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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 0928.PDF
426 FLIGHT APRIL 30TH, 1943 4 THOSE MYSTERIOUS DIVE-BOMBERS '' On the transports in the convoys are vital supplies, headed primarily by fighter planes and dive-bombers." "Vital" is the appropriate adjec tive. Both are necessary types for operations in that area. Value and Limitations Then, again, the value and the limitations of dive-bombers are quite distinct in naval and land operations. As high-altitude (so-called "pre cision") bombing was more effective for large stationary targets on land it was suggested that it was similarly advantageous for small, mobile tar gets at sea.. The dive-bomber, releas ing its missile at 1,500ft., frequently fails to secure a direct hit, yet a high- altitude bomber is expected to achieve better results at 15,000ft. Fighters armed with suitable high-velocity shell guns may be more effective against tanks and even the smaller marine transport, but they cannot re place the dive-bomber for the destruc tion of railway junctions, embank ments, cuttings, bridges and similar objectives on land or the larger vessels at sea. It should be remem bered that modern dive-bombers, for example the Curtiss SB2 C-i, can carry a 1,000 lb. bomb. The abuse which has commonly been hurled at the dive-bomber arises largely owing to insistent reference to The British Black burn Skua (Bristol Perseus) diving with air brakes down. the notorious Ger man Ju 87. Using t h i s - o 1 d- fashioned, con verted machine as a convenient Aunt Sally, dive- bombers as a type are con temptuously de scribed as slow, heavy, ill-armed, and easy meat for our fighters, w The Ju 87 is all these things, and doubtless even a Nazi would not deny it. Nevertheless, they served German purposes very will, enabled an obsolescent type to be usefully em ployed, and thus represented a real economy. Whether carelessly or deliberately, to use the Ju 87 as the "awful example" merely begs the question, creates confusion and delays arrival at a clear decision. The Ju 88, and also the modern The American Douglas SBD-i in the upper picture forms an interesting com parison with the German Blohm and Voss Ha 137. Note dive brakes in the "down " position. Italian, .Russian and American dive- bombers, are different propositions, and both by speed and armament are better equipped to defend themselves. To continue prating about what we did to the Stukas in the Battle of Britain is to be living in the past. If history is to be invoked, remember the Stukas were for the Germans a useful instrument in the winning of the continent of Europe. Only to-day's and to-morrow's problems matter in the stress of total war. Why such insistence on the fact that the dive-bomber can be shot down by modern fighters? It is not denied. The same charge applies to other types of aircraft. What we did to the Stukas in the Battle for Britain we also did to the precision bombers. The fighters' job is to win mastery of the"^:. air from the enemy, shoot down all opposition and maintain control of the air to permit operations by specialised machines in the air, on sea and also on land. In default of complete mas tery of the air, heavy bombers, war ships and supply columns on land each require a protective screen of fighter aircraft, yet no suggestions are made that we, alone in our wisdom, should dispense with these particular machines and equipment. Determined Pilots It is stated that the dive-bomber, whilst in the dive, presents an easy target for the defender, and that ruth lessly determined, fanatical or suicidal pilots are required. We do not lack courageous and determined pilots, and the more sensational and dramatic attributes are generally called for by reasons of unsound policy or tech nique, or even the lack of policy or technique. It required something more than courage again and again to penetrate
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