In the Museum: Wanted: TLC for Misunderstood Warbird
Challenging the Helldiver’s bad reputation.
- By Rebecca Maksel
- Air & Space magazine, July 2011
Last November, the Curtiss SB2C-5 moved into its new digs at the Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, where it awaits restoration.
Dane Penland
It was the last of a dying breed.
When the Curtiss SB2C-1 Helldiver (dubbed “the Beast” by its pilots, and “Son of a Bitch 2nd Class” by its mechanics) eventually made its way to its intended squadrons in November 1943, the dive-bomber, as a type, was nearly obsolete.
But that was only part of the airplane’s problem.
“It was the misfortune of the Helldiver to have to replace the [Douglas] SBD Dauntless, a legendary aircraft that helped turn the tide at the Battle of Midway,” says Hill Goodspeed, a historian at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida.
“Pilots were used to the airplane that they had been flying,” says Robert Mikesh, former senior curator for aeronautics at the National Air and Space Museum. “It’s just like an old shoe. You get comfortable with it, and you don’t like change. And I think that’s where the Helldiver got its bad reputation, because people liked the SBD [Dauntless]. It was an easy airplane to fly, very light and maneuverable. But the SB2C was an advance.”
One of the many pilots who grew to admire the Helldiver’s capabilities was Navy Lieutenant Donald Engen (later vice admiral), who would serve as director of the Museum from 1996 to 1999. His son, D. Travis Engen, and daughter-in-law Anne, contributed $15 million to build a restoration hangar at the Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia, where the Museum’s Helldiver now awaits conservation.
The Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar (named after Donald’s wife) is large enough to accommodate several aircraft at a time, and a second floor balcony will allow visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the conservation process. A second aircraft, a Sikorsky JRS-1 amphibious seaplane—the only surviving example in the world—joined the Helldiver in the hangar in March.
“The conservation staff has performed their initial evaluation of the Helldiver,” says Dik Daso, the Museum’s curator of modern military aircraft, “and the results are encouraging; the preservation treatment will most likely be straightforward.” The only unknown is the condition of the engine. “The initial examination revealed exterior corrosion,” says Daso, “some of it extensive and in hard-to-reach places, which requires that the engine be removed from the aircraft and disassembled. This kind of work is delicate and time-consuming. But our restoration team has done this kind of thing before. I think they’re looking forward to it.”
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"A second aircraft, a Sikorsky JRS-1 amphibious seaplane—the only surviving example in the world—joined the Helldiver in the hangar in March."
The Sikorsky JRS-1 at the Pima Aerospace Museum in Tucson is disappointed to learn that it doesn't exist. EDITORS' REPLY: The Pima Air & Space Museum has a Sikorsky S-43 (the civilian version of the JRS-1). Their Web site notes, “Although this particular aircraft is actually an S-43, it has been painted in the U.S. Marine Corps markings of [a JRS-1].” National Air and Space Museum curator Dik Daso notes, “The JRS-1 was developed from the S-43 design, but the two designations should not be mixed to imply they are the same. The JRS-1 in the NASM collection is the only one that remains in the world. There are two S-43s still in existence.”
Posted by Joe W on May 20,2011 | 12:54 AM