News Letter 1941 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office

Army Air Forces Get New Type Planes
DIVE BOMBERS DELIVERED
Many on Order
Soviet Attitude
Initial deliverie. ot the new Douglal
~24 41"e boaber, vh1ch 18 virtuall)" identical
to the 1II'aT7SBD-3,have been rece1 ved
b)" the Air Oorp.. The Air Oorp. hal bought
one eroap of thll t7Pe tor each ermored 41vilion.
'the ul1paent ot oontractl to lIqrth
AuriclIIl Aviation Oorp. and to Ourti18-
Wright tor other 41ve bombers has been announced
b7 UDder Secret&r7 ot War PatterlOll.
'!he.. vill be never t7Pes.
!he ml'i-placed lhip, which sOll8Yhat
ree.ble. ~ A.rtrq .&.-17 in appearance, has
been hichl7 praised b)" a Wright 'ield telt
pUot .. a liveet tlylng .hip.. '!hree s1milar
pl.e. vere borrowed from the 1II'avb7
the A.1r Oorp. three or tour monthe ago 10
that A.n1T pUot. coold build up a technique
ot operation tor thi. t7Pe ot plane.
!he .&.-24 11 powered vi th a Wright 07Clone
eDC1newhich hal a mill t&1'7rating ot 1,000
horlepower. It hae a speed ot about 250
m.p.h. and a range, of over 1,000 mUe•• The
•hip hal a crOll veight ot 9,000 PO!1J1d.l, a
wb.tantialportion of vh1ch 11 made up b7
an a4eqaate bcmb load.
Dive baabel' pilot. vill be trained in
their own unite. At preeent, two naval
ottioen are .tationed vi th Air Oorp. un1tI,
one at BOWI&11 'ield, Lou1.ville, X7., and
one at the SaT8m1ahAir Baae, Savazmah,Ga.,
tor the plU'pOie of acquainting operat1olll
ottioerl with technique and methods developed
by naTal operation.
In addition, two Air Oorps otficer., one
each trOll BoWIUA'ield and the Savu.nah A.1r
Bue, where llght bombardmentultl are
located' and where earl)" deli verie. ot dive
"'bomber.'are being and vill be received, are
on dut7t~r one month at the lIodolk lI..ft1
Air Bue, attached to na'V7dive boIDbu.quad.-
ron.. At the end of thi. time the)" Yill
return"to ,their OW%l tields. However, it 11
not expecte4 that J..rrrr dive bombing tactiCI
,will be 14ent1cal to the NaT)"tactics. AI
the .itDations in which dive bombers are
emplo)"e4will be different, technique will
nece'laril)" v&r7 80mewhat.
The dive bomber is used to support, and
work in close coopera.tion with, ground
(OontiDUed on Page 24)
b)" Oaptain •• hainev
Becent warl have demon.trated the ettica.c)"
ot the pover-di T8 bomber. !hr0Qcgh0ll t the
Ohine•• contlict Japaneee bombardment avia.-
tion hal utilized power-41vingaa the basic
method ot attack.
the YV in Spain attorcled ~ example.
ot the wccellM emploJ1llent ot pover-dive
bOllbiUC. WeIIq recall that the Insurgent
bat1llelhip Ilapania YU eunk b)" two power-
41ve bomberl. The GermanJUDker-87 powerd1ve
bcmber vas emplo)"ed tor the flut
time in thi. oonnict. It Val utilized in
action egaiut seaport objectives.
Germanpower-dive bombers were emplo)"ed
.on a particularl)" extensive .cale in the
Ge1'llall-Polieh war. The resul te obtained
b7 thell. created varld.-vide d1lcueaion.
throughOl1t the milita.r)" pres.. The Allied
power., haT1nc no aircraft un!.t, equipped
with power-dive bomber., rwlhed the purchase
ot wch aircraft in the United States •
Pover-4ive bombers were empl078d on an
even larger scale in Belgi~ and hance,
eepeci81l7 against important small-size
target.. German ;power-dive bombers attacked
concrete .t1"l1Ctures, airdromes, 1'&11-
vaT bridge., communication centers behind
the Allied lines. Of particular intere.t
18 the action of Germanpower-dive bomber.
in conjunction with motorized end mechanised
torce. against Allied mechanized unit.
on the march and aga.in8t their intantr)".
There haTe al.o been noted 80mepower-dive
attack8 on the part of the Bri tim bombard.-
m.nt aviation.
Power-41ve functions mq be accompli.hed.
troa hieh or average altitude.. Compared
to bombinge from horizontal flight, the)"
afford JIIaDT advant8&8s. Power-dive bombing
enhance. considerabl)" the aiming ot the
bomber. the striking effect of the bomb.,
and invol v.. le18 danger, compared to horizontal
bombarcbDentaction, within the zone
ot ho8tile antiaircraft artiller)" tire.
Moreover, power-dive bombers m~ combine
the bombin« of targets wi th the tire action
ot their cannon or machine gane.
.Action trom horhontal fiight at ver)"
(Oontinued on Page 20)
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