Introduction to Dive Bombing is a WWII training film made by the U.S. Navy that demonstrates the techniques used in a successful attack. It also shows the various training regimens used in aviator training, including a generalized study of the fundamentals for the practice and combat dive. An SB2C Helldiver is used for demonstration purposes.

A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy and limit the exposure of anti-aircraft fire. This type of aircraft was most heavily used before and during World War II; its use fell into decline shortly afterwards.

Diving (nearly) vertically at the target, in the same direction the bombs will take, the aircraft will release the bombs very close to the target at high speed. This allows a dive bomber to accurately place bombs on relatively small and/or moving targets with relative ease. Additionally, no complicated precision bombsight is needed for targeting.

Dive bombers were widely used to attack high value targets such as ships and bridges. This also had the advantage of attacking ships at a weak spot; armour was the heaviest near the waterline and thin or nonexistent on the deck. In addition, dive bombing allowed relatively small airplanes carrying limited bombload to inflict disproportionately heavy damage.

On the negative side, optimizing an airplane for near-vertical dives came at the expense of performance. In addition, a dive bomber was extremely vulnerable to ground fire as it dived towards its target. Dive brakes were employed on many designs. These created drag which slowed the aircraft somewhat in order to increase accuracy. These were almost exclusive to dive bombers, though the air brakes fitted to modern aircraft are often of a similar design.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com