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Home Front: WoT
Today in History: the 64th anniversary of the Battle of Midway
2006-06-04
Diving procedure for the SBD Dauntless (from an e-mail by Midway veteran Clay Fisher to the Battle of Midway Roundtable:

Check list before diving:
1. Shift to Low Blower.
2. Shift to low prop pitch. (We wanted full maximum power setting as we broke our dives.
3. Hit full split flaps. (In early 1942 the SBD had to reduce speed to be able to split the flaps, which was tough when under attack. Douglas came out with an engineering change that allowed splitting the flaps at any speed. Also, we could dive at various split flap settings.)
4. Open the cockpit hatch. I think this was to prevent the windshield from fogging up due to the changes in temperatures during the dive. (Our gunner's hatch was always open due to the twin gun mounts. In combat, the gunner was facing the tail during the dive. For training dives, he turned his seat to face forward. Those gunners were some of the bravest!

If I remember correctly, at our standard 70-degree dive with full extension of the dive flaps, our maximum diving speed was only about 240 knots. You felt like you were hanging on a "string". That slow speed let us release a bomb between 1500 and 1000 feet. We could do a "snap pullout" -- the black out was more severe but a shorter time period. I always tried to lower my head for the pullout, and it reduced the blackout.

In our standard dive, the plane was vertical to the water or ground, but the "track" downward was 70 degrees. You felt no pressure on your butt or seat belt when you had it right. It was like you were floating. . . .

Our standard squadron tactic was to try to position the formation so we could roll down in either a left of right 90 degree turn to pick up the target's course. We did not form the old pre-war "Hollywood" echelon for the individual "breaks" from the formation. We flew 3-plane sections and 3-section divisions. On the break, the #1 plane dropped down and immediately broke 90 degrees (either right or left). #2 followed, then #3. The following sections ditto. The longer we could stay in formation so our gunners could fire, the more protection we had against the fighters. We practiced to see how fast we could break into our dives. With sufficiently close intervals, we could have all 9 dive bombers in a column. The inside of the split flaps were painted red, and the last plane could see eight "red bars." That prevented possible midair collisions if a pilot got out of position. If our flight leader rolled left into the dive, he turned left after his dive recovery and continued straight ahead. The other 8 planes would expedite a join-up on the inside of his turn. Getting back into formation for mutual protection was essential. We practiced this tactic, and were good at it, although in combat it was almost impossible to get all 9 planes back into formation.
Hit the link for more information on this historic battle.
Posted by:Mike

#2  MIDWAY was but one of several opportunities Yamamoto and the IJN had to fight their desired all-out "decisive battle" against the American Navy. Yamamoto and the IJN sought DB since before Pearl Harbor yet always failed, one way or another.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2006-06-04 23:45  

#1  Midway Night!
Posted by: 6   2006-06-04 13:14  

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