Quote:
Originally Posted by Llarry
The Douglas SBD Dauntless was to be replaced by the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, but the SB2C had a difficult gestation.
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Another problem with the introduction of the SB2C was that it was replacing a much-loved SBD. The SB2C service introduction started in 1943 but there were a few holdouts that clung to their old reliable SBDs until mid-1944. One was VB-16.
Here's an SBD-5 of VB-16 from the Lexington flying in the vicinity of the Palaus in late March of 1944. It appears that they've already dropped their bombs. The post projecting from the near wing is for a small Yagi radar antenna used for surface search; wartime photo censors often deleted these antennas but missed doing that in this wartime photo for LIFE magazine.
Edit: I've neglected to add in my various posts on the SBD that the airplane had a major disadvantage: It did not have folding wings to minimize deck space and furthermore the construction of the SBD wing was such that folding wings were an impossibility -- unless a whole new wing was designed. The SB2C, despite its drawbacks, could be folded and parked compactly.