Although the aircraft he designed was full of problems, Northrop did not give up his idea, and after discussing with Heinemann, the actual operator of the aircraft, he decided to improve the aircraft, mainly focusing on the power and handling system - they replaced the old 825 horsepower engine with a new 1000 horsepower engine on the original basis, the old two-bladed propeller was also replaced with a three-bladed variable-pitch propeller, and the improved aircraft was replaced with new control panels and equipment to improve maneuverability.

After a series of improvements, the technical demonstrator, named XBT-2, made its first flight under Northrop's confident gaze, but the results of the test flight were very unexpected - compared to the BT-1, the XBT-2 did not significantly improve its performance.

Despite a series of blows, the stubborn Northrop did not give up, and he flew the XBT-2 to Longley, Virginia, with the help of the National Aviation Advisory Committee (NACA) wind tunnel to verify the aerodynamic shape.

Eventually, after conducting wind tunnel tests on the XBT-2, NACA proposed a series of modifications, including changing the landing gear to be fully retracted, creating fixed slats on the wing to improve aerodynamic surface efficiency, and increasing the area of the tail and rudder.

Northrop and Heineman humbly accepted the ideas and made various improvements to the XBT-2.

While the XBT-2 was busy with test flights, Douglas approved the acquisition of Northrop, and John Northrop finally returned to the company he had fought for for after several years away from Douglas, and the XBT-1 in the test flight was renamed XSBD-1.

After rounds of modifications, the XSBD-1 finally passed the acceptance of the Navy in February 1939 and joined the Navy family under the name SBD-1.

And the facts have also proved that the SBD "Ravager" dive bomber really lived up to the expectations of Northrop and Heinemann, it is an extremely excellent dive bomber, and even surpasses the main carrier-based dive bomber of the German army in service in some aspects.

Owen deeply felt the strength of this guy under him, after all, the 1,000-pound bomb under the belly of the plane alone was not comparable to the B24 Blackburn "Skua" fighter-bomber he had piloted before.

Speaking of "Skua" Owen is angry, also as a fashionable all-metal lower monoplane, "Skua" not to mention the comparison with Germany's latest Ju90 carrier-based dive bomber, even compared with the eliminated Ju87, the carrier-based version of the Ju87C is a cut worse.

Of course, the "Skuua" has such a poor reputation not to say how bad its performance is, the range of 800 miles (about 1300 kilometers) and the ceiling of 20200 feet (about 6150 meters) are not much worse than the world's main dive bombers, and the speed of 360 kilometers per hour is a little weaker, but it is still enough as a type of carrier-based aircraft. And its place is so criticized because of its positioning. In fact, this can be seen from its full name - "Skua" fighter-bomber.

Yes, the "Skuua" is not a simple dive bomber, but a type of fighter-bomber.

If we say that it sounds good, then the "Skua Gull" can not only perform the tasks of fighters and the air combat of enemy fighters, but also perform the tasks of dive bombers against ships and grounds.

And if it is ugly, then the "Skuua" is that when used as a fighter, it will be used by the German carrier-based Do.38 and the ME109 trick hammer on the roadbed because of many designs that are useless for air combat and the speed that even the JU88 can't catch up. As a dive bomber, it would not be able to effectively damage German warships or some large ground targets because of its low bomb load (only 500 pounds).

To put it simply, the Blackburn "Skua" was completely a piece of rubbish, so it only served for a short period of time in its original history.

Just when Owen was despising "Skua" fiercely in his heart, the voice of Lieutenant Colonel Richardson, who was directing the operation, came out of the earphones.

"All ships give priority to the lead aircraft carrier!"

"Leader?" Owen heard the order and looked out to sea, and soon spotted the lead carrier in Lieutenant Colonel Richardson's mouth.

It was none other than Germany's first aircraft carrier, the aircraft carrier "DF-1" Count Zeppelin.

After receiving the order, the SBD-1 group and a small number of SBD-2s that had been hovering in the sky began to dive towards the Count Zeppelin in an orderly manner.

But how can Germany, as the country that plays the most thorough role with aircraft carriers today, not know the importance of ship air defense? When Lyon built its new high seas fleet more than a decade ago, it had already included air defense capabilities as a very important indicator in its design requirements.

Therefore, in the face of the powerful anti-aircraft fire of the German army, although the British carrier-based pilots flew one of the most advanced dive bombers in the world today, most of the planes that dived down in the first wave were still shot down, and only five fighters successfully dropped one thousand-pound bomb and ten 100-pound bombs they carried.

Unfortunately, because the bombs were dropped in such a hurry, only two of the 15 bombs of the 100-pound bomb achieved a direct hit, and one of the 1,000-pound bombs made a close miss.

Such a hit rate, if it was put in normal training, would really make the officers and soldiers on the Count Zeppelin laugh off their big teeth, but now, they can't laugh at all.

Because these three bombs caused unexpected damage to the Count Zeppelin, a thousand pounds of bullets missed and hit the Count Zeppelin's rudder near and stuck the rudder at an angle, causing the entire warship to yaw 15 degrees to the left.

The two 100-pound bombs blew two craters in the bow and stern of the Count Zeppelin, respectively, making it lose its ability to take off and land aircraft.

For a 20,000-ton warship, two 100-pound bombs on the main deck should only scratch it, but the Count Zeppelin is special.

Because at the beginning of its construction, Germany was limited by the "Portsmouth Peace Agreement" at that time to build only a 20,000-ton aircraft carrier, and in order to allow the aircraft carrier to carry as many carrier-based aircraft and anti-aircraft guns as possible to improve combat effectiveness, German designers had to weaken the aircraft carrier's armor protection and distribute the saved tonnage to other places.

Admittedly, this design allowed the Count Zeppelin to carry a full 72 aircraft with a standard displacement of 23,000 tons, but at the same time, the flight deck armor was only 25mm thick.

Such a thin flight deck would not be good in normal times, but it would be very easy to be blown up if attacked like it is now.

If it hits a small bomb, it is fine, at most it will be blown up and the deck will not be able to take off, but if it encounters a heavy bomb, it is very likely to be directly smashed through the flight deck, detonating the ammunition or fuel accumulated in the hangar below the deck, and the whole ship may be killed and sunk!