WarSimBox
Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver, the in-game model
1944USADive bomber

Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was a large, powerful dive bomber designed to replace the SBD Dauntless. Its development was long and troubled, and crews disliked it at first. Once its problems were sorted out, the later versions became the US Navy’s main dive bomber in the great naval battles of the Pacific in 1944–45.

A troubled birth

The Helldiver had to fit a large engine and an internal bomb bay into a fuselage kept short to fit aircraft carrier lifts. The short fuselage caused handling problems, and countless changes made during production delayed deliveries. The first versions were heavy, unstable and hard to maintain, and crews gave it harsh nicknames.

Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver, side view
Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver: the in-game model from the side.

The last years in the Pacific

The Helldiver went into combat with the raid on Rabaul in November 1943. Helldivers from American carriers were in action at the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, at Leyte Gulf in October 1944 and in the sinking of the giant Japanese battleship Yamato in April 1945.

In WarSimBox

In the game it is a dive bomber: it dives at about 70 degrees with its dive brakes open and releases at about 700 m. It is bigger and more powerful; the two 20 mm wing cannon and the twin rear guns arm it better than the SBD, but it is a heavy aircraft.

Unlocked in the aircraft tree after researching Junkers Ju 87 D-5 Stuka and 2000 hp radial engine. Leads on to: Douglas AD-4 Skyraider.

Top speed
472 km/h · 4,000 m
Climb
9.3 m/s
Sustained turn
24.3 s
Stall speed
147 km/h

These figures come from the game’s flight model (climb, turn and stall at sea level).

Fly it in WarSimBox