05-04-2023
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…
03-15-2023
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…
02-27-2023
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…
02-21-2023
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…
02-16-2023
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…
01-26-2023
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…
01-05-2023
It has been a while since our last Dauntless Update, and the eagle eyed among you have likely noticed that the fuselage is still awaiting transport here at the Museum (much to the frustration of the whole team!). The shipping challenges we have encountered have slowed the project down, preventing the fuselage from arriving in…
01-05-2023
2020 seems like so long ago! We located a WWII Fuel Truck in Ohio, and we added it to the collection with a plan to make it serviceable for refueling our airplanes. We contacted the fine folks at Mil Spec Vehicle Restorations in Belvidere, New Jersey (a beautiful town if you ever get the chance…
11-18-2022
The newest addition to the collection is an SNB-1! The Navy version of an AT-11 Kansan, this sometimes overlooked warbird had an outsized impact on the war! The AT-11 was the standard bombardier trainer for the US Army Air Forces during World War II and would be used to train around 90% of the more…
04-14-2022
Following right along behind the Fuel Truck restoration is another new piece of equipment for the airfield! This 1941 International-built Fire Engine has come to us from North Carolina, and we are excited to get started. The current condition of the vehicle is being surveyed (it does run!) and a couple of ground rules have…
05-17-2021
After a couple of weeks of assembly, test runs and other pre-flight procedures we have a flying Fleet Model 2! Although it was test flown in Texas before being disassembled for transport to Virginia Beach we are no less excited to see the airplane back in the air! The images here were captured on Saturday…
04-20-2021
The Military Aviation Museum collection is home to a large number of aircraft that the public does not regularly have the chance to see. These airplanes wait in storage for the opportunity to be restored. Which airplanes get finished in what order is not always an easy decision, with thought given to available resources, and…
04-08-2021
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…
03-27-2021
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…
03-11-2021
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,…
03-01-2021
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…
11-08-2020
Not every project we work on or acquire for the Museum is an airplane! As part of our goal to recreate the experience of visiting a vintage airfield we are constantly on the lookout for ground vehicles that can get us closer to that goal! The dream is that someday the airplanes would be moved…
10-25-2020
Thundering into the sky for an excited Summer of Flight crowd, the “Turkey” is back! Although it has taken several years, the team at the Fighter Factory has completed the restoration of our Avenger! After an unfortunate mishap several years ago the aircraft required extensive overhaul. The restoration process was extended by the need to…
08-13-2020
The Museum’s venerable Stearman was among the first aircraft in the collection. After a number of years providing memorable rides over the oceanfront to Museum visitors we decided to take it out of service, to conduct a thorough restoration on the aircraft. After several months spent re-covering the aircraft, and going over all of the…
04-10-2015
The Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Virginia has just test run a modern replica of the Argus As 014 pulse-jet engine used on a WWII-era Fiesler Fi-103, perhaps better known as the V-1 ‘Doodlebug’ or ‘Buzz Bomb’. The V-1, as most of you will know, was one of Hitler’s “Vengeance Weapons” with which the…
05-17-2014
The Military Aviation Museum took delivery of a North American P-64 replica at the Military Aviation Museum in Pungo, Virginia. Just in time to take part in Warbirds Over the Beach 2014, the Museum’s annual air show, the aircraft flew in from her previous owner’s home in Louise, Texas. She made two spirited low passes…
05-07-2013
The historic first flight of KA 114 in the United States on May 7, 2013. Photograph by Fighter Factory Mechanic Jon Brawner. Warbird enthusiasts from around the world have been following the progress of the Military Aviation Museum’s de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito, from its shipment from New Zealand to the announcement of its first public…