PlaneTags Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver - 83393

A genuine piece of Helldiver history

Add a physical connection to naval aviation history to your collection with PlaneTags made from the original aircraft skin of Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver BuNo 83393. MotoArt acquired this material from Fagen Fighters in 2022, preserving part of an aircraft whose story stretches from wartime testing to recovery and restoration.

For collectors of World War II aircraft memorabilia, this Helldiver offers more than a reminder of the era. It is genuine material from an aircraft built during one of aviation’s most demanding periods.

The Navy’s last dive bomber

The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was a two-seat, single-engine, carrier-based dive bomber and scout aircraft used by the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theatre. The source describes its wartime production period as 1943–1945.

Its demanding handling earned it several colourful nicknames, including “The Beast,” “The Big-Tailed Beast,” “Two Cee” and “S.O.B. 2nd Class,” a play on the SB2C designation. As military tactics and aviation technology evolved, the Helldiver became the Navy’s last dedicated dive bomber.

The story of BuNo 83393

Delivered to the U.S. Navy in May 1945 as an SB2C-5, BuNo 83393 served as a torpedo test aircraft at Newport, Rhode Island, and as a test aircraft at Naval Air Station Dahlgren, Virginia. On 24 July 1945, it was lost following a take-off from the U.S. Naval Proving Ground at Dahlgren, stalling during a forced landing.

The National Air and Space Museum recovered the wreck in 1993 and used parts to help restore its own Helldiver, BuNo 83479. In 2006, Ron J. Fagen, founder of the Fagen Fighters WWII Museum in Granite Falls, Minnesota, acquired the remaining wreck for restoration.

MotoArt obtained the aircraft’s original skin from Fagen Fighters in 2022 and turned it into PlaneTags, giving collectors a way to preserve a piece of this Helldiver’s history.

Aircraft characteristics

• Manufacturer: Curtiss-Wright
• Model: SB2C-5 Helldiver
• Bureau number: 83393
• Crew: Two: pilot and radio operator/rear gunner
• Wingspan: 49 ft 9 in
• Length: 36 ft 8 in
• Height: 13 ft 2 in
• Armament: Two 20 mm Mk.2 guns and two .30-calibre M1919 Browning machine guns in the rear cockpit
• Payload: 3,000 lb

Aircraft performance

• Combat range: 1,568 nautical miles
• Cruise speed: 137 knots
• Ceiling: 29,100 ft
• Empty weight: 10,547 lb
• Maximum take-off weight: 16,616 lb
• Rate of climb: 1,800 ft/min
• Engine: One Wright R-2600-20 Double Cyclone

Preserve the story in your collection

Display it alongside your military aviation memorabilia or give a fellow enthusiast a piece of aircraft history. This Helldiver PlaneTag links your collection to BuNo 83393 and the efforts to preserve a rare naval aircraft.