A crashed Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, one of the most ill-handling, short lived planes of the WWII-era was recently recovered intact from the bottom of a San Diego, California resevoir. The outline was spotted by a couple guys who were on the water fishing last year and a recovery team saw the plane to the surface on Friday, August 20. The plane crashed on May 28, 1945 while on a training flight.
The Helldiver, despite carrying one of the greatest names for a plane ever conceived was far from a success. In fact, some cite this very plane as the beginning of the end for Curtiss as a company. The problems with the plane began in the development phase as it’s weight and construction caused a few issues with wings and other structures catastrophically failing when the planes were pulling out of dives. This is a big problem with respect to a dive bomber.
Once finally in production after years of delays, pilots nicknamed the plane “The Beast” and “Son of a Bitch Second Class”. This plane was far larger than the aircraft it replaced and that may have been the root cause of the issues which seemed to follow it from day one.
Interestingly, once pilots got a handle on the plane, it achieved a solid combat record, but the problematic reputation caused large orders from foreign countries to be cancelled and Curtiss took a massive financial hit from the failure of the plane. Despite the first version carrying a 1500hp motor and the second sporting 2100hp, it was considered underpowered and slow. Other planes that were better engineered and made it to market faster simply out classed it.
The great news about the plane recovered in San Diego is that the pilot and co-pilot survived their wreck and the plane will be restored and put in a Florida museum. There were only 5,100 of these babies made, and the record shows that nearly 50 were lost on one WWII mission alone. There are not many left.
Hit the link below to learn more about the recovery:
Source — MSNBC.com — WWII Helldiver Raised from San Diego Resevoir
