Curtiss SB2C Helldiver

what is it?

The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was a dive bomber developed by Curtiss-Wright during World War II. Nicknames for the aircraft included "Big-Tailed Beast" or just "Beast", "Two-Cee", and "Son-of-a-Bitch 2nd Class"; the latter nickname was derived from the name SB2C and the aircraft's reputation for having difficult handling characteristics. The Helldiver was developed during the late 1930s and early 1940s for the United States Navy (USN) to serve as a carrier-based bomber to supplement and replace the Douglas SBD Dauntless. First flown on 18 December 1940, the XSB2C-1 prototype initially demonstrated poor handling characteristics and other issues; late modifications caused lengthy delays to production and deployment, to the extent that the aircraft was investigated by the Truman Committee, which produced a scathing report.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 15.2 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 475 km/htop speed
• size 7,537 kgmax take-off weight
• built 7,140made 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 86 years ago, in 1940.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.7× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 15.2 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.0× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

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

spec sheet

first flight

1940-12-18

introduced

1943

retired

1959

status

retired

number built

7,140

role

dive bomber

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Curtiss-Wright, Curtiss

engines

1× Wright R-2600-20 Twin Cyclone

crew

2

length

11.2 m

wingspan

15.2 m

height

4 m

max take-off weight

7,537 kg

top speed

475 km/h

cruise speed

254 km/h

range

—

ceiling

8,870 m

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