A U.S. Navy Icon Takes to the Skies After a 17-Year Restoration.
On their Facebook page, The Fagen Fighters WWII Museum, located in Granite Falls, Minnesota, announced they’d completed a test flight of their 17-year restoration project on July 22, 2024.
The Curtiss-built SB2C-5 Helldiver aircraft, BuNo 83393, was originally built in early 1945 and was delivered to Naval Air Field Newport, Rhode Island. Very shortly after it was transferred to Naval Air Station Dahlgren, Virginia. During flight testing on July 24, 1945, the aircraft crashed, killing the pilot, LTJG Mark Gilbert. The backseater, RM3 Edward Pierce, was miraculously spared when he was thrown from the aircraft and suffered only a broken leg. No official cause of the crash has ever been released, but a prevailing theory is that the torpedo the airplane was carrying for testing came loose in the bomb bay and brought it down just inside the perimeter of NAS Dahlgren. The story is partly outlined on Fagen Fighters’ Restoration website.
LTJG Mark Gilbert had, before the accident, proven himself in combat against Japan, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and three Air Medals.
The wreckage of the Helldiver was left undisturbed in the woods of Dahlgren, Virginia, until it was recovered by Kevin Smith for the National Air and Space Museum. The museum used the wreckage to complete their own SB2C and then transferred the remaining parts to Smith. Smith later sold the airplane to Fagen Fighters WWII Museum who began a 17-year restoration of the airplane.
The museum accomplished its first engine runs on the Helldiver on October 7, 2023.
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On July 22, 2024, the airplane finally flew again. Commemorative Air Force pilot Ed Vesely had the honors of flying the test flight with his experience flying the CAF’s own Helldiver, the only other airworthy model in the world.
After flight testing at the end of restoration, the airplane was flown to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for the annual EAA AirVenture Air Show. It was featured in the “Warbirds in Review” panel alongside the museum’s P-47D “Chief Ski-U-Mah II”.
During World War II, the United States Navy chose the SB2C to supplement their current fleet of SBD Dauntless dive bombers. It would be the last dive bomber ever fielded by the service. The airplane, especially earlier models, had a reputation for being difficult to fly. It earned several nicknames during its nineteen years of service, including “the beast” and the “son-of-a-bitch second class”, a play on the SB2C designation. Although the aircraft had its reputation among Naval Aviators, it was very successful in combat, sinking more enemy ships by tonnage than any other aircraft in the Second World War.
Over its service life, the SB2C flew for the United States (Navy, Marine Corps, and Army Air Force), Greece, Australia, France, Italy, Portugal, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. Notably, the Australians received only 10 of their original order of 150 of the A-25A Shrike model of the SB2C. Only one ever flew in RAAF colors before the ten were transferred to the USAAF.
The Fagen Helldiver joins a collection of beautifully and faithfully restored aircraft in the museum including the P-38J Lightning “SCAT III”, a pair of P-40 Warhawks (as well as another under restoration), a pair of P-51D Mustangs, the B-25J Mitchell “Paper Doll”, and several others.
