The Douglas SBD Dauntless took its #firstflight on May 1, 1940. The aircraft then went on to play a starring role in the war in the Pacific during WWII. The diving Dauntless saw action at Pearl Harbor – flying from the USS Enterprise, but are best known as the bomber that delivered the fatal blows to Japanese carrier at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. In total, the Dauntless sank more enemy ships than any other Allied bomber, destroying 18 enemy warships, including a battleship and six carrie

Yesterday, the CAF Airbase Georgia’s Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless was seen performing an engine runup at Dekalb-Peachtree Airport (PDK). Like many other warbirds, this airplane—affectionately referred to by CAF members as “Speedy D” or “The Lady in Blue”—has a colorful history. The Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless was built at the El Segundo factory in California and, after World War II, was sold to Mexico as XB-QUC and used for aerial photography until mid-1964. It was acquired by Ed Mahoney in 1965 and subs