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The one and only XB2C-1 prototype crashed shortly after its maiden flight in November of 1940, with the accident occurring in February of 1941. Standard armament included a pair of fixed forward-firing 20mm cannons (4 x 12.7mm heavy machine guns in earlier production models) in the wings and a pair of 7.62mm M1919 Browning air-cooled machine guns in the rear cockpit. Ordnance could be held in the internal bomb bay (including a single torpedo) as well as along two underwing hardpoints. The system would eventually graduate to field high-explosive, unguided rockets under the wings along with its traditional load of bombs in the arsenal. The US Navy Helldiver was produced with a reinforced and retractable undercarriage as well as an arrestor hook for carrier operations. The design was specifically engineered with a large-area tail assembly for improved handling. The torpedo-like fuselage became something of a hallmark of the series and a surely identifiable design feature. The fuselage sported straight wings with a tapered trailing edge and rounded tips. The aircraft was fitted with a single Wright-powered engine at the extreme forward of the fuselage powering a three-bade propeller. The SB2C, incidentally, became the third in a long line of aircraft to bear the moniker of "Helldiver" and would go on to earn a substantial combat record in the war. The Helldiver was conceived as a metal, low-monoplane wing design fielding a crew of two seated in tandem within a long cockpit - the pilot in the forward area and the tail gunner in the aft. The SB2C went on to replace the aging Douglas SBD Dauntless in service with the United States Navy. Originally designed in a competition to replace the aging SBC biplane series, the SB2C faced off against Brewster's entry - the XSB2A Buccaneer - with the SB2C coming out the eventual winner. The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was a rather unassuming dive bomber / reconnaissance aircraft serving throughout World War 2 beginning in 1943.
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