Douglas SBD Dauntless
Slow But Deadly
“The dive bomber that sank four carriers in five minutes at Midway.”
Douglas · military
The Dauntless was slow and plain, and it changed the course of the Pacific war. On 4 June 1942 SBDs from Enterprise and Yorktown dove on the Japanese carrier fleet at Midway and left three carriers burning in about five minutes, with a fourth that afternoon. Its perforated dive flaps let it drop almost vertically and hold steady enough to hit a moving ship. Sailors said SBD stood for Slow But Deadly. Five remain airworthy.
The SBD sank more Japanese shipping than any other Allied aircraft, including six aircraft carriers.
A long greenhouse canopy over two seats, a fixed tailwheel, and the big perforated dive flaps on the trailing edge of the wing. The flaps are full of round holes you can see from the ground.
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the Slow But Deadly from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook.
