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With its departure from the United States for restoration being complicated somewhat by the global logistics situation over the last few months, we are pleased to share with everyone that the Dauntless has now boarded the Olivia Maersk to make the trip to New Zealand. The restoration plan outlined at the start of the project…

A question that comes up quite a bit in the Museum is, how much of an airplane is original. We always answer, as much as possible! Certainly the original rub strips from the last update needed replacing, but in this update we are going to focus on the work that goes into keeping a piece…

More work forward of the firewall! Work at Pioneer Aero is continuing on the dish pan, with several areas of wear being addressed. Some of these areas where metal vibrates against other metal were anticipated by the engineers who designed the airplane, with rub strips being installed to create a barrier of sacrificial metal that…

The chassis of the fuel truck has been stripped all the way down. With the removal of the brake lines, left and right running board mounting brackets, battery box, the radiator and its frame, the truck is now about as far apart as it will be! With the sandblasting of the frame, the process of…

With a second partial airframe made available through the parts we shipped to New Zealand, the team at Pioneer Aero has been able to start working on the “Dish Pan” for the Dauntless. The dish pan is a heat shield that attaches to the engine mounts that attach at the firewall which separates the engine…

Control surfaces are the focus for the Dauntless team at the moment. The Rudder in particular has been receiving a lot of attention. Although mostly original (to a parts donor airframe) the rudder had been taken apart and reassembled at some point in its life. Some of the reassembled parts were not perfectly aligned, and…

The accident report card from BuNo 36175 indicates that the pilot, Lt. Charles L. Ford III, survived the crash, suffering two deep wounds to his forehead. The team here is working actively to collect more information on the pilot, and we welcome any help! The card, shared below, depicts the specifics of the accident which…

The Fighter Factory has finalized the plan for the restoration of the Dauntless! Aircraft components will be split up to accelerate the project. The wings are going to be restored by the team at Aero Trader and the fuselage section is going to be dispatched to the dedicated team at Pioneer Aero of New Zealand! Pioneer…

For 30 years, Kevin Smith of California has been working on a Dauntless project of his own, aimed at celebrating the incredible wartime contributions of the SBD. We are pleased to announce that Kevin’s unequalled collection of parts is going to be used in the restoration of our Dauntless! A big Thank You to Kevin,…

We are pleased to welcome Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless BuNo 36175 to the collection at the Military Aviation Museum. The airframe was recovered from the bottom of Lake Michigan where it had been lost during a WWII training accident. Join us throughout the month of March to view the airplane before the restoration process begins. The…