Atlantic Dive Bomber

[Mossie]

You know, I had an idea on that one too.  The XSB2D-1 (I have to look up that designation, I can never emember it!) is pretty much ready made for an AEW variant, I wonder if the APS-20 radome would fit?

[PR19_Kit]

Why not? It's been fitted to darn near everything else in sky already. 

Maybe not an F-104 but almost everything else.......... 

[jcf]

Being that it eventually morphed into the Skyraider

Well, only in the sense that the USN asked for the development of the single-seat BTD-1 variant
for the competition for the new single-seat carrier bomber. The competitors being the Martin XBTM-1,
Curtiss XBTC-1, and Kaiser-Fleetwings XBTK-1. The Martin design became the AM-1 Mauler.
Douglas knew that the writing was on the wall for the BTD-1 and developed the design for what
became the XBT2D-1/AD-1 in house using lessons learned from combat. They presented the concepts
for this all new design, it did not use the XSB2D/BTD as a basis, to the USN in December 1943, and
the Navy were so impressed that they awarded Douglas a contract for fifteen development types under
an extension of the BTD-1 contract, provided they could be ready in time to compete with the aircraft
from Martin, Curtiss and Kaiser.
In the end, even though they started well behind the others, by the time the first XTB2D-1 was
completed in mid-March 1945 only the Martin aircraft had flown.

Part of the odd appearance of the BTD is because of required large internal bomb-bay size and
the flat bottom that enabled the external carriage of two torpedos. A matter of
form-follows-function not unlike the RN fleet spotter requirements that led to the external
appearance of the Avro Bison, Blackburn Blackburn and others of that type. 

[NARSES2]

AFAIK, it was the other way around - it was designed as a two-seater with rear defense, but the gunner was dropped along the way to save weight. Sick detail is the shape of the fin root on the two-seater with the gunner! Never seen such an ugly solution...

Yup that's right. First prototype was a 2 seater, second single seat. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks it looked odd

[Madoc]

NARSES2 & all,

Ah, but imagine the Whiffs that coulda been here!

Clouds of Destroyers and TB2D Skypirates roaming far and wide from their newly launched and vastly huge Midway class carriers that were steaming far over the horizon from Japan whilst those massive attack planes did their deeds.  And each of those attack planes were faster than most front line fighters at the war's start and carried more bombs than most "heavy" bombers did at the war's start as well.  The attacks would be backed up with Boeing's F8B-1s flying top cover all the way to and from their targets.

[NARSES2]

Boeing F8B-1 will be one of my next builds - or the build after the next builds  Vallom kit