and other young airmen finally agreed that the old-fashioned three-plane "V" section was outdated. Their substitute: a two-plane section which was nimbler, deadlier...
...Four-Plane Division. Flatley's progression from this was to a division of six planes; Thach argued for four. Mid way settled the argument, in Thach's favor. Escorting a torpedo squadron, Jim my Thach led a. six-plane division from the Yorktown. More than 20 Zeros swarmed down, nailed two of his six, but the other four, flying in the unbroken formation that modern battle demands, picked off three Zeros and fought through. (Fighting Three's record in that battle: 70 Jap "probables" against seven lost.) That day, for the first time, Fighting Three proved another...