CURTISS SB2C HELLDIVER | Original Upscaled Training video | How To Fly "The Beast"

Описание: Curtiss SB2C Helldiver Aircraft. How to Fly "The Beast". An original upscaled and restored training video.

The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver is a dive bomber developed by Curtiss-Wright during World War II. As a carrier-based bomber with the United States Navy (USN), in Pacific theaters, it supplemented and replaced the Douglas SBD Dauntless. A few survivors are extant.
Initially, poor handling characteristics and late modifications caused lengthy delays in production and deployment, to the extent that it was investigated by the Truman Committee, which turned in a scathing report. This contributed to the decline of Curtiss as a company. Neither pilots nor aircraft carrier skippers seemed to like it. Nevertheless, the type was faster than the Dauntless, and by the end of the Pacific War, the Helldiver had become the main dive bomber and attack aircraft on USN carriers.

By the time a land-based variant, known as the A-25 Shrike, became available in late 1943, the Western Allied air forces had abandoned dedicated dive-bombers. A majority of A-25s delivered to the US Army Air Forces were transferred to the US Marine Corps, which used the type only in side campaigns and non-combat roles. The British Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force also canceled substantial orders, retaining only a few aircraft for research purposes.
Nicknames for the aircraft included "Big-Tailed Beast" or just "Beast", "Two-Cee", and "Son-of-a-Bitch 2nd Class"; the latter nickname was derived from the name SB2C and the aircraft's reputation for having difficult handling characteristics.

Curtiss XSB2C Helldiver prototype on its maiden flight
The Helldiver was developed to replace the Douglas SBD Dauntless. It was a much larger aircraft, able to operate from the latest aircraft carriers and carry a considerable array of armament. It featured an internal bomb bay that reduced drag when carrying heavy ordnance. Saddled with demanding requirements set forth by both the U.S. Marines and United States Army Air Forces, the manufacturer incorporated features of a "multi-role" aircraft into the design.
The Model XSB2C-1 prototype initially suffered development issues connected to its Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone engine and three-bladed propeller; further concerns included structural weaknesses, poor handling, directional instability, and bad stall characteristics. In 1939, a student took a model of the new Curtiss XSB2C-1 to the MIT wind tunnel. Professor of Aeronautical Engineering Otto C. Koppen was quoted as saying, "if they build more than one of these, they are crazy". He was referring to controllability issues with the small vertical tail.

The first prototype made its maiden flight on 18 December 1940. It crashed on 8 February 1941 when its engine failed on approach, but Curtiss was asked to rebuild it. The fuselage was lengthened and a larger tail was fitted, while an autopilot was fitted to help the poor stability. The revised prototype flew again on 20 October 1941 but was destroyed when its wing failed during diving tests on 21 December 1941.

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General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 36 ft 8 in (11.18 m)
Wingspan: 49 ft 9 in (15.16 m)
Height: 13 ft 2 in (4.01 m)
Wing area: 422 sq ft (39.2 m2)
Airfoil: root: NACA 23017; tip: NACA 23009
Empty weight: 10,547 lb (4,784 kg)
Gross weight: 16,616 lb (7,537 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Wright R-2600-20 Twin Cyclone 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 1,900 hp (1,400 kW)
Propellers: 4-bladed constant-speed propeller
Performance

Maximum speed: 295 mph (475 km/h, 256 kn) at 16,700 ft (5,100 m)
Cruise speed: 158 mph (254 km/h, 137 kn)
Combat range: 1,165 mi (1,875 km, 1,012 nmi) with 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb-load
Service ceiling: 29,100 ft (8,900 m)
Rate of climb: 1,800 ft/min (9.1 m/s)
Armament
Guns: **2 × 20 mm (0.787 in) AN/M2 cannon in the wings
2 × 0.30 in (7.6 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns in the rear cockpit
4 X 0.50 in (13 mm) M2 Browning machine guns, two each in gun pods mounted on underwing hardpoints (optional)
Rockets: 8 × 5 in (127 mm) High Velocity Aircraft Rockets
Bombs: in the internal bay: 2,000 lb (910 kg) of bombs or 1 × Mark 13-2 torpedo
on underwing hardpoints: 500 lb (230 kg) of bombs each

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