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Curtiss SB2C Helldiver

The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was an all-metal monoplane dive bomber with a radial engine and retractable landing gear operated by the US Navy, the US Marine Corp, and the USAAC as the A-25 Shrike.  Per reference [8] it took its first flight on 10 December 1940, and entered operational service in December 1942.  The SB2C was built in several variants, including the SBF series built by Fairchild Canada, the SBW series built by the Canadian Car & Foundry Compnay, and the A-25 which had fixed (non-folding) wings and no arrestor gear.  The primary variants analyzed at this website is the SB2C-5, built by Curtiss.
 During the war the SB2C/A-25 was used primarily by the US Navy, the US Marine Corps, and the USAAC.  Although they were also ordered by the Royal Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force for use, only small numbers were delivered to those services for evaluation during the war, with the majority of the outstanding orders cancelled as land based dive bombers were replaced by light bombers during the mid to late war periods.  Post WWII the SB2C was operated by the Greek Air Force and French Navy.

Per reference [8] a total of 7,140 SB2C/A-25 aircraft of all variants were procured.  

As shown in the images below distinguishing features of this aircraft including;
SB2C
[Image Sources: Public Domain via Ref [8] - as annotated by this site]

SB2C_3-view_B
                                                [Source: Ref [14b] - US Government/Public Domain]

In order to try and better develop weight estimating relationships an effort has been made to estimate the length of the fuselage aft of the firewall, and the length of the engine section forward of the firewall based off scaled drawings.  Together these two distances add to a term called the "structural length" and do not consider any portion of the engine or propeller shaft the extend foward of the fuselage/cowling, or any empennage that extends aft of the fuselage structure.  The drawing below shows the current best estimate of these dimensions obtained from available drawings of the airplane and will be updated with any real world data that becomes available.  For any aircraft with an inclined firewall, an attempt has been made to locate an approximate center of this location.

SB2C-5 Dims
                                                                        Source Reference [16]

A25 Dims
                                                                      Source References [2] [8] & [16]

In the above images, dimensions in Black come from the source material while dimesions in Red have been approximated from the data available.

The table below summarizes the current data collected on this type aircraft, identifying sources for the data

    SB2C-5 Seconday Source Notes
Primary Source   2

No of Crew   2

Engine:  


   Qty   1

   Model   R-2600-20 8
   Displacement  (cu in) 2600 8
   Power  


     Military (HP)


     War Emergency (HP)


    Normal (HP) 1600 8
    Take Off (HP) 1900 8
   Eng Dims  


     Length (ft) 5.51 8
     Width/Dia (ft) 4.51 8
     Height (ft)


   Base Engine Wt (lb) 2045 8
Propeller  


   # Blades   4

   Dia (ft) 12

   Manufacturer  


   Type  


Wing  


   Span (ft) 49.7

   Root Thickness (%) 17.0%

  (in) 24.5

   Total Area  (sq ft) 422

     Wing (less Ailerons & Flaps) (sq ft)


     Ailerons (sq ft)


     Flaps (sq ft)


Tail Area (sq ft) 153.1 3
   V Tail Area (sq ft) 45.7 3
     Fin (sq ft)  

     Rudder (sq ft)  

   H Tail Area (sq ft) 107.4 3
     Stabilizer (sq ft)  

     Elevator (sq ft)  

Total Control Surf Area (sq ft)


Length  


   Overall (ft) 33.61

   Fuselage (ft) 32.5

   Body  (ft) 33.6

     Body Depth (ft)


    Body Width (ft)


Fuel Tank Volume (gal)


   Wing Tanks (gal)


    FuselageTanks (gal)


Oil Tank Volume (gal)


Water Injection Fluid Tank Volume (gal)


Wetted Area (sqf) (sq ft) 652

Pwr Ldng (lb/HP) 8.13

Wing Ldng (lb/sq ft) 36.60

Struct. Des. GW  (lb) 17000

Ultimate Load Factor (G's) 12

Design Speed (mph) 540

Not to Exceed Speed (mph)


     

Total Struct Weight   5697

   Total Wing   3018

     Wing    

     Ailerons    

     Flaps    

     Fuselage Carry-Through    

   Tail   390

     H Tail   275

       Stabilizer    

       Elevator    

     V Tail   115

       Fin    

       Rudder    

   Body + Eng Section + LG  


   Body + LG   2257

   Body   1374

     Fuselage    

     Engine Section    

   Landing Gear   883

     Mn Landing Gr   808

     Tail/Nose Aux LG   75

   Tail Hook   32

   Booms  


   Nacelles    

Total Propulsion Weight   3360

   Engine w/ Accessories   2158

   Engine(s) as Installed   2010

     Accessories   148

    Turbocharger(s)  


   Controls   22

   Propeller(s)   523

     2-Blade    

     3-Blade    

     4-Blade   523

   Starting System   40

   Water Injection System  


     Tanks    

     Piping Etc    

   Cooling System  


   Lube System   116

     Tanks    

     Piping Etc    

   Fuel System   501

     Tanks    

     Piping Etc    

Total Sys. & Eqpmt.   1687

   Instruments   61

   Surface Controls    256

   Hydraulics   141

   Electrical Equip   276

Electronics (Purple means incl in Furn/Gray in Useful Ld)   355

   Arm Prov/Equipment & Armor   471

    Furnishings   127

   Anti-Ice (If not in Furn)  


   Other /Misc  


     Hoisting Gear  


     Floatation Gear  


     Armor Plate    

     

Empty Wt   10744

Basic Mission Useful Load   4703

   Crew   400

   Equipment  


   Oil   278

   Fuel   2130

   Fuel & Oil Trapped in Systems  


   Water Solution for Engine Injection  


   Bombs/Torp Etc   1000

   Radio (if Not Included in Empty Wt)  


   Nav Equipment  


   Oxygen System  


   Armament   775

     Guns & Ammo   775

       Guns   365

       Ammo   410

     Pyrotechnics    

     Camera    

     Other    

   Other Useful Load   120

Basic Mission GW   15447


Notes: This website has been developed with a number of low cost or free programs including Hot Metal Pro, KompoZer, MicroSoft Designer and Da Button Factory.com

Rev 4-12-26

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