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LCDR Hank Rubner - WWII Vet

taxi1

Well-Known Member
pilot
Came across my news feed. I wonder how I would have done in his place. Guys like this are why I had to be a naval aviator.


Lt. Commander Henry Rubner, 98, of Newtown Square, a decorated World War II Naval aviator and later a manufacturer’s representative, died Saturday, March 7, of a heart attack at White Horse Village.

Known as “Hank,” he had a distinguished career piloting the Douglas Dauntless Dive Bomber and later the Curtiss Helldiver.
 

taxi1

Well-Known Member
pilot
So I googled on the Helldiver...great airplane!

[Among its major faults, the Helldiver was underpowered, had a shorter range than the SBD, was equipped with an unreliable electrical system, and was often poorly manufactured. The Curtiss-Electric propeller and the complex hydraulic system had frequent maintenance problems.[16]One of the faults remaining with the aircraft through its operational life was poor longitudinal stability, resulting from a fuselage that was too short due to the necessity of fitting onto aircraft carrier elevators.[7] The Helldiver's aileron response was also poor and handling suffered greatly under 90 kn (100 mph; 170 km/h) airspeed; since the speed of approach to land on a carrier was supposed to be 85 kn (98 mph; 157 km/h), this proved problematic.[7] The 880 changes demanded by the Navy and modification of the aircraft to its combat role resulted in a 42% weight increase, explaining much of the problem.[17]/QUOTE]
 

Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
pilot
Contributor
I always thought that was the SBD.
[/QUOTE
I was hair-splittingly inaccurate...it sank more tonnage in the Pacific than any other. I think you are right that Dauntless sank more.
 
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