SBD-3

SBD-3

TBF-1C

360://https://wiki.warthunder.com/images/a/a0/Cockpit_sbd-3.jpg

SBD-3

TBF-1C

USA

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.7	2.0	1.7

Class:

Bomber

Dive bomber

Naval aircraft

Research:3 000

Purchase:6 300

Show in game

Description

The SBD-3 Dauntless is a rank I American dive bomber with a battle rating of 1.7 (AB/SB) and 2.0 (RB). It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27.

General info

Flight performance

As a dive bomber, it has very good dive characteristics and manoeuvres decently at most speeds. Although the engine is relatively weak, it could be WEP-ed for a long time before it reaches the overheating stage. This is not an aircraft which you will want to fly at high altitudes but should remain lower where it is a capable dive bomber.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 4,500 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	422	409	5700	26.6	27.8	7.9	7.8	291
Upgraded	456	439		24.3	25.5	14.3	9.8

A trio of Dauntlesses in formation.

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
740	450	520	520	320	~11	~11

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 350	< 350	< 380	> 250

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
1,324 m	950 hp	1,000 hp
Setting 2
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
4,777 m	800 hp	842 hp

Engine performance

Engine
Engine Name			Number present
Wright Cyclone R-1820-52 9-cylinder			1
Engine characteristics
Weight (each)		Type	Cooling
907 kg		Radial	Air
Engine power (Stock)
Mode	Max		Take-off
Arcade	889 hp		939 hp
Realistic/Simulator	879 hp		930 hp
Engine power (Upgraded)
Mode	Max		Take-off
Arcade	1,023 hp		1,074 hp
Realistic/Simulator	950 hp		1,000 hp

WEP Duration
Arcade		Realistic/Simulator
25 seconds		Infinite

Survivability and armour

• 38 mm bulletproof glass in the windshield
• 12.7 mm steel pilot seat
• 12.7 mm steel protecting the gunner
• Self-sealing fuel tanks (2 in each wing)

Armaments

Offensive armament

The SBD-3 is armed with:

• 2 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, nose-mounted (180 rpg = 360 total)

Suspended armament

The SBD-3 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 1 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bomb + 2 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs (1,200 lb total)
• 4 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, wing-mounted (gunpods) (340 rpg = 1,360 total)
• 1 x Type A Mark I mine

Defensive armament

The SBD-3 is defended by:

• 2 x 7.62 mm Browning machine guns, dorsal turret (1,000 rpg = 2,000 total)

Usage in battles

The Dauntless is an underrated aircraft, as it is viewed as a weak and sluggish bomber by a majority of tier 1 players. Use this to your advantage by catching unsuspecting bombers and fighters. Its manoeuvrability is good enough to energy fight the enemy. You should try to keep your speed higher than 200 km/h and stay at altitudes lower than 2km.

This plane is good at what it was designed for Dive Bombing. Start at a high altitude at around 4-5,000 feet, fly directly above the target, invert the plane, cut the throttle and deploy airbrakes (h key by default), dive, at 1,000-700 feet release bombs, pull the nose up, retract air brakes, push the throttle to full, then pitch up in a climb.

The small bomb load requires you pick your targets carefully and make your bombs count, choose to attack artillery positions or bases, where you have a higher chance of hitting due to their stationary position. Ships are also prime targets (it is what it was designed for), as the 1000lb bomb is plenty to sink a small ship.

Do not rely on fighter support when focusing on ground targets. After you drop your bombs, the plane should be manoeuvrable enough to dogfight enemies. You should stay on deck and manoeuvre wisely to not expose your weak underbelly. If you are caught at high altitude, go into a steep dive until you are at the deck, there is a good chance you may out dive them. If you cannot lose the enemy, try to quickly turn to your enemy's direction. your high G tolerance is equal, if not better than most enemies so you could lose them if they cant follow your turn.

Realistic Mode Procedures

With the gun pods attached, you could act as menacing fighter support. With a high altitude spawn, try to hunt bombers first before you consider killing fighters. climb up to 4,500 meters to get your max speed so you can dive down to the bombers. After eliminating a bomber or two, you should find that your allies are starting to engage the enemy. You could help them by catching enemies that are turning, have low speed, or attacking an ally. It should be easy to do all of this because of your energy advantage. You are still marked as a bomber, so enemies will surely consider you as an easy kill. You can not outrun them, but you can turn very well at almost every speed except stall. If they are coming from behind, a sudden reverse would be a good manoeuvre to throw them off. After that, you could either perform a head-on or fly under the enemy to avoid them. Avoid rushing upwards to maintain speed. Combine all of that with good trigger discipline, it is possible to achieve a five kill game.

Simulator mode procedures

Hands-off carrier take-off (Auto engine control): Start the engine, flaps: raised, elevator trim: 15%, aileron trim: 11%, rudder trim: 6%, WEP throttle, hands-off controls until you lift off the carrier.

Enemies worth noting:

Yak-2 KABB: do not think that you can confidently out maneuver this plane just because it is twin engined. It has an amazing turn rate for a heavy fighter, thus you must avoid turning with it, if not dogfighting with it in general. It bears a pair of ShVAK cannons that can easily damage your vital parts like engine or cooling systems. It has green camo, greatly resembling an Me 410 but with an H-tail like a Bf 110's.

ZSD63: you cannot tell what SPAA it is by looking at a dot on the ground spraying tracers around you. By getting close, you are running at risk at being shot, but once you do identify it as a ZSD, avoid it at all costs and do NOT take head-ons with it, ever. It can easily snap your wing off by causally putting a short burst in your flight path. Don't even get close to it unless you have a bomb or if it is busy shooting someone else. It has a rather boxy and tall hull with a geometric turret sitting at the back, slightly similar to a Wirbelwind's. You can also tell by looking at how it fires: the sound and green tracers are very rapid, much like a buzzsaw, but then it will remain silent for half a minute reloading. Note that an experienced ZSD player will hold its fire or shoot in single salvos with long halts between, making it look like that it's reloading. Armor piercing belt is recommended since their high penetration can tear through the ZSD's armor with ease and knock out its crews.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Auto control available	Controllable Auto control available	Separate	Controllable 2 gears	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Turret 7 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 7 mm MGs (turret)	DGP-1
III	Wings repair	Engine		Offensive 12 mm	Mk 12 Mod 0
IV		Engine injection	Cover	New 12 mm MGs

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Gets a bomber spawn which really makes up for its performance
• Can turn with most enemy fighters on its rank
• It has two powerful machine guns that are centrally mounted, meaning you can effectively hunt down low-tier bombers and in most situations, be a quasi-fighter aircraft
• Its bombs are powerful enough to destroy packed enemy ground vehicles
• Its manoeuvrability is good enough to attack enemy bombers and support friendly fighters
• Tail gunner has excellent coverage, almost a perfect 180 degrees on a horizontal plane
• Can "pullout" from a 60-degree dive quite effectively
• Tail gun also has plenty of ammunition
• Can be used as a fighter when needed
• Can increase the total firepower to 6 .50 cals, one of the earliest plane that has six M2 Brownings
• Good firepower, enough to make quick kills on planes and ground targets alike. Extremely useful for attacking weakly armoured tanks
• Decent dive characteristics
• Will not break its wing on high G turns up to 600 km/h

Cons:

• It is still a dive bomber, so its manoeuvrability is limited by its poor energy retention
• Low ammo capacity for the nose-mounted machine guns
• The tail gunner won't do so much, because he is too exposed and the 2 x 7.62 is not powerful enough to destroy planes of its tier
• Limited selection of bombs, only one payload is available to choose from
• Slow acceleration
• Poor climb rate
• Poor energy retention
• Slow speed
• WEP only works on low altitude

History

First flight recorded 1st of may 1940. Retired 1959. Produced from 1940-1944 Top speed 410 kmh/254.7 mph. 1,200 hp engine. Length 33 feet. Wing span is roughly 41 feet. Empty weight 6,404 lb/ 2,905 kg. Gross weight is 10,400 lb/ 4,245 kg. Bomb load is 1,200 lb/ 544 kg.

The SBD-3 also known as the Dauntless is an American dive-bomber from the early 1940s. It was a carrier-based aircraft which was used for scouting and bombing. This plane is most famous for it's contribution to the battle of midway. This battle was the first major naval offensive (although before it the Americans had tried many more this was the first Successful venture) of which four Japanese carriers were sunk.

Naval officers and other military personnel gave this the nickname Slow But Deadly because of the SBD. Although true this plane was slow it was extremely good at manoeuvrability. This aircraft is a 2 man crew, so when going into and out of a dive the pilot wouldn't have to check the altitude saving him time, though that was not the only use of the gunner/radioman he would cover the pilot shooting down any zeros who would come behind his plane and he would send radio messages to the carrier if the pilot is too busy.

These incredible planes all saw service in the United States Navy, United States Army Air Corps, United States Marine Corps and the Free French Air Force. There were 5,936 SBD-3 made and unfortunately only four or five original US Navy planes survive today with the rest being replicas.

In-game description

A carrier-based dive-bomber/reconnaissance aircraft.

The most well-known U.S. Navy bomber, and perhaps the most significant dive-bomber of the war. Despite the fact that the decision to write off the SBD as outdated was made before the war, the bomber was still actively involved in combat, and in 1942 it sunk more enemy ships than all other Navy aircraft combined.

Originally, the series was called the XBT, and showed as many innovations as it did drawbacks. This aircraft had a revolutionary honeycomb wing structure and a reasonably small fuselage. But its wings could not be folded, and occasionally it would spontaneously go into a barrel roll, which caused a series of catastrophic accidents. After intensive research in conjunction with NACA, the dive-bomber was radically redesigned, most of its shortcomings were removed, and it was named the Scout Bomber.

The SBD-3 variant was a Scout Bomber which was finally fit for combat. It had self-sealing fuel tanks, armor, and bulletproof cockpit glass. To keep its performance characteristics, the aircraft's weight was reduced by replacing its duralumin sheeting with a much lighter material. Also, all the equipment designed to keep the plane afloat in the event of a water landing was removed.

Soldiers dubbed the SBD the "Slow But Deadly". This aircraft destroyed the pride of the Japanese carrier force at the Battle of Midway, inflicting damage from which the Japanese Imperial Navy was never able to recover.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #12 - Pages of History section at 05:47 discusses the Douglas SBD Dauntless.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Profile] SBD-3 Dauntless - Slow But Deadly

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