It later was used as trainer and lost in Lake Michigan. This SBD-3 with bur.no 06508 flew from 1943 a short time from the carrier Enterprise with bombing squadron 10. Photographed 2016 by Cees Hendriks (c) Copyright IPMS Nederland This Dauntless "54654" was seen at the USS Midway carrier museum at the harbour of San Diego, CA. Photographed by Cees Hendriks (c) Copyright IPMS Nederland
SBD DAUNTLESS CODE
Photographed Januari 2011 by Cees Hendriks (c) Copyright IPMS Nederlandĭouglas SBD-5 Dauntless with code 36176 and "B-25" at the Palm Springs Air Museum (Ca). It is on display at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, San Diego CA, USA This is a Douglas SBD-4 Dauntless coded "24" with c/n 1775. Although relatively slow and outdated when it began its combat career, it was rugged and dependable and sank more Japanese shipping than any other aircraft during the Second World War. The SBD, with name Dauntless, was the United States Navy's main dive bomber from mid-1940 until late 1943. The Douglas SBD Dauntless was an American naval dive bomber developed by the Douglas company.
SBD DAUNTLESS PLUS
The SBD-4 had improved electronics, the SBD-5 had an improved engine plus more ammunition, and the SBD-6 also had an improved engine. The SBD-4, SBD-5, and the SBD-6 all had minor modifications that improved on the previous designs. The last reconnaissance variant of the SBD was the SBD-3 which was practically the same as the other reconnaissance planes only it was based on the SBD-3. 30 MGs mounted in the gunner position along with the usual dual. The SBD-3, the next variant, was the first variant to have self-sealing fuel tanks and it had additional armor added. The SBD-2P variant is virtually the same to the SBD-1P as it is a reconnaissance plane except it is based on the SBD-2. Despite having more fuel capacity, the SBD-2 did not have the self-sealing fuel tanks that would later be applied to other SBD variants. The next variant was the SBD-2 which had increased fuel capacity and a revised armament. The first of these variants was the Douglas SBD-1P which were reconnaissance planes that were converted from the original SBD-1.
The Douglas SBD Dauntless had a number of variants that improved upon the original design which had several bad qualities. For example, the "SB" from the title SBD stands for Scout Bomber while "D" stands for Douglas.
The title of the Dauntless was not unusual nor random and was created from the beginning letters of the company and aircraft type. One of the SBD's most unusual facts about designing was that it lacked folding wings that were used with other carrier aircraft. The service ceiling for the SBD was about 8,260 meters and the dive brakes were punched with 7.62 cm holes. The unloaded weight of the Dauntless was 2,905 kg and the length was 10.09 meters. The max range of the SBD was 1,795 kilometers and the rate of climb of 8.6 m/sec. 30 Browning M1919 MG mounted in the gunner position and up to 1,020.58 kg of bombs. 50 M2 Machine guns mounted in the nose of the aircraft, one. It also had a crew of two and an armament of 2x. The propeller of the Dauntless had only three blades. It had a 1,200 hp,air-cooled, Wright R-1820-60 Engine capable of propelling the Dauntless at speeds of up to 410 km/h.