Helldiver units of world war 211/15/2023 ![]() ![]() Upon introduction into service the Helldiver was 36 feet, 8 inches in length, with a wingspan of 49 feet, 8 and 5/8 inches. The aircraft needed to be lengthened to cure this problem, but the claim has often been made that it could not be lengthened since it would no longer fit on the aircraft carrier elevators. Much of the Helldiver’s poor performance, particularly its directional instability, has been blamed on this single Navy specification. bomb load in an internal bomb bay and two of the aircraft (with wings folded) had to fit onto a 48 foot-by-40 foot elevator with a foot of clearance all around. Certain characteristics which dramatically affected the Helldiver’s development were dictated in advance: the powerplant was to be the still experimental Wright 14-cylinder R-2600 Cyclone it had to have the ability to carry a 1,000 lb. In 1938, the Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics circulated a Request for Proposals (RFP) calling for just such a new scout-bomber. ![]() Popular thought it was, the Navy knew that the successor to the SBD would have to be faster, carry a bigger payload, and have better range - and the search began as soon as the SBD entered service. Navy’s awareness of the limitations of the SBD. Ironically, the Helldiver had its origins in the U.S. In fairness, upon its introduction, the Helldiver was underpowered and suffered from several flaws affecting its performance, literally requiring thousands of modifications. Any aircraft following the Dauntless would have been the target of resentment, but so beloved was the rugged heroine of the Battle of Midway that many SBD units resisted transitioning to the Helldiver as long as they could. While it eventually became a successful aircraft in the Pacific War, it had a painful development period and initially a checkered reputation, due to a combination of design restrictions, initial poor workmanship, and the fact that it replaced an extremely popular dive bomber, the Douglas “Slow But Deadly” SBD Dauntless. The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was the last dive bomber in U.S. ![]() Comments: Old kit, raised panel lines, sliding canopies, folding wings, retractable landing gear, movable arrestor hook, functioning bomb bay doors, muliti-part greenhouse canopy History ![]()
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