Walk Around SBD Dauntless

This is another nice installment in Squadron/Signal's "Walk Around" series covering the Douglas SBD Dauntless. The SBD was designed as a dive bomber during the Navy's transition to monoplanes and entered service in 1940, just before the US entered World War Two. In retrospect, its one design holdover from the biplane era was its fixed wings. During WW2, the SBD was the only carrier aircraft left that didn't fold its wings for storage/parking.

Even as the aircraft entered service, the US Navy and Marine Corps only placed small orders for the SBD-1 (USMC) and SBD-2 (USN). This was due to the fact that the Dauntless' replacement was already in flight test - the SB2C Helldiver. Two things pushed the Dauntless into mainstream production, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the growing development problems facing the Helldiver. This 'interim' dive bomber would remain in production through mid-1944 with nearly 6,000 examples built.

The author has combined an excellent mix of period photos with contemporary shots of restored museum aircraft to look at the details and differences between the SBD Dauntless variants. The author provides a good look at the SBD-1, SBD-2, SBD-3, SBD-4, SBD-5, SBD-6, A-24 Banshee.

This is another nice release from Squadron/Signal Publications and you'll definitely want to have this one on your shelf. You can get this title from your favorite book seller, hobby shop, or directly from Squadron Mail Order (www.squadron.com).

My sincere thanks to Squadron Mail Order for this review sample!