US Navy and USMC Between The Wars in 1/100

[Don Boose]

Garry - Yes. Folding wings were an essential part of the original Navy requirement, and the XO3C-1/XSOC-1 had folding wings.

I have to do more digging on the dihedral issue. In the image I posted, and in other images of BuNo 9413 (XO3C-1), the initial, open-cockpit version certainly appears to have zero or small dihedral on the upper wing. However, the same aircraft as modified with a closed cockpit and changeable land undercarriage and floats definitely had dihedral on the upper wing (see image from Page 2 of Ginter, Curtiss SOC Seagull).

Either they also changed the dihedral on the upper wing when they installed the closed cockpits and revised u/c or else the lack of dihedral in the images of the open-cockpit version is an optical illusion.

I will keep looking, but maybe someone else can weigh in on this with authoritative info.

Don

[Vinalssergio155]

Magnificent work,Garry.Beautiful yellow wings.The designs of NOBI are great, it is a pleasure to build them.And the information that Don Boose gives us is impressive.Fabulous work of both.

[Rata]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

......or else the lack of dihedral in the images of the open-cockpit version is an optical illusion.

I think that might very well be the case Don. With the slight wing sweepback from a certain camera angle it will cancel out the appearance of the dihedral.

[Rata]

Thanks MS and Sergio! Glad you like her.

[Rata]

Yet another little beauty from Mr Scissors & Planes- the Douglas TBD Devastator. Did a couple of minor changes - wing root fairings and wing numbers- but otherwise 'out of the box' as those plast's like to say.

Hope you like her and my friend Don Boose will now follow with another of his famous write ups.

[Don Boose]

Garry’s model is of U.S. Navy Douglas TBD-1, Bureau of Aeronautics Number (BuNo) 0331, aircraft number 5-T-7, as it appeared when the aircraft was assigned to Torpedo Squadron 5 (VT-5) aboard USS Yorktown (CV-5) from February 1938 to January 1941. In October 1941, after the aircraft had been repainted in a different color scheme, the name “Devastator” was assigned to the TBD-1.

The red tail identifies the aircraft as being from the Yorktown air group. During this time, all the squadrons aboard an aircraft carrier had the same number as the hull number of the ship, thus the squadrons aboard Yorktown were Fighting Five, Bombing Five, Scouting Five, and Torpedo Five. The blue fuselage band and cowling identify 5-T-7 as the lead aircraft of Section 3 of VT-5. The aircraft also sports a Navy “E” for excellence in machine gunnery and the VT-5 Valkyrie emblem.

Douglas developed the TBD-1 in response to a 1934 U.S. Navy requirement for an aircraft to replace the Great Lakes TG-1 torpedo bomber. When the XTBD-1 flew for the first time on 15 April 1935, it was an exceptionally modern aircraft: a closed cockpit, low-wing, all-metal monoplane with a retractable undercarriage and power-folding wings that could be operated while the aircraft was taxying. Armament consisted of one forward-firing .50-caliber machine gun, one flexible 0.30-caliber machine gun in the rear cockpit, and one 21-inch torpedo or up to 1,200 pounds of bombs. The three-man crew consisted of a pilot, navigator/torpedo officer/bombardier, and a rear gunner/radio operator.

The TBD-1 entered service in November 1937 with Torpedo Squadron 3 (VT-3) aboard USS Saratoga (CV-3) and would serve as the U.S. Navy’s standard torpedo bomber for the next five years. In 1939, one aircraft was fitted with Edo floats and re-designated TBD-1A. Tests with this aircraft continued until 1943, but the floatplane version never entered service.

VT-5 took delivery of its 20 TBD-1s between February and June 1938 and operated TBD-1s until the Battle of Midway in June 1942, after which they re-equipped with Grumman TBF-1 Avengers. I have been unable to determine if 0331 was flying with VT-5 during the combat operations during the first five months of 1942: the raids on the Marshall and Gilbert Islands on 1 February, the raid on Wake Island on 24 February, the 10 March raid on Japanese shipping at Lae and Salamaua, or the Battle of the Coral Sea on 7 May, when VT-5 Devastators participated in the sinking of the Japanese light aircraft carrier Shoho. It was not present at the Battle of Midway: Navy records show that 0331 was at Naval Air Station (NAS) Norfolk at the time of the battle, and it was stricken from the Navy list on 6 August 1942 at NAS Dahlgren.

You can see motion picture images of TBD-1s and other 1941 Navy aircraft aboard USS Enterprise (CV-6) in this clip from the film Dive Bomber. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny-SZL50RJ8

Images:

1. Douglas TBD-1 BuNo 0331 in late 1939. Source: Doll, p. 21.

2.Douglas TBD-1 BuNo 0331 in late 1939. Available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TBD-1_VT-5_in_flight_c1939.jpeg

3. Third section of VT-5 in flight, 1939. BuNo 0331 in the center. Source: Alamy Photo Services, used with permission.

4. “Torpedo Squadron Five (VT-5) Parked on the after flight deck of USS Yorktown (CV-5) at Naval Air Station, North Island, San Diego, California, in June 1940. Three of these aircraft are painted in an experimental color scheme used during Fleet Problem XXI.” Naval History and Heritage Command still image available at https://www.history.navy.mil/content.../NH-95314.html

5. Lead aircraft of VT-5 photographed at Naval Air Station North Island, 1939. Northrup BT-1s in the background. Source: Douglas TBD Devastator — Википедия (с комментариями)

Sources:

Aerodata International, “Douglas TBD Devastator,” U.S. Navy Carrier Bombers of World War II, Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1987, reprint of Vintage Aviation Publications edition.

Joe Baugher, “US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos, Second Series (0001 to 5029),” available at http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/secondseries1.html

Thomas E. Doll, The Douglas TBD Devastator, Number 11, Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications, 1967

Thomas E. Doll, Berkley R. Jackson, and William A. Riley, Navy Air Colors: United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Camouflage and Markings, Vol. 1 1911-1945, Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1983.

John M. Elliott, The Official Monogram US Navy & Marine Corps Aircraft Color Guide, Vol. 1, 1911-1939, Boylston, MA: Monogram Aviation Publications, 1987, pp. 67, 120, 123.

René J. Francillon, “Douglas TBD Devastator,” McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920: Volume I, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1988, pp.180-184.

Peter Freeman, Wings of the Fleet: US Navy & Marine Corps Aviation 1919-1941, On Target Special, Ardington, Oxfordshire, UK: The Aviation Workshop Publications Ltd., 2010, pp. 56-63.


Berkley R. Jackson and Thomas E. Doll, Douglas TBD-1 “Devastator,” Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, Inc, 1973.

E.R. Johnson, United States Naval Aviation 1919-1941: Aircraft, Airships and Ships Between the Wars, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2011, pp. 81-83.

William T. Larkins, U.S. Navy Aircraft 1921-1941, Concord, CA: Aviation History Publications, 1961. Image of 1134 on page 280.

John B. Lundstrom, The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway, Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1984.

Joseph V. Mizrahi, U.S. Navy Dive and Torpedo Bombers, Northridge, CA: Sentry Books, 1967, pp. 32-42.

Passion Aviation, Douglas TBD Devastator. French language site with English captions. Contains much information and many images of TBD-1s. Available at http://ww2attackaircrafts.e-monsite.com/pages/douglas-tbd-devastator-1-3.html

Russian Wikipedia, Douglas TBD Devastator, in Russian. Many illustrations. Available at Douglas TBD Devastator — Википедия (с комментариями)

[Rata]

Thank you so much Don.

Don and myself now will be deciding one of the USS Lexington based Vought SBU's for our next project. Thanks for looking.

[Butelczynski]

TBD Devastator (not this particular) is also part of one of the great survival stories of Pacific Theatre.It has been told in 2015 film "Against The Sun".

Nice model.I have 2 of those on "to-do" list and no clue when I will ever get to them.

https://youtu.be/8MYsgLqtEgk

[Rata]

Originally Posted by Butelczynski

Nice model.I have 2 of those on "to-do" list and no clue when I will ever get to them.

I hear ya fella.....

[Brent]

Great job on your build and extras. You have been busy. Great write up Don.

Brent