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Brewster XSBA-1 / SBN-1

1941 WORLD WAR 2

History of Brewster's XSBA-1 / SBN-1

Aerospace group Brewster has made some progress with its XSBA/SBN carrier aircraft, albeit slowly. The type was a three-seat, single-engine, monoplane dive bomber with modern components of the time in the early to mid-1930s. The aircraft was originally an XSBA-1 prototype, which later evolved into the "SBN-1", which was adopted in small numbers by the United States Navy (USN) before the United States entered World War II (1939-1945).

A prototype XSBA-1 was built to match the 30 SBN-1 production models eventually adopted by the US Navy. The product came out of a 1934 U.S. Navy competition that led to Brewster's design, which subsequently made its maiden flight in 1936.

However, when it was introduced in 1941 and the United States was at war in 1942, the 1930s aircraft proved to be unpredictable in operation. As a result, it was relegated to short-term training service before being decommissioned in August 1942.

For the XSBA-1, Brewster engineers used a deep conical fuselage, with engines traditionally located at the front of the aircraft, driving three-bladed propellers. The pilot and crew sit under the greenhouse-like canopy, giving them a good view of what's going on around them. The aircraft was equipped with monoplane wing attachments placed along the sides of the fuselage.

The main landing gear can be retracted into the sides of the lower fuselage through a rather complex arrangement of struts (similar to the Grumman F4F fighter). The stern is covered by a vertical stabilizer and a low-set horizontal stabilizer. Its crew consisted of three pilots, a navigator and a gunner, with the latter crew member sitting in a position in the rear of the aircraft and armed with a trainable .30 caliber machine gun. Perforated split dive flaps were installed on the wings to delay the aircraft's descent during an attack.

An internal bomb bay can hold a 500-pound bomb. Power is provided by a 950-horsepower Wright XR-1820-22 Cyclone radial piston engine, and performance specifications include a top speed of 255 mph, a range of up to 1,015 miles, and a service ceiling of 28,300 feet.

The U.S. Navy was still receiving these Brewsters from the Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF) when the Japanese raided Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

The aircraft proved to be of little value in the fast-paced war that followed, and was soon replaced by more modern and capable dive bombers, so production was limited to the aforementioned 30 examples plus a single prototype model.

Brewster's life as an aircraft supplier ended on April 5, 1946, as the company struggled to become profitable after the war. Aircraft production at the Naval Aircraft Factory - established by the U.S. Navy in 1918 to manufacture the required aircraft - ended in early 1945.