Browsing: sb2c

A World-War II era Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver was unveiled at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven  F. Udvar Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. April 1. The Helldiver was the last purpose-built dive bomber to enter Naval service and was designed as a replacement for the smaller SBD Dauntless dive bomber. Poor lateral stability in the early Dash-1 versions led to its not-so-flattering fleet nicknames: Son-of-a-Bitch, Second-Class (for SB2C) or simply “The Beast.” By the end of WWII, guided bombs and rockets eliminated the need to point the entire airframe at the target in order to insure a successful bomb…

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