On this day in aviation history, December 18, 1940, the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver dive bomber made its first flight. Plagued ...

At the start of this year, the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, CA, welcomed the arrival of a rare Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver WWII dive bomber. The aircraft will be restored for display on the ...

Between 1943 and 1945, over 7,000 SB2C Helldivers were built. Initially, the aircraft displayed poor handling characteristics—earning a damning report from the waste-focused Truman Committee and ...

Optionally, the plane could also carry four M2 “Ma Deuce” .50 caliber machine guns in pods installed on underwing hardpoints. In any event, the Helldiver was faster – by a differential of 40 ...

The Curtiss-built SB2C-5 Helldiver aircraft, BuNo 83393, was originally built in early 1945 and was delivered to Naval Air Field Newport, Rhode Island. Very shortly after it was transferred to ...

The WestPac Restoration and the National Museum of World War II Aviation in Colorado Springs are working on expanding their ...

The sinking of the Yamato cost the Americans 10 aircraft (four helldivers, three torpedo planes and three fighters — 12 pilots and aircrew). It appears Fuller’s VB82 squadron carried out the ...