Surviving Artifacts

from

Kingman Army Air Field:

& Sales-Storage Depot No. 41

Planes:

- THE SUPPLY HANGAR -

(currently under construction)

The A-24 Banshee was the Army's version of the Navy's blue SBD divebomber (Hero of Midway) and although nearly 1000 of the USAAF's green, tailhook-less aircraft were built by Douglas' El Segundo & Tulsa plants, their war trials proved less than adequate, so most of them were redesignated to serve in non-combat roles. Interestingly, many A-24s were acquired by the Navy and re-equipped with a tailhook while others were Lend-Leased (given) to other nations.

RA-24B-1-DT #42-54288 is the only known example of its kind at Kingman (sent there in April of 1946) and consequently ties with one other plane as the rarest of the various types there.

This BANSHEE remained Stateside throughout the War and the reason it being singled and sent to Kingman is yet another mystery that may never be solved.

And because there was little demand for this obsolete model or its 1200 horsepower Wright Cyclone R-1820-60 (the latest B-17G was equipped with the -97, also with 1200 hp), she was most likely towed across the field to the Blade after being stripped of her engine and drained of her fluids, then chopped-up and melted-down without any fanfare whatsoever.

Rare as it was at Kingman, the odds are extremely slim of there being any parts from this RA-24 in the

Depot 41 Museum Collection

HOWEVER, hundreds of pounds of miscellaneous aircraft aluminum, including these eight containers

have yet to be examined for part numbers, so if anything does remain from this dive bomber, they will have the Douglas SBD coding. More on this story as it unfolds...

Below is a Wartime display showing the dozens of components, large and small, needed to re-install the tailhook, or Arresting Gear for carrier duty

(Note the Kingman plane's air-filled tail tire versus its solid rubber replacement - necessary for slamming onto teak ship decks):

photo credits this page:

William T. Larkins,

Douglas Photo Archives,

Depot 41 Photo Archive