# Search for fish....finds Helldiver !



## Geedee (Jul 24, 2009)

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## Thorlifter (Jul 24, 2009)

Cool find. I hope they bring it up too.

It said in the article the U.S. build 30,000 planes in the Helldiver family. That had to be a typo.


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## evangilder (Jul 24, 2009)

Even factoring in Shrikes and the Canadian built units, it still doesn't come anywhere near 30,000. I have heard the 7,100ish figure bounced about many times. Gotta love non-aviation press reporters...


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## timshatz (Jul 24, 2009)

Guy probably counted every plane that could carry a bomb that was made for the Navy during WW2. Dauntlesses, Vindicators, the odd Hellcat. Or maybe the dude just got it way wrong. 

Does anyone know anything about this Resevoir? Sounds like it is fresh water. Being 80Ft down, it should be out of the sunlight and that would probably mean decay was fairly slow. Thinking of the SBD they just pulled out of Lake Michigan. That one still had the paint on it.


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## comiso90 (Jul 24, 2009)

Cant hear enuf stories like that... thx


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## evangilder (Jul 24, 2009)

From what they are saying, it's in pretty good shape. I am waiting to see some pictures.


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## diddyriddick (Jul 24, 2009)

The article also states that most of the Helldivers were shot down or destroyed by equipment failure. Did I miss something?

Nice find, Btw. Thanks!


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## Messy1 (Jul 24, 2009)

He'll definitely need a bigger net. Great find! I am sure it will be brought up. 

I always thought the Helldiver was not that popular of a design, many pilots preferred the older Dauntless over it. IIRC, it had some stability and design issues.


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## Catch22 (Jul 24, 2009)

Messy1 said:


> He'll definitely need a bigger net. Great find! I am sure it will be brought up.
> 
> I always thought the Helldiver was not that popular of a design, many pilots preferred the older Dauntless over it. IIRC, it had some stability and design issues.



It had plenty of issues, but the Navy got in too deeply too quickly to be able to cancel the Helldiver and keep the Dauntless. Most of the major issues were resolved by the -4 though. It was a better plane than the Dauntless, as it could go farther, carry more and was faster, in fact its cruising speed was only 2 mph slower than that of the Hellcat, the Corsair was the only plane in the Navy that was quite a bit faster. Its handling wasn't as good as the Dauntless' though, so that's why pilots disliked it in the beginning.

Cool story, nice to hear! There's only one flying right now, and they're pretty rare. But yeah, 30 000 made, and most of them being destroyed?  The Japanese must've shot down a LOT of them...


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## Messy1 (Jul 24, 2009)

Thanks Catch. I am at work and didn't have the time available to me to track that info down.


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## Sweb (Jul 26, 2009)

The Douglas SBD Dauntless Curtiss SB2C Helldiver


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## RabidAlien (Jul 26, 2009)

Amazon.com: Dauntless Helldivers: Harold L. Buell: Books

A good book by a Helldiver driver.


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## ccheese (Jul 30, 2009)

I'd like someone to recover it and restore it. Another SB2C on it's main gear would be great.

The water is fresh, and probably cold, so deterioriation should be at a minimum.

Charles


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## Gnomey (Jul 30, 2009)

Yeah she shouldn't be in too bad a shape. What a great find, would be great to see her restored.


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Jul 30, 2009)

What a find!!!! It would be nice to have it in the air again! Thanks for the post Gary!


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## vikingBerserker (Jul 30, 2009)

Man, to have a find like that.


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## Hesekiel (Jul 31, 2009)

Maybe Guttorm can bring in his experience in salvage planes from lakes 

Carry on Mr. G.!!!!


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## wheelsup_cavu (Aug 1, 2009)

It would be great to see it recovered and restored.


Wheels


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## Doughboy (Aug 1, 2009)

What a Lucky find.


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