Aircraft arms races favored speed and maneuverability over size

Evidence

Now pilots could challenge other pilots directly, and dogfighting was born. Aerial duels pushed planes to their performance limits, and pilots quickly learned the capabilities of both their own and their opponents’ machines, often attempting to exploit subtle differences in relative speed, climb rate, or turning radius. Bigger wasn’t better, but faster speeds and greater maneuverability were, and planes became locked into an arms race just the same. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 542

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Aerial arms races favor speed and agility over sheer size; Aircraft arms races evolve at the level of machines, not their pilots; Weapons innovations trigger arms races in ships just as in animals — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 962 (+5 more)

Related

• Aerial arms races favor speed and agility over sheer size (similarity 0.92)
• Aircraft arms races evolve at the level of machines, not their pilots (similarity 0.90)
• Balancing selection normally curbs weapon size until some lineages escape into runaway arms races (similarity 0.87)
• When balancing selection fails, bigger weapons win every round and escalate the race. (similarity 0.86)
• Weapons innovations trigger arms races in ships just as in animals (similarity 0.85)
• Dueling plus competition and defensibility is the general rule for extreme weapons (similarity 0.84)
• Human and animal arms races follow parallel evolutionary dynamics (similarity 0.84)
• Slow-killing weapons made big warships advantageous and drove an arms race. (similarity 0.84)
• Each escalation in weapon size resets the competitive baseline and triggers the next round (similarity 0.83)
• Specific conditions are required before weapons escalate into an arms race (similarity 0.83)
• Arms races inevitably stall as weapon costs neutralize reproductive benefits (similarity 0.82)
• Identical circumstances trigger and collapse arms races in animals and humans. (similarity 0.82)
• Weapon size in animal species is under stabilizing selection, not open-ended directional selection (similarity 0.82)
• Species with huge weapons often show weak current selection on them. (similarity 0.82)
• Balanced selection keeps most animal weapons modest rather than extreme. (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Extreme weapon size faces stabilizing, not open-ended, selection in real populations #contradicts (0.60)
• Balancing selection normally curbs weapon size until some lineages escape into runaway arms races #qualifies (0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 22
• Weapon size in animal species is under stabilizing selection, not open-ended directional selection #contradicts (0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 850
• Weapons in arms races get so big they impair other bodily functions #contradicts (0.55)
• Extreme weapon size is relative to body size, not absolute #qualifies (0.50) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 3