The litany of faults that the Helldiver bore included the fact that it was underpowered, had a shorter range than the SBD, was equipped with an unreliable electrical system and was often poorly manufactured. The early prognosis of the 'Beast' was unfavourable as it was strongly disliked by aircrews because it was much bigger and heavier than the SBD it replaced. The SB2C-1 could deploy slats mechanically linked with undercarriage actuation extended from the outer third of the wing leading edge to aid lateral control at low speeds.

Naval service, it still had such structural problems that the aircraft crews were forbidden to dive bomb in clean conditions (one of its main tasks). The large number (literally thousands) of modifications and changes on the production line meant that the Curtiss Helldiver did not enter combat until November 11th, 1943, with VB-17 on the USS Bunker Hill, when they attacked the Japanese-held port of Rabaul on the island of New Britain, north of Papua New Guinea. Crew nicknames for the aircraft included the Big-Tailed Beast (or just the derogatory Beast), Two-Cee and Son-of-a-Bitch 2nd Class (after its designation and partly because of its reputation for having difficult handling characteristics).Īlthough production problems persisted throughout its combat service, pilots soon changed their minds about the potency of the Helldiver. Despite its size, the SB2C was much faster than the SBD it replaced. It replaced the Douglas SBD Dauntless in US Navy service. The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was an American aircraft carrier-based dive bomber aircraft produced for the United States Navy during World War II.

US Navy Ensign George Bomberger, pilot of a SB2C Helldiver aircraft aboard USS Franklin, late 1943 When you're running out of speed and running out of room. I was trying to scratch for altitude and get my gear up.

Hobby Master HA2206 USN Curtiss SB2C-4E Helldiver ASW Aircraft - Black 47, VS-31 'Topcats', NAS Atlantic City, New Jersey (1:72 Scale) 'I once took off, and just after I left the deck my gunner, Russ Dustan, yelled 'Hey George! Get this son of a bitch in the air!' and he pulled out his life raft because we were leaving a streak in the water behind us.

Helldiver units of world war 2