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 ...

The aircraft was simply built wrong. The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was built to replace the Douglas SBD Dauntless, a World War II dive bomber that had earned praise for its performance—particularly ...

A nearly intact Curtiss SB2C-1C Helldiver rests just outside Maalaea Harbor. The plane crash-landed after a training exercise gone wrong in 1944, though both the pilot and radio operator emerged ...