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Curtiss SBC Helldiver

1938 WORLD WAR 2

Curtis SBC Helldiver Story

In 1932, the U.S. Navy commissioned Curtiss-Wright to build a modern two-seat fighter design for its growing line of aircraft carriers. In response, Curtis introduced their Model 73 a two-seater monoplane design with a set of parasol wings mounted high on the fuselage. The U.S. Navy named the prototype the XF12C-1.

The Type 73 is powered by a single Wright R-1510-92 Whirlwind 14 series radial piston engine and features a modern retractable landing gear. The Curtis product first flew in 1933, but by the end of the year the U.S. Navy revised its requirements and classified the XF12C-1 prototype as the "XS4C-1 reconnaissance aircraft". Again, this time in early 1934, the U.S.

Navy reorganized its requirements, calling the XS4C-1 the "XSBC-1 Dual Role Scout Bomber". Curtiss incorporated the Wright R-1820 Cyclone series radial piston engine into subsequent prototyping and testing.

Evaluation included a dive test in September 1934 that resulted in a failure of the Parasol monoplane's wing assembly. Although the pilot and machine survived completely, the prototype was still badly damaged.

Tests have shown that the wing arrangement is generally not suitable for the loads expected to be achieved by new aircraft. Therefore, the US Navy ordered a new prototype to meet the more stringent requirements. Curtis provided the answer again, this time with the Type 77, which the U.S. Navy named the XSBC-2.

The redesigned fuselage now features biplane wings and new Wright R-1510-12 Whirlwind 14 radial series engines. The first flight of the XSBC-2 was recorded on December 9, 1935. In March 1936, the installation of a Pratt & Whitney R-1535-82 Twin Wasp Junior radial piston engine on the fuselage resulted in a change of the company name to "Type 77A" and the US Navy's revised designation "XSBC-3". [/p ]

The U.S. Navy, satisfied with Curtis-Wright's latest offer, commissioned the company for approximately 83 production-grade SBC-3 "Helldiver" aircraft - contract signed on 29 August 1936. The first shipment was delivered to the VS-5 squadron of the USS Yorktown on July 17, 1937. Regardless, the SBC proved to be a fairly suitable airframe for pilots, but the changing technological world of the late 1930s cemented the SBC as an outdated design, forcing fighter jets to take on auxiliary duties in the training of oncoming pilots in Florida. When Imperial Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941 throwing America into a full-scale world war the SBC was considered more or less an outdated design.

Regardless, the biplane dive bomber continued to serve in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps for some time, aboard active-duty aircraft carriers such as the Hornet. The SBC Helldiver's service with the U.S.

Navy was brief, officially ending in October 1944 after being replaced by a much improved modern model. To ensure some legacy, the SBC Helldiver was actually the last biplane purchased by the US Navy.

The design of the SBC Helldiver is a relative hybrid of two aviation eras. On the one hand, the design is characterized by its staggered, uneven-span biplane wing layout, with thick outboard struts, cables, and skeletal inboard struts holding the wings in place. The fuselage, on the other hand, is wrapped in metalwork, and the streamlined shape subtly outlines the tapered end to which the rounded vertical tail is attached. Although the landing gear is retractable, there are still visible wheels inserted on both sides of the front of the fuselage. The engine remained ahead in design, being radial piston type, requiring air cooling and driving a three-bladed propeller system.

The two crew members sat side by side under a long-running heavy-duty glass canopy, often with poor forward visibility and oncoming action. The cockpit is located amidships behind the two wing assemblies.

Like other aircraft of the era, the SBC exhibited a distinctive "nose-up" appearance when stationary, with "tail-pull" landing gear with small tail wheels mounted on the underside of the tail. Powered by the radial engine, the SBC Helldiver has a top speed of 234 mph and a base cruising speed of 175 mph.

Service is limited to 24,000 feet and range is limited to 405 miles. Armament is fairly modest, including a pair of .30 caliber machine guns (one mounted in the front for the pilot and the other on a trainable mount in the rear cockpit), with optional 1,000-pound bombs on the centerline of the fuselage.

Curtis worked on improving the basic design of the SBC-3 series and reserved the airframe for such work. The resulting tests resulted in the new Type 77B, which the U.S. Navy designated the SBC-4. A more powerful 850 hp Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9-series radial piston engine was used with several improvements. The U.S.

Navy signed a production contract for 174 of these mounts on January 5, 1938, with initial deliveries beginning in March 1939, followed by official service. By this time, Europe was fully involved in a war that would soon spread beyond its borders.

The German Blitz shocked Europe. Hitler's combined attack and coordinated strikes by land and air power brought great results in the first phase of the operation. With most of Europe in German hands, France followed. So France fought desperately against the German offensive, rapidly escalating its military stockpiles to prevent mounting casualties, and even contracting American aircraft companies with whatever they could. In early 1940, the U.S.

Navy transferred about 50 active-duty SBC-4 Helldiver aircraft to the French Navy, for a total of 90 to France. The aircraft was repainted to French standards and the .30 caliber weapon was upgraded to a more powerful 2 x .50 caliber pairing.

All U.S. instruments were replaced with French-labeled instruments, and Curtis employees were involved in delivering the plane to French airline Bearn via Nova Scotia. Bearn eventually accepted the plane and crossed the Atlantic back to France.

Like other military equipment shipped from the US to France, the shipment arrived too late to be of much use in battle, and France eventually surrendered after Paris fell to Hitler and left Britain largely alone to "fight". "The Good Fight". Bearn moved south to the Caribbean island of Martinique, where the remaining 49 SBC-4s succumbed to the corrosive effects of the tropical environment and were destined to never fight.

At least 5 SBC-4s were added to the RAF inventory under the designation Curtiss "Cleveland" Mk. Me and I usually train the ground crew in Little Richington, UK.

While the SBC-4 didn't make much of an impact in the European war, the US Navy stuck with its production and obtained a modified SBC-4 model with the addition of the all-important self-sealing fuel tanks.