US Navy divebomber

[oboe]

Curtiss SB2C Helldiver
   
Definitely one of the least attractive airplanes I have ever seen, but I think this homely brute is a better fit for AH than the Dauntless for several reasons:

• it was the most numerous Allied dive bomber of WWII, with over 7200 built
• was used by US Navy from '43-'45; the time period which AH emphasizes
• carries it all - bombs (up to 1600 lb in the internal bomb bay and 2x500lbs on the wings), rockets, torpedos, depth charges, drop tanks, plus has 20 mm wing armament
• never been done in a sim before!   Apparently its too ugly for game designers to risk including.   Just my kind of bird.
  

Who else is with me in wanting this baby in AH?  Huh?!  C'mon!  Sing out!

[ 08-24-2001: Message edited by: oboe ]

[brady]

Runs to the bathroom and misses the toilet
while hurling! The Brits tryed this plane out and decided it was not worthy of use on their CV's, it had some very nasty problems, if memorie serves it had a structual weakness around the tail, and some other issues.

 Also I think it would be nice to add a Japanes Carier plane like the Grace(20mm wing guns type 99 2) or Jill, instead of yet another US plane,It would be cool to see it eveuntaly though.

   

[ 08-24-2001: Message edited by: brady ]

[ 08-24-2001: Message edited by: brady ]

[Serapis]

The Helldiver represented the perfect example of "Designed by committee." 10 lbs. of crap stuffed into a 5 lb bag. Basically, pack the most features into the smallest airframe. They finally found a vert. stabilizer big enough to make it flyable. This was largely the Navy's fault, but it's still a shame that Curtiss ended it's important place in military aviation history on this note.

The Dauntless crews did not view the Helldiver as an upgrade (handling was poor, warload not impressive), and it was rushed into production largely for bureaucratic reasons. In a late war historical planeset it should be included, but the Dauntless was the plane that made history in the Pacific.

Charon

[ 08-24-2001: Message edited by: Charon ]

[Westy MOL]

Rgr that Charon. There were reasons the Helldiver was nicknamed the "Beast"

Westy

[Wmaker]

It has been done in a boxed sim (Pacific Air War 1942 ,released in 1994). Not in any online-sim that I know of though.

----------------

1Wmaker1
 

[SKurj]

Why not just add the dauntless?  Same payload, and MUCH more maneuverable.  Dauntlesses were even used for fleet cap at times.


SKurj

[mason22]

Originally posted by oboe:
Curtiss SB2C Helldiver
   (Image removed from quote.)  
[ 08-24-2001: Message edited by: oboe ]

i've actually seen this bird at an airshow. It's huge! and quite interesting. I'd give it a go in AH. I think those facts oboe mentions are alone, enough to have it here in AH eventually. Give it time, more and more planes are being built for AH, so maybe it's in the plan, just not yet. We'll see.

[Zigrat]

no way i want dauntless

helldiver didnt do anything. dauntless saved the world from the japanese. yaaaaayy dauntless

[pugg666]

Rgr that Charon. There were reasons the Helldiver was nicknamed the "Beast"
Westy

i  prefer it's other name...the sonofasqueak 2nd class
SB2C

[ 08-25-2001: Message edited by: pugg666 ]

[tanij]

I want to see divebombers in AH also.
But F6F or F4U can divebombing without
divebrake. They seems better than SBD or something.

Apart from this...
I have one question. I saw some pictures that
divebombers have a device to ejects a bomb
from the body. Is this a mechanism for not to
hit a bomb on a prop or body? If this is true,
divebombers mechanism has no advantage to the
others, because a bomb not hit the plane that
dropped the bomb, in AH.

(Sorry for not clear English. Hope you understand.    )

[SKurj]

Yeah you have a point tanij, HOWEVER.. for scenarios etc fighters will not be able to assume divebomber roles to be realistic.  This is especially true for early/mid war conflicts.
The addition of heavy loadouts on aircraft like the F4u and F6F did not come until later in the war.
Japan currently has nothing that can carry more than 2 250kg bombs.  At pearl harbour for example, some Japanese divebombers were carring 1870lb AP bombs.
The Luftwabbles have nothing that can carry a 1000kg bomb.

Divebombers did use a sling type arrangement to swing the bomb away from the aircraft so it would miss the prop yes.  This only really applies to centre mounted bombs. The advantage of a divebomber vs say an FW190 for example is that the divebomber can dive at much closer to vertical with dive brakes extended, therefore more accurately, and still pullout.  An FW diving at HI angles runs the risk of overspeed/auger.

The advantages of a divebomber are much less in AH than in reality, but they are neccessary for scenario/CT style play IMO.
And with the exception of the US, many countries need them, for lack of heavy ord carrying fighters.


SKurj

[GRUNHERZ]

Both the Fw190 and the Ju88 could carry 1000kg bombs, so all we need is for them to be modeled!!!

[Karnak]

Divebombers fell out of favor by the end of the war because fighters could do the same job adequately and still fight enemy aircraft if they had too.

I would much rather see the SBD Dauntless than the SB2C Helldiver.

[Buzzbait]

S!

I agree.  Dauntlas is a better choice.  The Helldiver may have been produced in larger numbers, but the Dauntlas was the plane which put holes in the Japanese Carrier fleet at Coral Sea and Midway and sent it to the bottom.

[Mitsu]

Why US Dive Bomber!?
Please gimme Japanese Dive Bombers!

More Japanese Planes in AH PLEASE!  

-Mitsu