[jqhyde]

I love the one-page descriptions of the military airplanes. They provide sort of optimistic assessments. The Budd RB-1 for instance was a terrible airplane. Best known for its high maintenance and many crashes. The Navy kept them in service for all of one year - then sold them all for pennies on the dollar.

The SBD Dauntless was affectionately called Slow but Deadly by its pilots. The stated speed of 230mph was probably only reached during a dive. Its cruise speed was 185mph. Incidentally the Dauntless has a range of over 1000 miles - not 200.

Link to the book: Captain Aero Comics 23

[Captain Audio]

The stated speed of 230mph was probably only reached during a dive. Its cruise speed was 185mph. Incidentally the Dauntless has a range of over 1000 miles - not 200.

Actually most WW2 era aircraft could reach transonic speeds in a power dive. They went to great effort to prevent this since compressibility would lock the controls and the craft would be doomed. Airbrakes were extended during a dive to slow the plane down and allow fine tuning of the aim.
The specs for the SBD 5, the most common wartime version state a top speed of 255 MPH.
The economy cruise of such aircraft was often very low, conserving gasoline was important to maintaining range.
At full throttle the 1300 HP motor of the SBD 5 drank fuel at an alarming rate.
These aircraft were not built for speed, they were built to deliver ordnance at as long a range as possible.

[The Australian Panther]

I had a friend who had a WWI era canvas-winged plane. He used to take people for joyrides on Sunday or Saturday afternoons - over private property - a very large farm. He had a trick where he would climb as high as possible, then dive straight down. This stopped the engine, so the plane dropped like a stone. Then after a long drop, the engine would start again and he would pull out and climb. I don't know if he started it or gravity did. I always thought gravity did.  My point is, that heavy object dropping like a stone must have hit very fast speeds.
He would always ask if you wanted him to do that when you were a passenger. I declined. Most didn't. Better than a roller-coaster if you are  that way inclined.   
Cheers.