25 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force-but the RNZAF soon replaced them with the larger, faster, heavier and land-based Vought F4U Corsairs. In addition to American service, the SBD saw combat against the Japanese Army and Navy with No. A few of them were shipped to the Royal Navy for evaluation. This version was equipped with a 1,200 hp (890 kW) engine and an increased ammunition supply. The next (and most produced) version, the SBD-5, was produced mostly in the Douglas plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Unusual for carrier aircraft, folding wings were not chosen for the design, opting instead for structural strength. Distinctive perforated split flaps or "dive-brakes" had been incorporated into the BT-1 to eliminate tail buffeting during diving maneuvers. The SBD-1 went to the Marine Corps in late 1940, and the SBD-2 to the Navy in early 1941, replacing the SBU Corsair and Curtiss SBC Helldiver squadrons on US carriers. Navy and Marine Corps had placed orders for the new dive bomber, designated the SBD-1 and SBD-2 (the latter had increased fuel capacity and different armament). The plane was developed at the Douglas El Segundo, CA plant, and that facility, along with the company's Oklahoma City plant, built almost all the SBDs produced. Ed Heinemann led a team of designers who considered a development with a 1,000 hp (750 kW) Wright Cyclone engine. The Northrop BT-2 was developed from the BT-1 by modifications ordered in November 1937, and provided the basis of the SBD, which first entered service in mid-1939. In 1937, the Northrop Corporation was taken over by Douglas, and the active Northrop projects continued under Douglas Aircraft Corporation. French Air Force and Naval Aviation (Aeronavale)ĭesign work on the Northrop BT-1 began in 1935.The Dauntless was retired in the late 1940s. It could go as high as 25,525 feet (7,780 meters) above the ground. It could fly for 1,115 miles (1,795 kilometers) without running out of fuel. It weighed around 6,404 pounds (2,905 kilograms) to 10,699 pounds (4,853 kilograms). It had two 12.7 mm and two 7.62 mm machine guns and it could carry one bomb or torpedo. The SBD-5 (5th version) could go 255 miles per hour (410 kilometers per hour), and it had a Wright R-1820-60 Cyclone air-cooled radial piston engine with 1,200 horsepower. In the War, the Dauntless was used to take off aircraft carriers and attack enemy ships and submarines. The Dauntless's first bombing in the war happened on December 10, 1941. It first flew in 1940 and was introduced the same year. The SBD Dauntless (SBD means Scout Bomber Douglas) was a dive bomber made by Douglas Aircraft Company (now Boeing) during World War II. Note the extended dive brakes on the trailing edges.
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