page_title: Curtiss SBC Helldiver
section_title: SBC-3 (Curtiss Model 77A)
hierarchical_section_title: Curtiss SBC Helldiver / Design / SBC-3 (Curtiss Model 77A)
caption_attribution_description: A U.S. Navy Curtiss SBC-3 Helldiver (BuNo 0571) assigned to Scouting Squadron Three (VS-3) pictured in flight near San Diego, California (USA). The side number "3-S-1" indicates that it is the squadron commander's assigned aircraft. Normally assigned to USS Saratoga (CV-3), VS-3 flew SBC-3s during the period 1938-1940. The SBC-3 BuNo 0571 ended its life as a ground instructional airframe at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, and was scrapped on 31 May 1943.
context_page_description: The Curtiss SBC Helldiver was a two-seat scout bomber and dive bomber built by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. It was the last military biplane procured by the United States Navy. Delivered in 1937, it became obsolete even before World War II and was kept well away from combat with Axis fighters.
context_section_description: The major difference between the prototype XSBC-3 and the production aircraft was the engine. A contract for 83 aircraft was signed in August 1936 and deliveries began on 17 July 1937. The production aircraft were powered by an 825 hp (615 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1535-94 fourteen-cylinder, twin-row, air-cooled engine driving a three-blade propeller. Armament consisted of two 0.30-caliber (7.62 mm) machine guns, one fixed gun in the right side of the fuselage forward of the pilot and a flexible gun in the rear cockpit. The aircraft had a bomb displacement swing located on the centerline of the fuselage for a 500-lb (227-kg) bomb or a 45-U.S.-gallon (170-liter) fuel tank.
caption: The VS-3 CO's SBC-3, assigned to USS Saratoga (CV-3), circa 1939.
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