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Douglas SBD Dauntless

Nicknamed "Barge" or "Clunk" the SBD also went by the nickname "Slow but Deadly." The SBD was the U.S. Navy's principal dive bomber until 1944. It was underpowered, obsolete, and slow but it might be one of the most influential planes in history.

Carrier-based dive bomber, a development of the Northrop BT. The SBD was a small aircraft, slow and vulnerable, and already considered obsolete when it entered service (army version named A-24 Banshee). Nevertheless it sparheaded the early offensives in the Pacific and served throughout WWII. If anything, it was an accurate dive-bomber and got ample opportunity to show it. Its largest success was the destruction of four Japanese carriers in the Battle of Midway.

General characteristics SBD-5
Primary function	Dive bomber
Power plant	One Wright R-1820-60 radial engine
Thrust	1,200 HP		895 kW
Wingspan	41.5 ft		12.66 m
Length	33.1 ft		10.09 m
Height	13.6 ft		4.14 m
Wingarea	325 sq ft		30.19 sq m
Weight	empty	6,530 lb	2,963 kg
	max.	10,700 lb	4,854 kg
Speed	253 mph		407 km/h
Ceiling	24,280 ft		7,400 m
Range	1,296 miles		2,085 km
Armament	2x 12.7mm and 2x 7.7mm machine guns, 1x 725 kg bomb, 2x 45kg bombs.
Crew	Two
Date deployed	1940

Jirka Wagner