For Ben Beekman: Ben I knew Hal Buell and am a great admirer of him. He passed away in 2014 in an assisted living facility in North Carolina. You are right, his book is fascinating and I have a copy. I had the pleasure of visiting with him about 4 months before he died. I would guess that my copy of the book is the last one he autographed. He was a true hero (Navy Cross, Silver Star, Multiple DFC's) and is recognized as such throughout the Navy as such. He was my first operational commanding officer, VF-84, Oceana NAS.

I'm making a model kit of the Dauntless and am wanting to make the New Zealand variant. I would appreciate any sources to help make my Dauntless as accurate as possible. If you know any sources, please let me know.

My Father was the radio/gunner on a SBD and was in VB-2 aboard the USS Lexington CV-2, in the battle of the Coral Sea May 8,1942. He abandon ship at 17:00hrs on May 8th as the USS Lexington CV-2 was racked by huge explosions from and earlier Japanese attack. The Lexington was sunk by torpedoes from the escort ships that were picking up survivors.

SBD Dauntless

Πρόκειται για αμερικανικό βομβαρδιστικό κάθετης εφόρμησης (dive bomber) που υπηρέτησε στο Αμερικανικό Ναυτικό κατά τον 2ο Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο. Τα βομβαρδιστικά αυτού του τύπου, επιτίθενται άμεσα στους στόχους τους, μειώνοντας την απόσταση της πτώσης της βόμβας και παρέχοντας έτσι μεγαλύτερη ακρίβεια στην στόχευση. Η παραγωγή του από την εταιρία Douglas αλλά και η επιχειρησιακή του χρήση ξεκίνησε το 1940. Το ίδιο αεροσκάφος, χρησιμοποήθηκε και από τον Αμερικανικό στρατό, με την ονομασία A-24 Banshee

Τα πρώτα SBD έλαβαν πρώτη φορά μέρος σε μάχη κατά την επίθεση των Ιαπώνων στο Περλ Χάρμπορ, ενώ η χρήση τους συνεχίστηκε από τα αμερικανικά αεροπλανοφόρα καθ όλη τη διάρκεια των μαχών στο θέατρο του Ειρηνικού. Το συγκεκριμένο αεροσκάφος, εφοδιασμένο με δύο πολυβόλα M2 Browning μισής ίντας και άλλα δύο 7.62 χιλιοστών (κυρίως για άμυνα), φάνηκε αποτελεσματικό και εναντίον των σχετικά μικρότερων Ιαπωνικών μαχητικών. Επίσης, κατά τη διάρκεια του πολέμου στον Ειρηνικό, βύθισε περισσότερα εχθρικά πλοία από οποιοδήποτε άλλο συμμαχικό βομβαρδιστικό αεροσκάφος
Η πιο σπουδαία συμμετοχή του SBD όμως στον Πόλεμο του Ειρηνικού ήταν κατά τη Μάχη του Μίντγουει, το καλοκαίρι του 1942, όταν τα βομβαρδιστικά SBD κατέστρεψαν τα τέσσερα αεροπλανοφόρα και προκάλεσαν σοβαρές ζημιές σε δύο καταδρομικά του αυτοκρατορικού Ιαπωνικού Ναυτικού. Εκτός από τον Ειρηνικό, το SBD χρησιμοποιήθηκε από τις αμερικανικές δυνάμεις στην Επιχείρηση Torch και περιορισμένα στη Βόρεια Αφρική

Από το 1943, το Dauntless σταδιακά αντικαταστήθηκε με το πιο σύγχρονο Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, ενώ το 1944 η παραγωγή του σταμάτησε οριστικά, έχοντας βγει από την παραγωγή περίπου 6000 τέτοια βομβαρδιστικά

My late cousin,Guy Baird,USMC from Raymondville,Texas was a gunner on an SBD when he was at Guadalcanal in 42-43 (if I remember the dates correctly. He showed me a picture of himself in his flight suit. I remember saying that his face looked very puffy. He said they had just landed when the pic was taken.

It speaks volumes for the quality of this airplane, and the esteem with which it was held, that, after the fist SB2Cs were issued, both the Dive Bomber Squadron Commander and the Captain on the USS Yorktown recommended that they be withdrawn and replaced with the older SBDs. The only real disadvantage the SBD had was that it lacked folding wings.

Lt. Harold Buell wrote a great book titled "Dauntless Helldivers", all about his wartime adventures flying the SBD and later the SB2C in the Pacific. Any of you former carrier fliers out there should enjoy reading it. He mentions someone named "Spider" Webb who he flew with. Maybe it's the same Spider who wrote the 18.03.2009 dated entry below? Buell flew from just about all the carriers we had in the early days of the war; Enterprise, Yorktown, Hornet etc. as well as putting in some time with the Cactus air force on the canal. The book is filled with names some of you Navy people may remember from those days. It may be available via the internet.

Hello, I'm an A6 squadron navy vet. Found a picture of a"TSBD" aircraft in one of the magazines I had a subscription to. I also found out via the "EAA" "OSH365" forum only a couple of these aircraft were produced including the prototype. Are there any plans, pictures and/or info available for the general public too view? Thanks Bob.

I was a Radioman and gunner in the SBD3 at Quadalcanal in April 1943 while in the US Navy. I made about 25 raids and came home with 80 holes in the right wing. On the first daylight raid on Bouganville we were hit with a single bullet in one of our cylinders and flew it all the way to the Russell Island where it quit us. I believe this plane did more damage to the Japanese fleet than any other airplane during WWII. It was extremely durable and very effective. I wonder why The TV channels that show the greatest plane,don't inclue it.

While attending Photo school in Pensacola I flew student so they could shoot photos from the rear seat

On March 7 - 11, 1946, as a Cadet at Beeville, Texas, I flew the Sugar Baker Dog 5 times. Got my wings & commission as 2nd Lt, USMCR on March 20, 1946. GREAT aircraft!
My bro., 1 yr younger, was a Combat Air Crewman in the Sonofabitch 2nd Class. His pilots groused all the time about leaving the Dauntless.

The SBD pwned the Japanese. One SBD pilot and his gunner took on six zeros and shot them all down. The "SunuvuBeach 2nd Class" was a big step backwards... It's a good thing we had the war won by the time the SB2Cs came out.

Every documentary about Pearl Harbor shows the John Ford footage of three SBD's dropping bombs in a shallow dive. The worst is the movie "Midway".How many different planes can Charlton Heston fly on the same flight? More than the number of naval aviators who liked the change to SB2C's.

Flew these with VMSB-243 & 244 June 1942 to Oct 1944. Best single piston engine I flew. Best twin was the Graumman F7F Tigercat. Semper Fi!

Flew these in Pre-Operational at Cuddihy Field Corpus Christi Texas where I later served as a Primary Flight Instructor in N2S's. Our SBD's were "war weary" no longer fit for fleet duty which had all the armament and armour stripped making it thousands of pounds lighter. It was capable of some great aerobatics

Fell in love with this bird when a teen at the beginning of WWII. Still have a scrapbook of news clips from those days with photos of the SBD. Was my dream to fly it sometime but never did. Close as I got was on the USS Yorktown CV/CVA 10 in Charleston, SC which is a museum of famous well known Navy fighters from WWII. Everyone should visit the ship once in his lifetime!

best dive bomber made , tore the guts out of the jap. fleet.