SBD/T-6

[HarvardIV]

Hey:

This may sound ridiculous, but after looking at the SBD and T-6 it looks like they are very similar in a few ways. Does anyone know if the designs are related. I believe that the same gentleman (Heineman?) who worked at North American on the T-6 left and went to Douglas or vice versa. In fact, the T-6 has the same wing design airfoil and planform as the Douglas DC-3.

[Jack Cook]

NO, THERE NOT RELATED. AN INTERESTING FACT IS THAT STONEY'S SNJ N1666T IS PAINTED HAS A EARLY MARINE SBD-1 COMPLETE WITH DIVE FLAPS AND REAR .30 CAL MG. VERY NICE SNJ, IT'S FOR SALE ON COURTESY SITE BTW.

[Mark_Pilkington]

I understand the North American design team was based on quite a few ex-Douglas staff and the common wing platform of the DC-2/DC-3 and NA-16 is due to Jack Northrup's involvement in both.

I am not sure if that included the SBD but perhaps thats simply a case of Douglas extending their own DC2/3 wing design onto another aircraft as well.

regards

Mark Pilkington