In the meantime Douglas had brought out the all-metal, low-wing SBD _Dauntless_ dive-bomber. This was a fast, clean airplane equipped with flaps for diving. The flaps, attached to the trailing edge of the wing, could be dropped down to act as brakes. The flaps created a resistance which cut the speed of the plane at the will of the pilot. Powered with a 1,000-horsepower radial engine, the SBD had a speed of about 200 miles per hour. It carried a 1,000-pound bomb under its fuselage which, when released by the pilot, was swung clear of the plane by a yokelike gear. The SBD usually started its dive at an altitude of 10,000 feet. From that height the plane could pick up a speed of from 450 to 500 miles per hour. The best speed for dive-bombing is about 275 miles per hour, and the flaps on the SBD enabled the pilot to control his speed as he dived on his target. At the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the SBD was the standard dive-bomber based on our carriers. From the very start it was a star performer in our war in the Pacific. In the first years of the struggle SBD’s destroyed more enemy planes, ships, and property than did all our other air and surface weapons combined. SBD’s were in the forefront in our war in the Pacific. But a giant new dive-bomber suddenly appeared over Rabaul, New Guinea, in the fall of 1944, the deadliest bomber which had yet dived on the Japs. Another _Helldiver_ was in action. [Illustration: 1943-1945 WINGSPAN 49 FEET LENGTH 36 FEET THE CURTISS SB2C _HELLDIVER_ IS THE FASTEST AND MOST POWERFUL DIVE-BOMBER IN ACTION IN THE WORLD IN 1945. POWER ONE 14-CYLINDER 1,700-HP. RADIAL ENGINE THE 1,700-HP. WRIGHT _CYCLONE FOURTEEN_ HAS THE SAME 55-INCH FRONTAL AREA AS THE 200-HORSEPOWER WRIGHT 9-CYLINDER RADIAL INTRODUCED EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO, IN 1927. SPEED ONE HOUR 300+ MILES RANGE 1,200+ MILES CEILING 20,000+ FEET PAYLOAD PILOT AND GUNNER, MACHINE GUNS OR CANNON, BOMBS AND ROCKETS. THE POWERFUL RADIAL ENGINE WHIRLS A PROPELLER WITH FOUR 6-FOOT BLADES. WITH ITS SPEED OF OVER 300 MILES PER HOUR, THE _HELLDIVER_ IS ALMOST 100 MILES PER HOUR FASTER THAN THE DEADLY NAZI _STUKA_. IT IS MUCH FASTER AND HAS HEAVIER ARMOR AND FIREPOWER THAN ITS PREDECESSOR WITH THE FLEET, THE DOUGLAS SBD-1. IT CARRIES MORE THAN A TON OF BOMBS. IT MOUNTS EITHER .50-CALIBER MACHINE GUNS OR 20-MILLIMETER CANNON. IT IS ALSO EQUIPPED FOR FIRING ROCKETS. IN THE SB2C WE SEE THE MOST FORMIDABLE OF THE LONG LINE OF NAVY _HELLDIVERS_ BUILT BY THE CURTISS COMPANY SINCE 1928. THE SB2C _HELLDIVER_ HAS GREATER RANGE, GREATER FIREPOWER, AND CARRIES A GREATER BOMB LOAD THAN ANY OTHER PLANE OF ITS TYPE IN THE WORLD. IT IS NOW USING ITS POWER WITH DEADLY EFFECT IN THE PACIFIC.] [Illustration] DIVE-BOMBER