pinehilljoe
Senior Airman
- 712
- May 1, 2016
The SBD was a very good airplane but it was simply in the right place at the right time at Midway. There was no outstanding characteristic of the SBD that the results of the battle hinged on. The SBDs had NOT fought off interceptors to get to the bombing positions. It had not required a radius of action that other planes did not have, it didn't even require anything out of the ordinary in regards to bomb load.
Yes it delivered the mortal blow to Japanese carrier aviation and so turned the tide of the war in the Pacific.
Very true. The SBDs were part of a weapons system of the Carrier Wing with F4-Fs, SBD, and TBDs. Add to that the Naval Aviators in '42 who I would argue were some of the best pilots of the War. The men John Lundstrom called "the First Team" in his two books.