SB2C-5 Helldiver Roars Back To Life After 79 Years

A Long Time Coming

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen an SB2C-5 Helldiver roar to life. Fortunately, one Helldiver from the Fagen Fighters Museum was able to perform its first engine run in ALMOST 80 years! This accomplishment marks a new milestone in the restoration efforts of this warbird.

This Helldiver crashed during a flight test in 1945 and was abandoned until 1993 when Kevin Smith recovered the wreck on behalf of the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum.

If this warbird ever becomes airworthy again, it would become the second airworthy Helldiver in the world – second only to the CAF’s SB2C-5 BuNo.83589.

With how much attention to detail they’ve poured into this project, it’s only a matter of time before that happens!