DV 9E8E was devised to assist in teaching aircrew members, under controlled conditions, the proper procedures to be followed to escape from the cockpit of a water ditched and inverted aircraft. It provides Naval flying personnel with a realistic water collision training device. The trainer permits the student to gain experience in the proper aircraft egress (exit) procedures. These techniques are necessary for the student to achieve self control, rapidly evaluate and respond to changes in his environment, and overcome natural fear and panic to water submersion. The trainer also provides the student with an opportunity to develop confidence in his ability to respond automatically to an emergency situation.

Only one Device 9E8E exists and it was originally designated as Device 9U44 by the Naval Training Device Center (now designated Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division). Modified by Training Equipment Change Directives (TECDs) it became DV 9E8E.

Wilfred Kaneb, who currently resides in Ontario, Canada, began designing and building the dunker in 1943. He was tasked with the duty of creating a mechanism to simulate engine failure at takeoff from a carrier, as many pilots who crashed in this scenario during World War II did not survive.

The Dilbert Dunker impacts the water, becomes submerged and flips over (upside down) with the student strapped in its "cockpit," simulating what might happen in a real ditching. The student then orients himself or herself, unstraps and swims clear. Safety swimmers are underwater to assist when necessary. **

Our friend, Capt. Ron Miller says, "The one all aviation students used in Pensacola, the one I damn near died in, was an actual cockpit section of an SNJ Primary Trainer.  The mechanism was nowhere near as sophisticated as the one pictured above."