Great Lakes BG

what is it?

The Great Lakes BG was an American carrier-based dive bomber of the 1930s. Designed and built by the Great Lakes Aircraft Company of Cleveland, Ohio, 61 were used by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps from 1934 to 1940.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 11 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 303 km/htop speed
• range 884 kmwithout refuelling
• size 2,885 kgmax take-off weight
• built 61made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 93 years ago, in 1933.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.3× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 11 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1933

introduced

1934

retired

1941

status

retired

number built

61

role

dive-bomber

makers

Great Lakes Aircraft Company

engines

1× Pratt & Whitney R-1535-82 Twin Wasp Junior

length

8.8 m

wingspan

11 m

height

3.4 m

max take-off weight

2,885 kg

top speed

303 km/h

range

884 km

ceiling

6,100 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.