This radio-controlled SBD dive bomber airplane was built and donated by Mike Rapp. Mike has always enjoyed working with his hands, and has been building flying airplane models since 1979. Limited by lack of funds, his first planes were gliders, but he soon moved on to building power planes. While Mike enjoys seeing his models fly, he gets the most pleasure in the problem solving and actual construction of his projects. His SBD dive bomber took about two years to build.
Built by Douglas Aircrafts, the SBD (“Scout Bomber Douglas”) is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber. The SBD was the United States Navy’s main carrier-based scout/dive bomber from mid-1940 through mid-1944. It was also flown by the United States Marine Corps, both from land air bases and aircraft carriers. The SBD is best remembered as the bomber that delivered the fatal blows to the Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. The type earned its nickname “Slow But Deadly” (from its SBD initials) during this period. (Source wikipedia.org.)
