COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Hundreds of people turned out to a Colorado Springs airstrip Thursday morning to witness an incredibly rare sight: three of the last operational WWII-era dive bombers of their kind climbing into the Southern Colorado sunrise.
Accompanied by one B-25 Mitchell bomber, all three were SB2C Helldivers. While a total of 7,141 Helldivers were turned out by American factories, by 2026, there were only three still operational in the world, all three of which crowds got to witness Thursday, flying in tight formation.
“I’ve got a profound sentimental attachment to the plane,” National Shipwreck Alliance President Matt McCauley said. “I first recovered that plane when I was 19 years old, and I am now a 61-year-old grandfather of an 8-year-old grandson. So it’s been a long time. I didn’t think I was going to ever see it fly again.”…