Very few “families” of military aircraft ever evolved with such dramatic design changes as the legendary Curtiss Helldivers. Sharing that same intimidating name, it is hard to believe that the early Curtiss XF8C fixed gear, fabric covered, 450-horsepower biplane had anything in common with the massive, all metal, 1,900-horsepower monplane.
Derived from the famous line of Curtiss Falcon fighters, the initial 1929 U.S. Navy XF8C and Marine Corps O2C Helldivers were a diminutive 32-foot span, with less than a third of the horsepower of the massive final versions of the Helldiver family, the SB2C series monoplanes, which had a nearly 50-foot span.
The fixed-gear fabric biplanes became popular icons of naval air power through their fame that was greatly boosted by their use in two of the most popular motion…
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Flight Journal (Digital) - 1 Issue, September - October 2022