French Navy Curtiss SBC-4 Helldiver delivered at RCAF Station Dartmouth (June 1940)
The Curtiss SBC Helldiver was a two-seat scout bomber and dive bomber and the last military biplane procured by the United States Navy. In early 1940, the French government placed an order with Curtiss-Wright for 90 SBC-4s. To aid the French, on 6 June 1940 the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration ordered the U.S. Navy to fly 50 SBC-4s of the Naval Reserve, currently in use by the Navy, to the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, New York where the 50 planes would be refurbished to French standards. Once converted, the aircraft were to be delivered to RCAF Station Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada where they would be loaded onto the French aircraft carrier Béarn. The 50 SBC-4s were to fly to RCAF Station Dartmouth in groups of three. Because of space limitations, only 44 of the SBC-4s could be carried on FR Béarn. After France surrendered to the Germans, the SBC-4s were unloaded and rolled to a field in Martinique, French West Indies Five of the French aircraft could not fit on FR Béarn and were left at RCAF Station Dartmouth. In August 1940, the Royal Air Force acquired them, designated them "Cleveland Mk. Is" and shipped them to England https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_SBC_Helldiver video AP/British Movietone
The Curtiss SBC Helldiver was a two-seat scout bomber and dive bomber and the last military biplane procured by the United States Navy. In early 1940, the French government placed an order with Curtiss-Wright for 90 SBC-4s. To aid the French, on 6 June 1940 the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration ordered the U.S. Navy to fly 50 SBC-4s of the Naval Reserve, currently in use by the Navy, to the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, New York where the 50 planes would be refurbished to French standards. Once converted, the aircraft were to be delivered to RCAF Station Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada where they would be loaded onto the French aircraft carrier Béarn. The 50 SBC-4s were to fly to RCAF Station Dartmouth in groups of three. Because of space limitations, only 44 of the SBC-4s could be carried on FR Béarn. After France surrendered to the Germans, the SBC-4s were unloaded and rolled to a field in Martinique, French West Indies Five of the French aircraft could not fit on FR Béarn and were left at RCAF Station Dartmouth. In August 1940, the Royal Air Force acquired them, designated them "Cleveland Mk. Is" and shipped them to England https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_SBC_Helldiver video AP/British Movietone