Thach Weave

by Steve Ewing

"This biography completes a trilogy on the three Navy fighter pilots - Jimmie Thach, Butch O'Hare, and Jimmy Flatley - who developed sweeping changes in aerial combat tactics during World War II. Thach was the theoretical innovator of a tactic that became known as the Thach Weave, while O'Hare and Flatley joined him in making it a success." "This book offers an account of how Thach devised the plan to give his squadron of F4F Wildcats a fighting chance against Japan's formidable Zeros. Using matchsticks on his kitchen table, he determined that the Wildcats, working in pairs, should weave back and forth as they encountered a Zero, giving the wingman an opportunity to shoot at the enemy on his partner's tail. The use of the weave against the Zero at Midway cemented its practical application. But, as this colorful portrait of the famous pilot clearly shows, Thach's innovative tactic was far from his sole contribution to the Navy. Throughout a forty-year career, Thach provided answers to m