Northrop BT
The Northrop BT was a two-seat, single-engine, monoplane, dive bomber built by the Northrop Corporation for the United States Navy. At the time Northrop was a subsidiary of the Douglas Aircraft Company.
Design and development
The design of the initial version began in 1935. A 700 hp (522 kW) Pratt and Whitney XR-1535-66 Twin Wasp Jr. double row, radial air-cooled engine powered the aircraft. The aircraft had slotted flaps and a landing gear that partially retracted.
The next iteration of the BT, designated the XBT-1 was equipped with a 750 hp (559 kW) R-1535 engine. This aircraft was followed in 1936 by the BT-1 that was powered by an 825 hp Pratt and Whitney R-1535-94 engine. One of the BT-1 aircraft was modified with a fixed tricycle landing gear and was the first such aircraft to land on an aircraft carrier.
The final variant, the XBT-2, was a BT-1 aircraft modified to incorporate a fully retracting landing gear, wing slots, a redesigned canopy, and was powered by an 800 hp (597 kW) Wright XR-1820-32 radial air-cooled engine. The XBT-2 first flew on 25 April 1938 and after successful testing the Navy placed an order for 144 aircraft. In 1939 the aircraft designation was changed to the Douglas SBD-1 with the last 87 on order completed as SBD-2s. The Northrop Corporation had become the El Segundo division of Douglas aircraft hence the change to Douglas.
Operational history
The U.S. Navy placed an order for 54 BT-1s in 1936 with the aircraft entering service during 1938. The BT-1s served on the USS Yorktown and Enterprise. The type was not a success in service due to poor handling characteristics, especially at low speeds, "a fatal flaw in a carrier based aircraft."[1] It was also prone to unexpected rolls and a number of aircraft were lost in crashes.
Variants
- XBT-1
- Prototype, one built.
- BT-1
- Production variant, 54 built.
- XBT-2
- One BT-1 modified with fully retractable landing gear and other modifications.
- BT-2
- Production variant of the XBT-2, 144 on order completed as SBD-1 and SBD-2.
- Douglas DB-19
- One BT-1 was modified as the DB-19 which was tested by the Imperial Japanese Navy as the DXD1 (Navy Experimental Type D Attack Plane)
Operators
- United States
Specifications (BT-1)
Data from United States Navy Aircraft since 1911 [2]
General characteristics
Performance
- Maximum speed: 193 knots (222 mph, 357 km/h) at 9,500 ft (2,900 m)
- Cruise speed: 167 knots (192 mph, 309 km/h)
- Range: 1,000 nmi (1,150 mi 1,852 km)
- Service ceiling: 25,300 ft (7,710 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,270 ft/min (6.5 m/s)
Armament
- Guns:
- 1 × .50 in (12.7 mm) machine gun
- 1 × .30 in (7.62 mm) machine gun
- Bombs: 1,000 lb (454 kg) bomb under fuselage
Notable mentions in media
Northrop BT-1s appeared in pre-war yellow wing paint schemes in the Technicolor film Dive Bomber (1941) starring Errol Flynn.
See also
- Related development
- Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
- Related lists
References
- Notes
- ^ "Northrop BT-1." historyofwar.org. Retrieved: 5 December 2009.
- ^ Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p. 358.
- Bibliography
- Bowers, Peter M. United States Navy Aircraft since 1911. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1990, ISBN 0-87021-792-5.
- Brazelton, David. The Douglas SBD Dauntless, Aircraft in Profile 196. Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1967. No ISBN.
- Drendel, Lou. U.S. Navy Carrier Bombers of World War II. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1987. ISBN 0-89747-195-4.
- Gunston, Bill. The Illustrated History of McDonnell Douglas Aircraft: From Cloudster to Boeing. London: Osprey Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-85532-924-7.
- Kinzey, Bert. SBD Dauntless in Detail & Scale, D&S Vol.48. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1996. ISBN 1-888974-01-X.
- Listemann, Phil. Northrop BT-1 (Allied Wings No.3). France: www.raf-in-combat.com, 2008. ISBN 2-9526381-7-9.
- Swanborough, Gordon and Peter M. Bowers. United States Navy Aircraft since 1911. London: Putnam, Second edition, 1976. ISBN 0-370-10054-9.
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