Curtiss SB2C-5 83589 Attack Squadron VA-728 NAS Glenview

These are 1/72 scale decals for Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver 83589, assigned to Attack Squadron VA-728 at Naval Air Station Glenview, Illinois, wearing overall Gloss Sea Blue (ANA 623).

By the late 1940s and early 1950s, the SB2C Helldiver had been retired from front-line Navy service, but it soldiered on in the Naval Air Reserve — equipping reserve attack squadrons like VA-728 that kept experienced aviators current and maintained a pool of trained naval airpower that could be mobilized in a crisis. NAS Glenview, situated on the shores of Lake Michigan north of Chicago, was one of the Navy's most active reserve training stations, home to multiple reserve squadrons and a busy flight operations tempo throughout the postwar decade.

The overall Gloss Sea Blue scheme — introduced as the standard U.S. Navy finish in 1944 and carried through into the early jet age — gives this Helldiver a sleek, purposeful appearance, with the bold white "VA" tail code and modex 104 standing out sharply against the dark blue. A fine example of the Helldiver in its postwar reserve service life, wearing the colors it carried long after the Pacific War that made it famous.

A great companion to the NACA Ames SB2C-5 listing, showing the two very different postwar careers of the same airframe type. Please allow some time for decal printing and shipping.