The problems with the prototype were matched by problems with production. Hulse, survived, but the aircraft was written off. On 21 December, during a high-stress dive test, the right wing and tail failed while the aircraft was recovering from the dive. After more test flights in September the tail was enlarged, and tests resumed in late October. In August the prototype was taken away for major modifications, which saw it stretched by a foot. It then flew again for a week, before a landing gear collapse took it out of use until June. The prototype was out of action until May. The Wright Cyclone also needed much more work, and on 9 February 1941 failed just before landing. The first flight came on 18 December, and revealed poor low speed stability, with some problems at high speed. Three weeks later, on 13 December 1940, the first prototype XSB2C Helldiver was ready. Despite these problems an order for 370 aircraft was placed in November 1940. The tests also suggested that the new aircraft would have poor handling characteristics. Wind tunnel tests on a scale model, carried out early in 1940, suggested that the new aircraft would have an unacceptable high stall speed, giving it a high landing speed, not acceptable on carrier aircraft. The prototype XSB2C-1 was significantly shorter. The production SB2C would be 36 feet 9 inches long, and 49 feet 9 inches wide, reduced to around 20 feet with the wings folded. These elevators were 40 feet wide by 48 feet long. The main restriction on the designers was size – two of the new aircraft had to fit on a standard aircraft carrier elevator with a foot clearance all around. These called for an aircraft capable of carrying a 1000lb bomb in an internal bomb bay, with a higher fuel capacity (and range) than the SBD, powered by the Wright R-2600 Cyclone 14 engine, itself then under development. Many of the aircraft’s problems were imposed by the Navy specifications, issued in August 1938.
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