Photos of the SBD Dauntless A-24 Banshee Colorado Springs Airshow

Photos of The SBD Dauntless A-24 Banshee WWII Bomber Aircraft. These photographs were taken at the Pikes Peak Regional Airshow in Colorado Springs. The SBD Dauntless entered service in 1938. It was borderline obsolescent at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Surprisingly, the “slow but deadly” not only held its own, but became a “hero” airplane of the war, most notably at the Battle of Midway (4-7 June, 1942) during which four Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk. The Battle of Midway represented the first decisive American victory over the forces of Imperial Japan.

The SBD Dauntless A-24 Banshee in Service

Designed as a light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, by designer Ed Heinemann who worked for Jack Northrop, the Dauntless SBD (Scout Bomber Douglas) was one of the 35 US aircraft types that engaged in the major battles of WW II. Despite being slow and low-tech, it would change the course of the Naval Pacific war. It served during WWII with the US Navy, US Marines and US Army air squadrons. During the war, the Royal New Zealand Air Force received the Dauntless and were flown by No. 25 Squadron in the South Pacific. It also flew for the Free French as trainers and close-support aircraft in 1944. The French Navy Dauntlesses were the last ones to see combat and were used against the Viet Minh, in French Indochina flying from the French carrier Arromanches (ex-HMS Colossus).

Photos of the SBD Dauntless A-24 Banshee Photo Gallery

Photographs of SBD Dauntless A-24 Banshee WWII Bomber Aircraft

The following camera gear was used in the Aviation Photography of the SBD Dauntless A-24 Banshee WWII Aircraft at the Pikes Peak Regional Airshow in Colorado Springs, Colorado:

• a Nikon D850 with the Nikon MB-D18 Multi Battery Power Pack,
• F-Stop Gear Aloe Green Tilopa 50L Back Pack (with large Pro ICU),
• a Really Right Stuff TVC 34L tripod,
• the Movo GH800 Carbon Fiber Professional Gimbal Tripod Head with Arca-Swiss Quick-Release Plate,
• with a Really Right Stuff BH-50 LR Ballhead,
• and an AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens with a Really Right Stuff Tripod foot.

The in-flight photos were all taken with a Gimbal and tripod set up using the 200-500mm lens. The D850 exposures for the images average between 1/80 and 1/640 of a second at f/7.1 and f/8.0. The native ISO of settings of 64 was used on the Nikon D850 and all images captured as RAW files. We also used Adobe Lightroom Classic CC to process all of these images. Since this was a sunny blue sky day with very few clouds, we used Adobe Photoshop’s new new sky replacement feature to add clouds in a few of these images.

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