Post by Dave Homewood on May 31, 2022 18:45:42 GMT 12
Here is an interesting article about the formation of No. 25 (Dive Bomber) Squadron from the Timaru Herald, dated 13 September 1943.
THE DIVE-BOMBER
New Zealand Unit
First Lot In Training
The personnel of New Zealand's first dive-bomber squadron, now undergoing an intensive training course at a station near Auckland, might truthfully be described as the keenest men in the Royal New Zealand Air Force without those in other branches suffering by the comparison (says the “New Zealand Herald.”)
Dive-bomber is the name commonly applied to the Douglas Dauntless these men fly, but the Americans, who pioneered this style of bombing, call them attack bombers. Apart from the onslaught by vertical, or near-vertical dive, they have other functions. Not the least is the power glide attack at a less steep angle, but actually at a greater speed than in the dive, while ground strafing is another effective use of the type.
United States Instruction
New Zealanders will have read of the employment of these machines by the Americans in the Solomons area, and many will have met some of the men who flew them in the Bismarck Sea battle and in other Japanese debacles. The squadron now training is fortunate to have as instructor a specialist, a United States Marine Corps master-sergeant who has been flying dive-bombers for two years.
A graduate of the Navy school at Pensacola, Florida, he explained fully the particular difficulties attendant on the art of dive-bombing. That it is an art, as well as a science, he summed up neatly by saying that, in spite of his experience, he was still learning. As the New Zealanders came hurtling' down vertically toward the target on which he stood, he pointed out when necessary where their technique was faulty.
Impressive Experience
That man was too shallow in his dive, this one was skidding, and so on. By radio telephone his words reached the pilots as they “pushed over” high up and came down. It was possible to watch corrections made in the line of flight in the few bare seconds of the dive. Dive-brakes limited the speed of the aircraft to about 300 miles an hour, and at that speed tell-tale vapour trails streamed out from the wing-tips as the machines pulled out and climbed away.
Impressive as the sight was from the target centre, it was even more so from one of the machines. A climb to about 8000 ft in time which contrasted remarkably with pre-war efforts in a Tiger Moth, a quick run round and then straight down. The noise of the engine was lost in the terrific roar of the airstream. One or two patches of light cloud flicked past as though wiped off a mirror and then the ground and target, spreading out rather than coming up, and a sudden pain across the temples from the violent change in pressure before the pilot eased the machine out of the dive.
A Crew of Two
The commanding officer, an Auckland squadron-leader, explained that dive-bomber pilots learned to think of their operation as a kind of artillery shot. "The plane becomes the muzzle of the gun and the bomb in this case is the shell,” he said. In fighters, the machine was a gun-platform; here it was the whole gun.
The particular advantage of the dive-bomber was its accuracy. Its effectiveness had been well demonstrated, particularly against specific targets, such as ships. The planes carry a crew of two, pilot and wireless-operator air-gunner, the men of this first squadron comprising a number from Army co-operation command and others returned from training in Canada.
They hunt in packs and dive in swift succession, each plane guarding the tail of that ahead. Their use of the sun, cloud cover and weaving tactics makes them no easy target.
The first dive-bomber squadron in the Royal New Zealand Air Force has chosen a crest carrying a representation of the Caspian tern, tara-nui, a diving seabird. It is explained that the bird makes a practice of dropping vertically to the water in search of its prey, and a more apt emblem would be hard to find for these aircrews' future assignments.
THE DIVE-BOMBER
New Zealand Unit
First Lot In Training
The personnel of New Zealand's first dive-bomber squadron, now undergoing an intensive training course at a station near Auckland, might truthfully be described as the keenest men in the Royal New Zealand Air Force without those in other branches suffering by the comparison (says the “New Zealand Herald.”)
Dive-bomber is the name commonly applied to the Douglas Dauntless these men fly, but the Americans, who pioneered this style of bombing, call them attack bombers. Apart from the onslaught by vertical, or near-vertical dive, they have other functions. Not the least is the power glide attack at a less steep angle, but actually at a greater speed than in the dive, while ground strafing is another effective use of the type.
United States Instruction
New Zealanders will have read of the employment of these machines by the Americans in the Solomons area, and many will have met some of the men who flew them in the Bismarck Sea battle and in other Japanese debacles. The squadron now training is fortunate to have as instructor a specialist, a United States Marine Corps master-sergeant who has been flying dive-bombers for two years.
A graduate of the Navy school at Pensacola, Florida, he explained fully the particular difficulties attendant on the art of dive-bombing. That it is an art, as well as a science, he summed up neatly by saying that, in spite of his experience, he was still learning. As the New Zealanders came hurtling' down vertically toward the target on which he stood, he pointed out when necessary where their technique was faulty.
Impressive Experience
That man was too shallow in his dive, this one was skidding, and so on. By radio telephone his words reached the pilots as they “pushed over” high up and came down. It was possible to watch corrections made in the line of flight in the few bare seconds of the dive. Dive-brakes limited the speed of the aircraft to about 300 miles an hour, and at that speed tell-tale vapour trails streamed out from the wing-tips as the machines pulled out and climbed away.
Impressive as the sight was from the target centre, it was even more so from one of the machines. A climb to about 8000 ft in time which contrasted remarkably with pre-war efforts in a Tiger Moth, a quick run round and then straight down. The noise of the engine was lost in the terrific roar of the airstream. One or two patches of light cloud flicked past as though wiped off a mirror and then the ground and target, spreading out rather than coming up, and a sudden pain across the temples from the violent change in pressure before the pilot eased the machine out of the dive.
A Crew of Two
The commanding officer, an Auckland squadron-leader, explained that dive-bomber pilots learned to think of their operation as a kind of artillery shot. "The plane becomes the muzzle of the gun and the bomb in this case is the shell,” he said. In fighters, the machine was a gun-platform; here it was the whole gun.
The particular advantage of the dive-bomber was its accuracy. Its effectiveness had been well demonstrated, particularly against specific targets, such as ships. The planes carry a crew of two, pilot and wireless-operator air-gunner, the men of this first squadron comprising a number from Army co-operation command and others returned from training in Canada.
They hunt in packs and dive in swift succession, each plane guarding the tail of that ahead. Their use of the sun, cloud cover and weaving tactics makes them no easy target.
The first dive-bomber squadron in the Royal New Zealand Air Force has chosen a crest carrying a representation of the Caspian tern, tara-nui, a diving seabird. It is explained that the bird makes a practice of dropping vertically to the water in search of its prey, and a more apt emblem would be hard to find for these aircrews' future assignments.
