The Douglas A-24 Banshee was the U.S. Army version of the U.S. Navy SBD Dauntless dive bomber with a few changes to suit the service.  With a few revisions – namely the deletion of the carrier deck arrestor equipment and replacement of Navy radio kits – the SBD was reconstituted for the Army in the new A-24 “Banshee” form. While not the complete solution for the Army, the Banshee would suffice until a proper aircraft was adopted. The initial Army mark was the SBD-3 (SBD-3A) model of the Navy as the “A-24” and the Army order was absorbed into the existing Navy order of July 1940. Army versions also replaced the solid tailwheels with pneumatic types for land-based take-offs and landings.

As with other American dive bombers of the period, the aircraft featured perforated dive brakes along its wing trailing edges to slow its drop when attacking. Self-sealing fuel tanks were a must as was armoring for self-preservation of crew and aircraft. As with the SBD before it, the Banshee used a modest machine gun armament as standard: 2 x 0.50 caliber heavy machine guns were fixed into the cowling for operation by the pilot and 1 x 0.30 caliber medium machine gun was added to a flexible mounting at the rear cockpit for protecting the vulnerable “six” of the aircraft. Like the SBD, the Banshee carried a crew of two – pilot and gunner. The aircraft’s bombload was set across three available hardpoints – one under fuselage centerline and one under each wing. A typical load was 1 x 500lb / 1,000lb bomb under centerline or 1 x 100lb bomb at each wing station.

A-24Bs were flown against the Japanese at the Gilbert Islands and these provided much better results than previously seen with the line. By the end of their service tenures, A-24s served in the training role for pilots and gunners and were further used as tow aircraft for aerial targets. The USAAF passed on some of its A-24 stock to the USMC who could make proper use a direct bombing platform in the Close Air Support (CAS) role. Foreign operators of the Banshee went on to become Chile (A-24B model, 12 examples), France (Free French Forces, as many as 50 examples), and Mexico (28).

Features:

• Pre-painted pilot and rear gunner
• Covered with pre-printed PVC film
• Factory Painted fiberglass cowl
• Fixed landing gear included
• Functional dive brakes and flaps
• Radial engine replica cover
• WWII Bomb (fixed)
• Cowl hatch for fuel tank/electronics/battery access

  Recommended Electric Setup (Not Included):

• Dualsky XM6360EA-10 218Kv motor (3081 Watt peak rating, 1694 Watts continuous)
• Dualsky XC10036HV 100A HV ESC (130A peak)
• Battery: 2 x 5S 35C 5000mAh lipos in series (10S)
• 2-blade Prop: 18 x 12
• Scale 3-blade Prop: 15.9″ to 17.9″ blades on 16D size Ramoser VarioProp hub (shown in product photos above)