US WWII warplane found

If there are any ID numbers still readable on the metal, mabe they can trace the origin just fine. Portland has a rather wet climate, so there could be a problem with rust on some parts. . I think they were buit of aluminum. I recall collecting aluminum in scrap drives.


Angeline

identifying: Manufacturer and type, serial number, plant of manufacture, date of manufacture, empty and gross overload weights, and other info. Engine has its own plate identifying type, serial number, and date of manufacture, plus hp rating. They're small steel plates rivetted to cockpit structure and to the rear housing of the engine. Location of the plate can tell you the type of aircraft if that isn't apparent, but that doesn't appear to be the issue here.

The wartime Helldiver was the last of a series of Curtiss aircraft named that, an earlier one of which so impressed Ernst Udet of the pre-Luftwaffe Luftwaffe who bought two examples (with German government money) and did flying displays in them and which led to the development of the Stuka, which is your usual German contraction, in this case Sturtzkampfflugzeug, or dive battle.

Helldivers were built for the US navy in, among other places, Candadian Car and Foundry, Fort William, Ontario, Canada. Despite extensive reading on WW2 aviation history before we moved here, I passed right over that fact, and it wasn't until we moved here that I noticed. They also built aircraft for the Brits and Canadians. Canadian Car and Foundry manufactured Railway cars and the trucks that carried the wheels.

Rob