Nevertheless, the Dauntless (the name the Navy gave the SBD) was stressed to withstand up to 9 “gees” during maneuvering, and even was able to handle so-called “zero lift” (nearly vertical) dives. To help the pilot see the target and assist in aiming, a padded 3X sighting scope was mounted over the control panel. Not nearly as noisy or menacing as the more famous German Ju-87 Stuka, the Dauntless was shorter ranged, slower, and carried a smaller bomb … To protect against enemy fighters, two forward-firing .50-caliber M2 machine guns were mounted in the cowling, while a pair of twin .30-caliber Brownings was carried in a rear-firing flexible mount. These included aerodynamic “dive brakes” (to slow and steady the aircraft during the dive), extra structure (to withstand the stresses of pulling out after the dive), “trapeze” bomb-release systems (to help the bomb clear the propeller), and telescopic bombsights (to assist the pilot in putting the weapon precisely onto the target). A great book, very well documented and well written by its author. The USMC was using it to support troops on the ground as flying artillery, while their sea-service brethren developed the tactics as a precision antishipping tactic. There were, however, simpler and more intuitive ways of putting a bomb close to an aim-point from the air. The world's largest and most efficient twin-engine jet. The SBD Dauntless featured “Swiss cheese” flaps—dive brakes punched with 3-inch holes—so that it could achieve pinpoint accuracy by diving to the target, dropping the bomb and then pulling out of the near-vertical dive. Impossible d'ajouter l'article à votre liste. Wherever. “They Have To Take Punishment And Still Work”, He would later write in his book, Aircraft Design: “One day when I was a young man just beginning to design airplanes, the great person who founded the company that bore his name, Donald Douglas, took me by the shoulder and taught me a lesson that was simple, though vital to success. That search led to an emerging aircraft manufacturer in southern California: the Douglas Aircraft Company (DAC). Initially, the contract for the Vindicator replacement went to the El Segundo division of Northrop, which was producing a fairly conventional scout bomber design known as the BT-1. Tillman also relates the exploits of the great Dauntless pilots; with a Dauntless one excellent pilot really could, and did, have a major impact on the course of the war. Although relatively new for its day, the Dauntless had a hydraulic system to power extend and retract the landing gear and dive brakes/flaps, replacing earlier hand-cranked systems. Bringing new ideas to life through technology advancements, disruptive market strategies, and venture partnerships. This book is mostly about the operational history of the SBD Dauntless. Veuillez renouveler votre requête plus tard. On bombing missions, a squadron of Dauntlesses conducted high-precision/high-risk dive-bombing attacks, plunging almost vertically and releasing bombs at low levels. It is a testament to both the aircraft and its pilots that flew that the Dauntless made the contribution it did to the war. Veuillez réessayer. Comment les évaluations sont-elles calculées ? Commenté aux États-Unis le 19 janvier 2019. I am also in awe of the pilots who flew it and can only say that each and every one was a hero as they went out mission after mission with no expectation of ever returning. Presented in 18 languages with an interactive library. However, without some sort of terminal guidance for the bombs themselves, even the famed Norden bombsight of World War II would do no better than to lay a string of bombs across an area the size of several football fields. Trouver tous les livres, en savoir plus sur l'auteur. Nobody knows who first came up with the idea of aiming bombs at a target from a diving airplane, but sometime in World War I this became an intuitive way of getting bombs closer to the desired target. Despite the unfortunate reputation it would acquire at the Battle of Midway in 1942 (where 39 out of 43 would be shot down), the TBD was the finest carrier-based torpedo bomber in the world when it was delivered in 1937.