NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The National World War II Museum has one of the premier collections of airplanes that were used in the war. For many people, it’s as close as they’ll ever get to the machines that led the Allies to victory. For others, the planes can help bring them closer to their family members who served. That’s exactly what happened for WGNO’s Curt Sprang and the SBD Dauntless that hangs in the museum.
The plane is one of two SBD Dauntless dive bombers that are owned by the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. It’s on loan the WWII Museum.
To learn more about the plane, Curt headed to the Pensacola museum and spoke with one of the preeminent experts on the subject anywhere, the deputy director there, Hill Goodspeed.
Turns out, both of the planes saw combat. The one in the Pensacola museum was at Pearl Harbor and Midway. The one in New Orleans few missions off of the celebrated USS Enterprise, one of the most celebrated aircraft carriers in American history.
To learn more about Curt’s connection to the plane, watch the video at the top of this story.
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