Curtiss SBC Helldiver The Curtiss SBC " Helldiver " was a two - place scout 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 . Design and development . In 1932 , the U . S . Navy gave Curtiss a contract to design a parasol two - seat monoplane with retractable undercarriage and powered by a Wright R - 1510 Whirlwind , intended to be used as a carrier - based fighter . The resulting aircraft , designated the XF12C - 1 , flew in 1933 . Its chosen role was changed first to a scout , and then to a scout - bomber ( being redesignated XS4C - 1 and XSBC - 1 respectively ) , but the XSBC - 1 ' s parasol wing was unsuitable for dive bombing . A revised design was produced for a biplane , with the prototype , designated the XSBC - 2 , first flying on 9 December 1935 . The SBC - 3 the initial production model was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R - 1535 Twin Wasp Junior . The SBC - 3 began operational service in 1938 . A total of 83 SBC - 3s were built . The SBC - 4 was powered by a Wright R - 1820 Cyclone . The SBC - 4 entered service in 1939 . Operational history . The Navy took deliveries of the new aircraft in mid - 1937 with the first batch of carrier - based aircraft going to , but time and technology caught up to the advanced biplane . It was relegated to hack duties and service as an advanced trainer for training units in Florida . The last aircraft was struck from the Navy roster in October 1944 . Foreign interest for the concept of a dive bomber led to orders abroad . 174 SBC - 4s were built including 50 SBC - 4s that were delivered to the French Navy . Five of the French order were delivered to the British Royal Air Force who named them the Curtiss Cleveland Mk . I . The SBC Helldiver was not destined to have a long U . S . service life , but its impact was felt as the type made a lasting contribution by serving as the key platform in developing dive bombing tactics and honing aircrew skills crucial to winning the war in the Pacific . French SBC - 4s . The 50 SBC - 4s delivered to France were actually aircraft already in service with the United States Navy . On 6 June 1940 , Naval reservists received orders to immediately fly 50 SBC - 4s to the Curtiss factory at Buffalo , New York . At Buffalo , a Bureau of Aeronautics inspector informed the pilots their aircraft were to be flown to Halifax , Nova Scotia to be loaded aboard the French aircraft carrier . From Buffalo to Halifax , the reserve pilots were officially employees of Curtiss . Curtiss paid each pilot $ 250 plus return rail fare from Halifax to Buffalo . All navy insignia were removed from their uniforms or taped over . Upon return to Buffalo , the pilots went back on Navy orders for return to their home bases . Curtiss employees worked overtime to remove and replace all gear and instruments marked BUAERO , BUSHIPS or BUORD . The Navy machine guns were replaced by guns and the aircraft were repainted in camouflage colors with the French tricolor on the rudders . The hasty conversion did not allow time for adequate checkout of replacement instruments . Weather deteriorated with rain and fog over most of the route from Buffalo to Halifax . The Bureau of Aeronautics inspector temporarily halted flights after one of the first pilots was killed in a crash between Buffalo and Albany . When the weather improved , sections of three aircraft were dispatched from Buffalo to Burlington , Vermont , then over the White Mountains ( New Hampshire ) to Augusta , Maine , and then to Houlton , Maine . After landing at Houlton , the aircraft were towed down a road across the Canadian border for takeoff from a New Brunswick farm pasture to avoid legal implications of flying over the border . The surviving 49 aircraft flew over the Bay of Fundy and 44 of them were loaded aboard " Béarn " at Dartmouth , Nova Scotia together with 21 P - 36 Hawk fighters and 25 Stinson 105 s for the French " Armée de l ' Air " and five Brewster Buffalo s for Belgium . France surrendered while " Béarn " was crossing the Atlantic ; she turned south to Martinique , where the SBC - 4s corroded in the humid Caribbean climate while waiting on a hillside near Fort - de - France . The five SBC - 4s remaining in Canada when France surrendered were taken over by the United Kingdom and were used as ground - instructional airframes . United States