Dive Bombing Operations

[Zipper730]

From what I understand the aircraft ingresses at cruising altitude and pops the brakes, pushes the nose over or peels off into a dive of greater than 60-degrees, releasing the bomb at around 2,000-4,000 feet or closer if they dare, followed by a brake-retraction and pull up either to level flight or a climb until the plane bleed off to cruise speed, and then flies back at that speed.

Am I right or wrong?

 

[Greyman]

Tactics depend on:
- when we're talking about
- what aircraft
- type of target
- weather conditions
- level of opposition
- which air force/theatre/unit

I'm sure there's more.

 

[YGBSM]

The OP describes a SBD Dauntless dive pretty well - but Greyman is right, there is a lot of potential variation if you don't specify the things he listed.

Since I assume we're discussing a WW2 naval dive-bomber style attack as practiced by the USN, the Midway episode of the Battle 360 series describes it pretty well. Dive typically would begin somewhere in the 12k - 15k altitude range with the pull-out beginning 1,500 - 2,000 ft. Some guys were known to push it a bit beyond that but they ended up at wave-top level in the pull-out or in the drink (i.e. it was a bad idea even though accuracy increases the later you drop / pull up).

 

[Ascent]

This is from an account from a Vultee Vengeance pilot in thefar east. Not really typical for other dive bombers as the vengeance dived vertically but interesting to note how the formation worked and what the pilot thought as it happened.

Part 13

Akyab, occupied by the Japanese since '42, is a sizeable island off the Burmese coast. It had a small port, an airfield , a radio station and a well built jail. The Japs threw out the occupants of the jail ( don't suppose they minded too much) and took it over as headquarters and their main barracks. There was an important bridge at Narigan which was an attractive target, too.

Akyab was a useful base for the Japs and they defended it. It was the only place I met that they had heavy AA, which could reach us at 10-12,000 ft as we came in. Low down, they seemed to have plenty of light Bofors-type guns. (The rumour was that these were Bofors guns, left behind in full working order - with ammo - by the Army in the '42 rout. But this may be a base slur on our gallant gunners).

As I've mentioned, my first three sorties were all to Akyab. I'm hazy on the details of the First Arakan campaign, but from what I remember, the Army hoped to push the Jap back south and retake Akyab before the '43 monsoon. Fat chance! The Jap counter-attacked and the Army was hard pressed to hang on where they were.

Consequently, we'd no opportunity to do what we did best, which was to hit well dug in Jap defensive bunkers to assist the Army when they were on the offensive, (this would turn out to be be our major task in '44). The Jap didn't need bunkers now; he just employed his usual tactic of infiltration and encirclement which had served him so well so far. And of course you never knew exactly where he was at any one time, so you couldn't bomb him.

So, to start with, we had to go to where we knew he was, and that was in Akyab. Memory is a strange thing. I remember all the details of our first strike on the jail, but absolutely nothing about the second (Narigan bridge) or the third (Bume radio station) attacks on Akyab, other than that I must have gone there as it's in my logbook.

But the Jail sortie will do very well to begin with. And this description of it will do as a template for every VV operation which followed, for the modus operandi was always the same. Off we go, then.

I've said that we normally put up only six aircraft at a time. On this single occasion, we scraped up twelve - six from 110 and six from 82 Sqdn. 82 ("Out of the blue came Eighty-Two!") were to go in first. As a new boy on 110, I flew the 6 position, which would mean I would be the last man of all to go down. As I never flew in a 12-ship strike again, this was the only time I was able to watch all the action from the air.

Topper was leading our six. We came in from the North at 12,000 ft with 82 ahead. It was afternoon. As we reached the island, the heavies opened up. Our two formations were "weaving", flying a slow zig-zag with a course change every twenty seconds or so. This confuses the gun predictors, so the flak bursts were 2-300 ft off to the side, but uncomfortably accurate for height. We overflew the island, then turned left in a wide sweep over the mainland, flying right round until we reached Akyab again, but this time coming out of the haze and gloom of the eastern sky.

It was a clever ruse (if it was a ruse - perhaps the 82 leader had simply misjudged his first run-up). Later intelligence confirmed that the Jap had put out an air raid warning the first time. But as we didn't bomb, they assumed that we were going on somewhere else and sounded the all-clear. Second time round, we caught them napping, sitting with their evening rice.

The jail was a bomber's dream target. Built on the cart-wheel plan, I suppose it was 2-300 ft across. It was unmissable. It must have been the largest building on the island. As the last man on the line, I could allow myself room to watch the action. 82 were a mile ahead, so I watched them all go down. They were like beads sliding down a string, three spaced out at a time. I could see the bomb flashes dead on target, billowing up in smoke and dust.

Then it was our turn. Topper waggles his wings. This is the signal for the rear "vic" to drop back and move into echelon starboard. A few seconds later, he waggles again and opens his bomb doors. All open theirs. 3 and 6 (me) swing across into echelon on 2 and 5 respectively. Now we're all in a diagonal line like a skein of geese. (This formation change is made only at the last moment, for although it looks nice on the newsreels, it leaves you practically at the mercy of an attacker - and it advertises your imminent attack to any watcher on the ground).

Mechanically I go through my drill: Canopy shut, check bomb doors open, bomb switches "live", trims neutral, 2100 rpm, mixture rich, gyros caged, cowl gills closed, straps tight.

The first three go down. A few seconds later 4 goes over, settles in the dive and puts his brakes out. 5 puts his out as he rolls over. I put mine out, throttle back to a third and then roll. This gives us an extra bit of spacing for safety.

After that, it's simply "doin' what comes nacherly". Rolling over, I throw my head back and look straight down on the dust cloud over the jail - or what's left of it. Then it's just a matter of sighting down the yellow line and "flying" it onto the target. Feet braced on my big fat rudder pedals, I sense the dive is as near vertical as dammit - you can feel it with practice. Topper has done us proud, for this is a follow-my-leader operation, and if he's off vertical, then the whole thing will be a mess.

I can see 4 and 5 ahead for a few moments, then 4 pulls away from my field of vision. Bomb flash. I'm snatching quick glances at my altimeter, which is spinning like a broken clock, one sweep of the "big hand" every two or three seconds. 5 pulls away, keep line on target, bomb flash, 5000 ft, check line, 4000, check, 3500, press button (on throttle grip) and pull, pull, pull for dear life - literally - five seconds too late and you're dead.

End of part 13

 

[Barrett]

SBD dive brakes had to be retracted before the pullout. When restoring our bird I went thru the pilot's manual front to back and recall a boldface notice:THE SBD-5 AIRPLANE WILL NOT MAINTAIN LEVEL FLIGHT WITH THE DIVE FLAPS EXTENDED.

Typical profile was 60-70 degrees at 240 knots.

 

[GrauGeist]

For the Ju87, the typical attack started at 15,000 feet and the pilot would aquire the target through the floor window.
He'd then throttle back, roll into a dive while deploying the dive brakes - which would also release the brake on the Jerico Trumpet and activate the automatic dive recovery system.
The dive angle would typically be between 60° and 90° depending on the target, defenses, weather, etc. - the release point was about 1,500 feet and an alarm light would illuminate at this altitude, too. The pilot would then press the button on the control stick, which released the centerline bomb and initiate the 6g automatic dive recovery.
Once the nose of the Ju87 levelled with the horizon, the automatic dive recovery retracted the dive brakes (which also arrested the Jerico Trumpet), opened the throttle and adjusted the prop pitch for a climb. It would also be about this time that the pilot would recover from the high-G blackout and would resume control of the aircraft.

 

[Zipper730]

Tactics depend on:
- when we're talking about
- what aircraft
- type of target
- weather conditions
- level of opposition
- which air force/theatre/unit

That's a starting point

 

[buffnut453]

IIRC the standard attack procedure with the Vengeance was to fly over the target and watch for it to appear at the trailing edge of the wing root, then roll over and pull through into the dive. This approach was used because the Vengeance was designed from the outset to dive at 90 degrees but it also allowed for accurate target identification and eyes-on-target throughout the initiation of the dive.

 

[Ascent]

IIRC the standard attack procedure with the Vengeance was to fly over the target and watch for it to appear at the trailing edge of the wing root, then roll over and pull through into the dive. This approach was used because the Vengeance was designed from the outset to dive at 90 degrees but it also allowed for accurate target identification and eyes-on-target throughout the initiation of the dive.

Also taken from the anecdotes from the Vengeance pilot.

Part 6

The next stage was to get myself a crewman. Actually, it wasn't quite like that. I was told that at home, the drill was (on bomber crews) that the new nav was supposed to wait, like a wallflower at a dance, until a twin-wing prince came over and popped the question. If the deal was done, the pair then went round selecting the rest of their crew.

But that presupposed similar levels of experience all round. In our case, the ex-Blenheim navs and wop/ags were all battle-hardened veterans from shipping strikes over the Channel and the like, and the squadron had taken a fair hammering. They were not going to be picked over by this intake of sprogs fresh out of training !

So it was that Sgt Keith Stewart-Mobsby (Wop/Ag - and hereinafter "Stew") came over and said "You're my Pilot - any objection ?" It seemed that the deciding factor had been that he wanted a British pilot this time - being fed up with the Wild Colonial Boys he'd had before, As I was the only new one in town, it had been Hobson's choice for him. It worked out fine, and we stayed together, off and on, till the end.

The next day we flew so that I could settle myself in the aircraft and we could have a good look round the area. There was the usual tendency to swing left in the early part of the take-off run, but it was easily controllable. We had a tailwheel lock, but it wasn't necessary and most people left it unlocked all the time. Once the tail was up, you had complete control with that enormous fin, and the rare pleasure of being able to see fairly well over the nose (come to think of it, it was the only time you could do so, except when you were pointed straight down).

The acceleration was poor; there were always complaints about the long take-off run, but eventually you wound it up to about 95 mph (a bit more if you were bombed-up), eased back into a three-point attitude and lumbered off reluctantly into the sky. Much like a 747 out of Heathrow today! - (don't you just look at them inching across the sky, and wonder: "How on Earth"?)

Putting it back was not difficult, provided you came in on a wide curve (no "Spitfire Approach" here !), and slowly, with a fair amount of power on. Attempts at glide landings (to see over the nose) almost always ended in very heavy "arrivals", as it would "mush" into the ground on round-out.

Training started at once. Really it was simple, we had to learn to dive-bomb and to fly any position in a box-of-six which was to be our normal tactical formation. A range was set up on a big sandbank (it was the dry season) on a bend in the river Damodar, about 30 miles from Madhaiganj. Who supplied the observers, and what equipment they had, I do not know. There must have been two of them at a safe distance, with lines of sight at right angles and some form of theodolite.

We went to work on this range right away. All we were concerned about was results, and with practice these became quite good. Four 11½ lb smoke bombs were carried on a rack under the left wing, and dropped one per dive. The trip to the range took about 15 minutes, and by then you'd climbed to bombing height of 10 - 12,000 ft.

The trick was to fly up to the target in such a way as to be vertically above it when you rolled over. The best method was to keep it in view, running along tight against the left side of the fuselage from the nose back until it slid under the wing, count ten and go over, crouched, standing on your rudder pedals on the way down.

The steeper the dive, the better the result. You "throw" your aircraft at the target much as a darts player "throws" his wrist at the board. You must not forget to (a) use the dive brakes and (b) pull out in good time. As to what constituted "good time" we experimented, pulling out high to start with and then reducing until we'd established the lowest safe height. This was reckoned to be when the altimeter passed 3500 ft above ground, although the aircraft would be lower at this point, as the instrument lagged by several hundred feet.

Having planted your first bomb and swung round to see where it had gone, you climbed up and dived three more times, then home. As such a climb and repositioning took you ten to fifteen minutes, two or three aircraft could space themselves out and use the range together.

These sorties lasted little more than an hour and formed the greater part of our training. We improved with practice: at the end almost all bombs would go in a 100-yard circle.

End of part 6