American light bombers and reconnaissance aircrafts

[gekho]

Next, SBDs participated in the Guadalcanal campaign, both from American carriers and Henderson Field on Guadalcanal Island. Dauntlesses contributed to the heavy loss of Japanese shipping during the campaign, including the carrier Ryūjō near the Solomon Islands on 24 August, damaging three others during the six-month campaign. SBDs proceeded to sink one cruiser and nine transports during the decisive Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. During the decisive period of the Pacific Campaign, the SBD's strengths and weaknesses became evident. While the American strength was dive bombing, the Japanese stressed their Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" torpedo bombers, which had caused the bulk of the damage at Pearl Harbor. In the Atlantic Ocean, the SBD saw action during Operation Torch, the Allied landings in North Africa, in November 1942. The Dauntlesses operated from USS Ranger and two escort carriers. Eleven months later, in Operation Leader, the SBDs saw their European debut when aircraft from Ranger attacked German shipping around Bodø, Norway. Although it was becoming obsolete by 1941, the SBD was used until 1944, when the Dauntless undertook its last major action during the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
A VB-4 SBD-3 near Bodø, Norway, 4 October 1943.

However, some Marine squadrons in the Pacific used Dauntlesses until the end of the war. It had already been replaced by the SB2C Helldiver in the U.S. Navy, much to the dismay of the pilots, many of whom believed the "Slow But Deadly" Dauntless was a better aircraft than the Helldiver, which gained the nicknames "Son of a Bitch 2nd Class" and "The Beast". The Dauntless was one of the most important aircraft in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, sinking more enemy shipping in the Pacific war than any other Allied aircraft. In addition, Barrett Tillman, in his book on the Dauntless, claims that the Dauntless has a "plus" score against enemy aircraft, considered a rare event for a nominal "bomber". A total of 5,936 SBDs were produced in World War II. When the last SBD rolled off the assembly lines at Douglas Aircraft Company's El Segundo plant on 21 July 1944, it marked the final dive bomber which the Navy was to buy. The Navy placed emphasis on the heavier, faster and longer-range SB2C. From Pearl Harbor until April 1944, SBDs had flown 1,189,473 operational hours, with 25 percent of all operational hours flown off aircraft carriers being in Dauntless aircraft. Its battle record shows that in addition to six Japanese carriers, 14 enemy cruisers had been sunk, along with six destroyers, fifteen transports or cargo ships and scores of various lesser craft.

A handful of A-24 Banshees survived in the USAAF's inventory long enough to be taken over by the United States Air Force when that service became independent of the U.S. Army in 1947. The USAF instituted a new designation system for its aircraft, eliminating the "A-for-Attack" category. Twin-engined "A" types were redesignated as bombers (another Douglas product, the A-26 Invader becoming the B-26) while single-engined "A" aircraft were identified as fighters. As a result, the Banshee became known as the F-24, although the type was retired shortly thereafter in 1950.

Source: Douglas SBD Dauntless - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Gnomey]

Good stuff!

 

[vikingBerserker]

Forever a classic

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Excellent thread Gekho!!!

 

[gekho]

In 1937, the Glenn L. Martin Company designed a new twin engined flying boat to succeed its earlier Martin P3M and supplement the Consolidated PBY, the Model 162. It received an order for a single prototype XPBM-1 on 30 June 1937. This was followed by an initial production order for 21 PBM-1 aircraft on 28 December 1937. To test the PBM's layout, Martin built a ⅜ scale flying model, the Martin 162A Tadpole Clipper with a crew of one and powered by a single 120 hp (90 kW) Chevrolet engine, this flying in December 1937. The first genuine PBM, the XPBM-1, flew on 18 February 1939. The aircraft was fitted with five gun turrets and bomb bays that were in the engine nacelles. The gull wing was of cantilever design, and featured clean aerodynamics with an unbraced twin tail. The PBM-1 was equipped with retractable wing landing floats that were hinged inboard, like the Catalina. The PBM-3 had fixed floats, and the fuselage was three ft longer than that of the PBM-1.

Source: Martin PBM Mariner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[gekho]

The first PBM-1s entered service with Patrol Squadron Fifty-Five (VP-55) of the United States Navy on 1 September 1940. Prior to the outbreak of World War II, PBMs were used (together with PBYs) to carry out Neutrality Patrols in the Atlantic, including operations from Iceland. Following the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, PBMs were used on anti-submarine patrols, sinking their first German U-Boat, U-158 on 30 June 1942. In total, PBMs were responsible, wholly or in part, for sinking 10 U-Boats during World War II. PBMs were also heavily used in the Pacific, operating from bases at Saipan, Okinawa, Iwo Jima and the South-West Pacific. The United States Coast Guard acquired 27 Martin PBM-3 aircraft during the first half of 1943. In late 1944, the service acquired 41 PBM-5 models and more were delivered in the latter half of 1945. Ten were still in service in 1955, although all were gone from the active Coast Guard inventory by 1958 when the last example was released from CGAS San Diego and returned to the US Navy. These flying boats became the backbone of the long-range aerial search and rescue efforts of the Coast Guard in the early post-war years until supplanted by the P5M and the HU-16 Albatross in the mid-1950s.

PBMs continued in service with the US Navy following the end of World War II, flying long patrol missions during the Korean War. It continued in front line use until replaced by its direct development, the P5M Marlin, with the last USN squadron equipped with the PBM, Patrol Squadron Fifty (VP-50), retiring them in July 1956. The British Royal Air Force acquired 32 Mariners, but they were not used operationally, with some returned to the United States Navy. A further 12 PBM-3Rs were transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force for transporting troops and cargo. The Royal Netherlands Navy acquired 17 PBM-5A Mariners at the end of 1955 for service in Netherlands New Guinea. The PBM-5A was an amphibian with retractable landing gear. The engines were 2,100 hp (1,566 kW) Pratt Whitney R-2800-34. After a series of crashes, the Dutch withdrew their remaining aircraft from use in December 1959.

 

[gekho]

Survivors

The Mariner in the Pima Air Museum collection is the last one known to exist. It's an example of the last series built, the A series. These served in the anti-submarine role for the U.S. Navy and as air-sea rescue aircraft for the U.S. Coast Guard.

There is however another PBM-5 and it's wresting on the bottom of Lake Washington. The PBM-5 currently rests in approximately 80 feet of water and 6 feet of silt near the south end of the lake. The Cedar River enters the lake nearby bringing a large volume of silt each fall and spring. Over the past 40 years the PBM-5 has been slowly covered. Only the occasional Navy salvage attempts keep the plane from being completely covered. Forty-eight years ago, Lt. Ralph Frame was taking the PBM from the naval station at Sand Point to a storage hanger at the south end of the lake to be mothballed. Frame landed safely but missed a tie-up buoy while taxiing to shore. Unable to turn around he ran the plane over a small pier damaging the flotation pontoon on the starboard wing. With uneven flotation the plane turned on its side. By the time the PBM hit the bottom it had completely flipped and came to rest in an inverted position..

Used for reconnaissance, rescue work and anti-sub patrols, PBMs were credited with sinking 10 German U-boats during W.W.II. The aircraft was powered by two 14-cylinder Wright R-2600 radial engines. Armament included bow and tail turrets, waist guns, and a 2000-pound bomb payload. A crew of seven to ten manned the plane. Twice the Navy has attempted to salvage this aircraft and both times personnel were injured in the attempt. The first attempt in 1990 cleared much of the silt from around the aircraft. Because it was unclear at the time weather the Navy had the right to salvage the plane form Washington State waters the attempt was abandoned. In this attempt a Navy diver became ill and died, reportedly of a heart condition. The second attempt came in 1996 after many debates over the legal right of salvage. The 1996 attempt resulted in one diver getting a case of decompression sickness. The Navy made an attempt to pick the plane up by its tail. The PBM was far too week to be lifted in this manner and broke apart. The detached section was brought to the surface and loaded on a barge. After this incident the Navy again abandoned the project. The location or condition of the tail section is unclear.

Source: http://www.nwrain.net/~newtsuit/recoveries/lkwash/pbm/pbm.htm

 

[Wayne Little]

great pics...

 

[vikingBerserker]

I agree, 2nd from the last looks like it has a crinkled nose.

 

[gekho]

Powered by an Allison V-12 engine equipped with a single stage supercharger, the A-36 Apache was essentially an early model P-51 Mustang fitted with two dive brakes on each wing. Other modifications to the airframe included strengthening of the wings, movement of the bomb racks closer to the main landing gear for less wing "flexing" while the plane was taxiing, and the installation of small vent windows in the windscreen side panels. In addition, two .50 caliber machine guns were mounted in each wing, and two Browning M2 .50 cal. guns were mounted in the lower nose to fire through the propeller. Naturally, the A-36 inherited the Mustang's clean aerodynamics; but why did North American turn the P-51 into a dive-bomber? To answer this question, we must look at the Mustang's origins. In early 1940, the British asked the company to build Curtiss P-40's under license from Curtiss. Rather than building another company's design (especially one that was already considered obsolete), North American proposed building a fighter of its own. After some hesitation (the company had no fighter experience), the British agreed, and the first Mustang prototype (the NA-73X) flew on October 26, 1940. Flight tests were successful, and the British ordered 320 of the new planes, calling them Mustang I's. Interestingly, the U.S. government kept two Mustangs for itself, calling them XP-51's. Ultimately, the British received 650 Mustang I, Ia, and II's through outright purchase and Lend/Lease distribution. By the time the Lend/Lease order was placed, U.S. pilots had flown the two XP-51's and were raving about their performance. As a result, the U.S. retained 55 England – bound Mustangs for itself. The majority of these 55 airplanes were converted into to armed, high-speed reconnaissance aircraft, known as F-6's. The rest were used as high-speed ground attack airplanes, and as low altitude escort fighters. The British used their Mustang primarily in the close air support role as well.

Despite the Mustang's effectiveness as a ground-support airplane, enthusiasm by the military leaders on both sides of the Atlantic was lukewarm at best. The British, although satisfied with their Mustangs, were apprehensive about relying on a foreign aircraft. They were concerned about the availability of parts and maintenance. Hence, they focused their efforts on developing their own fighters. At the same time, the U.S. Army was already buying P-38's, P-39's, and P-40's. By 1942, there was no money in the defense budget for new fighters. It appeared that production of the Mustang was coming to an end. Fortunately, a few people recognized the Mustang's potential. One of these Mustang "visionaries" was Major General Oliver P. Echols, who was instrumental in the Army's successful retention of the 55 Lend/Lease Mustangs. General Echols noticed that there was money available in the budget for attack airplanes, and he brought this to the attention of North American's "Dutch" Kindelberger. Kindelberger, in turn, approached Army Lt. General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold with the idea of turning the P-51 into a dive-bomber, knowing that Arnold had been an early proponent of dive-bombing tactics.

Although Army doctrine held that dive-bombing was ineffective and dangerous, (because of the high dive and pull-out speeds), Arnold had managed to persuade the Army to procure a few dive bombers – the Douglas A-24, and the Vultee A-31 among them. If Arnold would go along with the idea of producing a Mustang dive – bomber, North American's production lines would be kept open. Kindelberger managed to convince Arnold that, by replacing the British armament (two 20mm cannon in each wing) with .50 cal. machine guns, and adding dive flaps, the Mustang would fill the bill as a dive-bomber. Arnold was convinced, and the first A-36 flew on September 21, 1942. Only five hundred A-36's were built. The results of flight tests conducted at Florida's Eglin Army Air Field seemed to reinforce the Army's doubts about dive-bombing, and the A-36. The A-36 dove at speeds approaching 500 mph; the brakes only reduced the speed to about 350mph. Unfortunately, one of the test airplanes crashed because it lost its wings during a vertical dive. Not surprisingly, Army officials decided that the airplane had great diving capabilities for a fighter, but dove too fast for a dive – bomber. As a result of all this, the Army restricted the plane's dive-angles to 70 degrees. In addition, the evaluators at Eglin recommended that the A-36 be used mainly as a low-altitude attack airplane, and that the dive brakes be eliminated. This last recommendation may have given rise to the oft-repeated myth that all A-36's had their dive brakes wired shut. Apparently, this recommendation was never adopted as official policy.

Source: The Plane That Saved The Mustang: The North American A-36 Apache

 

[johnbr]

Grumman TBF-TBM Avenger art