True fact, US Navy aircrews sometimes called the SB2C Helldiver the Son of a Bitch 2nd Class because of how hard it was to control compared to the Dauntless
True fact, US Navy aircrews sometimes called the SB2C Helldiver the Son of a Bitch 2nd Class because of how hard it was to control compared to the Dauntless
That was really about the first versions which were underpowered and unrefined though. Once a better engine and some aerodynamic refinements were fitted it performed fine and aside from a quirk or two (Which all aircraft of that era tended to have) wasn't particularly worse then anything else in the air group. Really it gets an largely undeserved reputation in general in my view based on the underwhelming first batch that was was pushed forward perhaps before it was fully ready for prime time due to pressing wartime demand.
Many of the initial problems where of the navy's own making when they demanded slews of design changes that resulted in huge weight bloat which caused the aforementioned under-powered condition, and then rather then hold off until a better plant could be fitted pushed it forward anyway (seemingly for political reasons since the program was under some pressure to produce results). The underlying airframe though was not really flawed with about the only intrinsic flaw that could be cited being that the plane was a bit stubby and so longitudinal stability wasn't the greatest, but this was hard to avoid since the navy demanded a shorter length to fit in service elevators while still wanting more power and a greater payload which demanded a larger overall aircraft. (The Japanese for a number of their later designs simply accepted that they would be unusable on earlier ships due to their size, although in the end that proved somewhat moot since all those carriers were sunk by the time they arrived anyway...)
The problem is that many writer seem to look at the problems with the first batch pushed forward quickly and then just ignore the major improvements and later impact of the design. It would be like if they judged the T-34 on the fact that many of the first hurriedly deployed models exploded their own engines and transmissions trying to reach the combat zone. Once the refined models arrived in early 1944 the SB2C surpassed the SBD in all aspects. In point of fact in the end the Navy took about 4,900 SBD, but it ended up with 7,100 SB2Cs. Helldiver destroyed more Japanese shipping then SBD ever did and may have destroyed more shipping in general then any other single type during the war.
It never had a "Midway" though to secure it's fame like the SBD (which was hardly without it's problems) did and so it's more 'work a day' contribution to ultimately destroying the Japanese Navy and Merchant Marine in the pacific tends to be glossed over.
That is the problem of writters, they never made a proper research before throwing stuff about a plane or tank's models. Since many of them had various models or sub-variants that shows the difference in modification etc.
Tk3997 said: It (SB2C Helldiver) never had a "Midway" though to secure it's fame like the SBD (which was hardly without it's problems)....
Agreed. In fact, the U.S. Army Air Forces version of the SBD Dauntless (designated the A-24 Banshee) was a disaster compared to the Navy version. In fact, at the Battle of Midway, many Marine Corps SBDs were shot down because of incorrect technique (due to transition to the SBD which resulted in lack of training). Finally, four squadrons SBD Dauntless, TBD Devastators and F4F Wildcats arrived simultaneously along with two squadrons of TBD Devastators arriving in a different direction, forcing the A6M Zeros to concentrate on the TBD Devastators and leave the SBD Dauntless unopposed.
Just wrapping up the translation with the help of my friend Google and I would like to note that I am not surprised that Curtis-Wright folded after the kind of development hell that this thing went through.
Just wrapping up the translation with the help of my friend Google and I would like to note that I am not surprised that Curtis-Wright folded after the kind of development hell that this thing went through.
it wasnt just the problems with the sb2c, but all curtis's products that wasnt the p40. they also produced no more then 400 p47g's over a short time that both republic plants out produced them by an embarrassing amount that the air corps told them to stop. and the there was the navys float plane replacements. though you could blame the seamew failing on the engine having problems that are hard to find these days
This was caused by the US Navy's requirement that the Helldiver be short enough to fit in a carrier's aircraft elevator
Actually, the requirement was that two of these planes could be fitted in the elevator simultaneously, allegedly for faster launches. But eventually, such a method was never used in the field and meanwhile the SB2C was left plagued by useless stability issues...
I know only one other example of similar stupid requirement that plagued several aircrafts from the designing board for nothing: Every Luftwaffe's multi-engine plane must be able to perform dive-bombing attacks. Ja, even the Heinkel He177 heavy strategic bomber! Genius!
Actually, the requirement was that two of these planes could be fitted in the elevator simultaneously, allegedly for faster launches. But eventually, such a method was never used in the field and meanwhile the SB2C was left plagued by useless stability issues...
That... might be my mistake.
I wouldn't know, I just used Google Translate because this series was languishing without any translation and I don't know any Japanese.
US Navy shipboard reconnaissance bomber SB2C Hell DiverWhat first sticks out upon seeing it are a short fuselage, a large vertical tail, and a horizontal stabilizer at the same height as the cockpit!I like to think that anyone with a decent sense of balance will realize that the Helldiver had bad stabilityThis was caused by the US Navy's requirement that the Helldiver be short enough to fit in a carrier's aircraft elevatorSo far, we have to improve the essentials, which is common in the development process of airplanesNow I don't know if a great person said, but as mentioned earlier, it has been mass-produced with more than 7000 aircraft and has been deployed in various placesIt was difficult to secure the tail since the bomb rack was rather high off the ground causing a significant downdraftDuring its first flight in December 1940, high speed performance was good but stability was found to be lacking. It was also pointed out that abnormal vibrations occurred when the dive brake was deployed, which is also the time the aircraft was aiming its bomb for releaseThe problem is that the airplane entered mass production and delivery while this defect was not corrected at the development stageStability, maneuverability, and the strength of the aircraft was bad, so pilots in the warzone tended to call it "The Pig", "Ted", "The Beast", or its official numberIt was said that it was hell to dive but it was used all over the world until 1959That's the story of the SB2C Helldiver, that might not have been made so much if it wasn't wartimeThanks to wartime necessity