View allAll Photos Tagged helldivers
The Beaufighter has always been one of my favorite planes but I was always afraid to built since it´s a very difficult plane to build. Eventually, I made the tail first and then the rest of the aircraft.
During the Second World War, Portugal bought 16 TF.X aircraft, which were delivered during March and April 1945, all from RAF stocks.
They replaced the older Bristol Blenheims in the anti-ship role during that year. The Blenheims were acquired from Great Britain a few years earlier but since they had been so heavily used by the British before, they were considered extremely dangerous to fly.
Portugal only used Beaufighters for a very small period of time since all of them were removed from service in 1946. Some information’s state that the British again sold heavily used planes, which led to the loss of one of them to an engine failure in 1945. They were replaced by 24 Curtiss Helldivers.
Curious information: The RAF continued to use Beaufighters until 1960 but none was kept in Museums. Instead, the two Beaufighters currently in exhibition in the United Kingdom are in fact former Portuguese planes, one in the Royal Air Force Museum and the other at the National Museum of Flight. It´s a little ironic…
For more pictures, please visit my Flickr page:
Eínon
Curtiss SB2C Helldiver Civil Registration N92879 83589 USN USS Franklin
Carrier-based dive bomber aircraft produced for the United States Navy during World War II. It replaced the Douglas SBD Dauntless in US Navy service
This is the only airworthy Helldiver in the world
Photo taken at Mid-Atlantic Air Museum WWII Weekend Spaatz Field Reading Regional Airport June 2018
ABD_1262
The West Texas Wing of the Commemorative Air Force with their Curtiss SB2C Helldiver or known as the "Beast" or "Diver" is seen flying at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum's WWII Weekend in Reading, PA on June 7, 2025.
Finally finished the rider machines. I didn't plan on making all this.
from left to right
(Old Cyclone & New Cyclone), New Cyclone #2, Hurricane, RiderMachine, Cruiser, Jungler, Kabutolaw, Sky Turbo, (V-machine & Blue version), Helldiver, (Battlehopper & Roadsector), (Acrobatter, Roboizer, Machjabber, & Ridoron)
Ellington Field, Texas, 27/10/2012.
7,140 Helldivers were built during WW2 and this is the only airworthy example remaining.
Type: Curtis SB2C-3 Helldiver
Operator: Yanks Air Museum / United States Navy (USN)
Rego: 19075
Serial:
Location: Chino - KCNO / CNO
Date: 11/12/2024
Notes: In the restoration hanger.
See the cat statue on the wing. This is a salute to the two cats that wander the halls on rodent prevention patrol.
Please note commercial use of this photo is not permitted.
In World War II, the carrier forces of the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy employed the same tactical mix of aircraft, using torpedo-carrying aircraft and bomb-carrying dive bombers. Using both at once, the defenders would have to split their fire between the high-altitude dive bombers and the low-altitude torpedo bombers—either weapon would be deadly to enemy ships. Dive bombers had to be more rugged and maneuverable than torpedo aircraft to survive the near 90° dives required for their mission.
At the beginning of World War II in 1939, the principal U.S. Navy dive bomber was the Northrop BT-1, designed by two legendary aircraft designers—Jack Northrop and Edward “Ed” Heinemann. The BT-1 was reliable but underpowered, tending to stall when approaching the carrier. Heinemann, who was now working for Douglas Aircraft, proposed a replacement, broadly similar to the BT-1 but with the more powerful Wright Cyclone.
The proposed aircraft would also be more streamlined, have a larger tail, and be equipped with perforated dive brakes that would slow the plane in a dive and give the pilot more control. Since the propeller on the Cyclone was larger, a bomb carried on the centerline hardpoint was attached to a crutch that would swing forward and release the bomb clear of the propeller arc. The Navy liked what they saw and ordered Heinemann’s design as the SBD-1 Dauntless, which first flew in May of 1940. It was nicknamed "Slow But Deadly" from its SBD initials and a rarely-used accompanying name of “Furious D.”
By the time of the Pearl Harbor attacks in December of 1941, most U.S. Navy and Marine Corps units were equipped with SBD-3 variants, which included crew armor and self-sealing fuel tanks, as well as .50 caliber machine guns in the wings for strafing purposes. SBDs were involved in the war from the start, and several were lost at Pearl Harbor—but as the carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet escaped the Japanese attack, it meant that the Dauntless would soon be on the offensive.
Over the next four years, the SBD became one of World War II's most influential aircraft types. Operating from carriers and land bases, the Dauntless would account for more Japanese ships sunk than any other aircraft and flew 25% of all sorties of the U.S. Navy in World War II. It would see action in nearly every major battle of the Pacific Theater, including the battles of Coral Sea, Midway, the Guadalcanal campaign, Philippine Sea, and Leyte Gulf; the aircraft that had started the war in Pearl Harbor would end it by attacking the Japanese home islands.
The basic design of the SBD didn’t change during the war, although the SBD-5 supplanted the SBD-3, the latter of which only had an uprated engine. Despite being given somewhat unflattering nicknames like "Barge," "Clunk," and "Slow But Deadly," referring to its indifferent speed, the Dauntless defied all attempts to replace it; its intended replacement, the SB2C Helldiver, was never as popular or as capable. The SBD gained a reputation for being simple to fly and maintain as well as being surprisingly maneuverable: a skilled Dauntless pilot could use the type’s lack of speed to his advantage, forcing attacking Japanese fighters into overshooting.
If this happened, the Japanese pilot would find himself in front of the SBD’s wing-mounted .50 caliber machine guns, which could easily tear the lightly-built A6M Zero apart. Attacking from the rear was not an easy matter either, as the twin .30 caliber machine guns handled by the rear gunner were often loaded with incendiary bullets that could set the Japanese fighters on fire. Even if the SBD was hit, it was remarkably resilient to damage.
The end of World War II also meant the end of the Dauntless: tactics had changed, and the SBD would prove to be the last dive bomber produced for the U.S. Navy. The SBDs were withdrawn in favor of the AD-1 Skyraider. Other examples were flown by the Mexican Air Force until 1959. A total of 5,936 aircraft were built in 11 different variants; 24 currently survive today, with four of them airworthy.
Built as BuNo 28536, this SBD-5 is a genuine WWII combat veteran. It was transferred to the Royal New Zealand Air Force's 25 Squadron, flying from Bougainville against isolated Japanese garrisons in the Solomon Islands and Rabaul. It completed 32 missions before being returned to the USMC and returned home in June of 1944. It was sold off at the end of World War II, bought by MGM, and turned into a wind machine with its wings removed. When MGM got rid of their wind machine aircraft, it was a windfall for many warbird collectors: by then, those were some of the last Dauntlesses left in existence.
28536 was acquired by Planes of Fame in 1968 and restored to static display condition; in 1976, it appeared as a prop in the first movie version of "Midway." By 1982, a pair of actual wings had been recovered from a wreck on Guadalcanal, and 28536 was made flyable again, taking to the air for the first time in four decades in 1987. The following year, it was used as Warren Henry's aircraft in the miniseries "War and Remembrance," flying off the USS Lexington (CVT-16), which was simulating the USS Enterprise (CV-6). She has remained at Planes of Fame ever since.
The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was nicknamed "The Big-Tailed Beast" by its aircrews, who in the end did not like it more than its predecessor, the Douglas SBD Dauntless. Both were dive bombers, but the poorer handling characteristics of the SB2C and its shorter range than the SBD contributed to the Navy's dislike of the aircraft. This SB2C is at the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Museum in Chantilly, Virginia. You can't see the large tail at this angle, but the links below have other photos of both the SB2C and the SBD.
J3-4/94 - Grumman SB2C-5 Helldiver - 366 - Royal Thai Air Force - RTAF Museum Don Mueang - Tuesday - 16-10-2018
Vintage World War II aircraft participate in the Arsenal of Democracy Flyover of Washington, DC, on the 70th anniversary of VE Day, May 8, 2015.
'HELLDIVERS - COSPLAY BY ALAN' - 'CHESTERFIELD COMIC-CON' - 'UNLEASHED EVENTS' - 23rd FEB 2025 - NIKON D5600 With NIKKOR 18-105
c/n unknown
Built in 1945 with the US Navy Bureau No 83479.
Immediately transferred to Guam, arriving there in July 1945. Did not see any combat but was allocated to VB-92 aboard USS Lexington (CV-16) who operated her from September to December 1945, after which she then returned to the United States. She remained active until March 1948 when she was stored before being allocated to the National Air Museum in March 1949 and flown to NAS Norfolk, Virginia, for further storage. She was transferred to the Smithsonian Institute in 1960 and stored outside until 1975 when she was moved to Pensacola and restored for display in the National Naval Aviation Museum, where she remained until October 2003. Delivered here in 2010, further restoration was carried out in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar, before the aircraft went on display in 2014. She has been returned to her genuine markings from VB-92 in late 1945 and is seen on display in the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center as part of the National Air and Space Museum.
Washington Dulles International Airport, Chantilly, Virginia
7th May 2015
Hey guys, Jack here again, and this time I'm here with my LEGO MOC of a Curtiss SBC Helldiver.
Not to be confused with the SB2C Helldiver of World War II, a monoplane that also manufactured by Curtiss, the SBC Helldiver was a lesser-known, but still notable piece of military aviation history. Its coming-to-be, in addition, was very interesting indeed. This biplane-divebomber was initially supposed to be a fighter, with retractable undercarriage and a singular, foldable parasol wing -- as requested by the Navy in 1932, needing a storable, quick and versatile aircraft to be deployed on carriers and such. However, the prototype fighter built (designated XF12C-1) ran into many complications, resulting in multiple swap-outs of engines, in an attempt to give the airframe adequate thrust. In addition, the parasol wing failed to pass dive bombing tests. In the end, the final Helldiver would not see introduction until 1938, and not without numerous revisions either. Curtiss attempted to redesign and recategorize their monoplane to save the project, but eventually in 1935 put in a proposal to the U.S. Navy to turn the aircraft into a Scout Bomber biplane. Though competing with new, tough competitors such as Grumman and Great Lakes Aircraft, also submitting designs to fulfill this role, Curtiss was soon given the green light by the Navy. The monoplane was thus converted into a biplane, featuring improved divebombing characteristics, reworked retractable forward gear, and an improved engine (after numerous swap-outs through various prototypes). This SBC Helldiver(as it was designated) was crewed by two (the pilot seated up front and the radio operator/gunner at the aft of the new, tandem canopy) and, though the wings did not stow, was finally introduced in 1938 on various Naval bases and carriers. After Pearl Harbor though, many of these Naval bases and carriers started replacing their SBCs with Douglas SBD Dauntlesses. This was also true of Marine Corps units who had them. In the end, these aircraft saw action in the early war ears only through limited observational purposes, and the last of them were retired in 1943.
The model itself features functioning forward landing gear, space for a minifigure in the pilot position, and slight dihedral on the lower wings (as there should be). This was my first biplane in a while, so I hope you guys like it! Comments, faves, and constructive criticisms, as always, are highly appreciated!
This SBD-4 Dauntless, BuNo. 10575 is on display at Chicago's Midway Airport, which is named after the World War II Battle of Midway.
The Douglas SBD Dauntless was a naval dive bomber made by Douglas during World War II. The SBD was the United States Navy's main dive bomber from mid-1940 until late 1943, when it was largely replaced by the SB2C Helldiver. The aircraft was also operated by the United States Army as the A-24 Banshee.
Although relatively slow and outmoded when it began its combat career, it was rugged and dependable and sank more Japanese shipping than any other aircraft during World War II.
The SBD's most important contribution to the American war effort probably came during the Battle of Midway in early June 1942, when SBD dive bomber attacks sank or fatally damaged all four of the Japanese aircraft carriers, three of them in the space of just six minutes (Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū, and later in the day Hiryū) as well as heavily damaging two Japanese cruisers (including Mikuma).
The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was nicknamed "The Big-Tailed Beast" by its aircrews, who in the end did not like it more than its predecessor, the Douglas SBD Dauntless. Both were dive bombers, but the poorer handling characteristics of the SB2C and its shorter range than the SBD contributed to the Navy's dislike of the aircraft. This SB2C is at the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Museum in Chantilly, Virginia. It is hard to see the large tail at this angle, but the links below have other photos of both the SB2C and the SBD.
Herman's Pond, Rancho San Rafael, Reno, Washoe Co, Nevada (September 9th, 2013). 88X. Small pond in a large county park in NW Reno.
Juvenile about to be fed a small fish. Age of chick ca. 22 days.
More on this and earlier Herman's Pond grebe nests::
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www.flickr.com/photos/fugl/sets/72157635380577689/comments/
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This SBD-4 Dauntless, BuNo. 10575 is on display at Chicago's Midway Airport, which is named after the World War II Battle of Midway.
The Douglas SBD Dauntless was a naval dive bomber made by Douglas during World War II. The SBD was the United States Navy's main dive bomber from mid-1940 until late 1943, when it was largely replaced by the SB2C Helldiver. The aircraft was also operated by the United States Army as the A-24 Banshee.
Although relatively slow and outmoded when it began its combat career, it was rugged and dependable and sank more Japanese shipping than any other aircraft during World War II.
The SBD's most important contribution to the American war effort probably came during the Battle of Midway in early June 1942, when SBD dive bomber attacks sank or fatally damaged all four of the Japanese aircraft carriers, three of them in the space of just six minutes (Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū, and later in the day Hiryū) as well as heavily damaging two Japanese cruisers (including Mikuma).
The Douglas Skyraider was designed in 1944 by Ed Heinemann to replace the TBF Avenger and the SB2C Helldiver. The Skyraider was the last piston-powered attack aircraft used by both the U.S. Navy and Air Force. It was built in 28 different versions but is most remembered for its superlative work as a close support aircraft during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
Some more new pictures from a relatively old model, due to public interest.
This is a kit conversion of Bandai's ARL-99B "Helldiver" kit. I found the idea of a military Labor in JGSDF use pretty conclusive, so I cooked up this close relative as a pure ground use Labor. So, the "Raijin" has become a light and highly mobile army support Labor for the Japanese Army during the Millennium era, its use would be observation/scouting, support for light/mobile ground troops and tasks which would call for high mobility and secrecy, e .g. as an enemy Labor/tank sniper...
The basic Helldiver frame was kept, but the conversion includes a different head and cockpit arrangement, as well as "normal" legs - the air brakes from the ARL-99B have been "closed", the holes PSRed away. I also added hand-held armament: a single-action anti-labor rifle for sniping purposes (a converted piece from a 1:144 Gundam RX-79) and a kind of machine pistol (from the same donor kit), kept in a hip holster, but detachable.
The 3-color camouflage scheme was inspired by JASDF fighter paint schemes - the SEA-style scheme used on RF-4E Phantom II's and F-1 fighters. I just got the colors VERY wrong - at the time I built this model, I just had a few print pictures of such aircraft, and I ended up with Humbrol 66, 98 and 121 as basic colors, the brown and green ended up much too dark. This looks a bit wacky, esp. for Japan, but when the model is placed into typical Japanese mountaineous landscape or into a forest setting, it fits surprisingly well!
The diorama was built on a 8x8" base and includes some rocks (made from plaster and water-based paint), a small pond in the front and a tree that is to remind of a mountain pine. I based the sloped ground on pictures from Japanese mountain sites.
US Navy aircraft from Carrier Air Group 3 (CVG-3) in flight in 1946. In front is a Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat flown by the Air Group Commander (CAG), Cdr. Louis H. Bauer, followed by a Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver (from VB-3), a Grumman TBM-3E Avenger (VT-3), and a Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat (VF-3).
c/n 83725
US Navy Bureau No 83589
Joined the Confederate Air Force (CAF) in 1970 and flew again in 1971 after restoration. Still operated by the CAF (now renamed Commemorative Air Force) and remains the only airworthy example of the type.
She took part in the 2015 Arsenal of Democracy Flyover on Friday 8th May 2015 to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of VE Day and the end of WW2 and is seen on the following Sunday prior to spending the day giving rides.
Manassas Regional Airport, Virginia, USA
10th May 2015