I flew an SB2C in the Pacific with Air Group 1 off the USS Yorktown and I had little trouble with the Beast. It wasn't as good in a dive as the SBD, but I believe I got a hit on a heavy Cruiser during the "Mission beyond Darkness" on June 20th 1944. My gunner, Bob Phillips, and I are still in touch.

My comments in the frame below about flying as an aircrewman/gunner in the rear cockpit of the plane, left out some important points. The gunner had to operate twin 30 caliber machine guns that could be moved by hand on a circular swivel. They were stored under the canopy behind the rear cockpit until ready for use. The section of the canopy would be collapsed allowing an area to move the guns from side to side. The gunner was able to shoot holes in the tail assembly if not careful. There were several times that happened to some of our gunners. Also, with the carrier's straight deck the first few planes to take off loaded with bombs risked loss of lift leaving the deck and could mush into the seas as the pilot lowered the right wing to clear the bow of the carrier. One of our pilots and crewman lost two planes due to loss of lift on takeoff. Few bombers were catapulted off the deck. That's all.

In 1944, I was an 18 year old aircrewman (radio/gunner) flying in the rear seat of the SB2C with two different bombing squadrons, VB87 (USS Randolph)and VB92 (USS Lexington) All of us referrred to the plane as "The Beast". VB 92 insignia had the name "Battling Beasts". I personally never experienced a problem aircraft but we lost a number of pilots and gunners in training accidents. It was a difficult plane for the pilots to handle for carrier landings. The crewman could not see the carrier in the final approach so we did a lot of praying until that hook caught the wire. The last plane I flew in was the one at the Naval Aviation Museum NAS Pensacola, off the Lex as we approached Tokyo Bay shortly after the end of the war. It is now back at the Smithsonian Air and Space facility at Dulles Airport. We managed to have both squadron reunions in Pensacola in 2001 while there were enough members still alive to enjoy the get together. We liked the SBD better than the SB2C Helldiver but the heavier payload was important. Our ranks are thining. Only one pilot among several with whom I flew are still alive as of Jan. 2010.

Canadian Car and Foundry (Cancar)built the Helldiver here in Fort William (Thunder Bay) Ontario, after having built Hawker Hurricanes for the RAF. Not only was the Helldiver a poor, badly designed aircraft, but Cancar's staff were driven crazy by the constant stream of requests for changes and modifications due to the US armed forces' standardization program referred to above. Apparently, the SB-2 was referred to as "Son of a Bitch, Second Class", by US aircrew.

I believe the most significant contribution of the Beast was the advancement of the multi-role combat aircraft. The use of Avengers as glide bombers and the shackles added to F6F5 fighters and Corsairs meant that fewer SB2C's were carried onboard and when no one was looking, you could roll them off the side without anyone missing them. Everyone liked the SBD, no one liked the Beast.

My uncle Ens Edmund F. Kulka is lost at sea in the Caribean Sea in a SB2C, a plane nicknamed by his fellow pilots as "The Beast" My uncle was with VB76 Squadron during the shakedown cruise of the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1946. This was a Coral Sea class carrier that was to be named the Coral Sea but was named the FDR to honor the late president after his death. I understand the SB2C had some significant problems with the tail assemblies and vertical stabilizers and there were problems with the Canadian manufactured aircraft. After the war, many of the SB2C's were used by the greek Air Force and the French in Indo China. I believe several were also sold or given to Latin American countries. There is one on static display at the Pensacola NAS aviation museum.

My Father flew the SB2-C in the Pacific. He was shot out of the sky twice over Atsugi Bay Japan and was rescued both times,out at sea; once by a destroyer and once by a submarine. He also lost some of his best friends in that airplane. I've heard they had some problems but dad never got specific.

His name was William W. Bush Jr. 1940 Annapolis.

What a horrible heap of old rubbish this thing was! I salute the poor bastards that had to fly them...and their achievements!