03-15-2025
Pioneer Aero’s engineers recently revisited the SBD’s lefthand inboard leading edge to install the ammunition cartridge port. This opening allowed spent ammunition casings from the lefthand, nose-mounted machine gun to fall away cleanly from the airframe.
10-22-2024
Pioneer Aero is rebuilding the internal support structure for the SBD’s bomb displacement mechanism while also adding through-ports to the leading edges for the spent shell casing chutes associated with the nose-mounted .50-calibre machine guns.
10-19-2024
Pioneer Aero has worked hard on the inboard wing leading edges over the past few months, with the righthand example nearly complete and the lefthand side now also well advanced, as this article reveals.
08-05-2024
After making great progress with the SBD’s righthand inboard leading edge structure, Pioneer Aero has begun doing the same for the lefthand unit.
06-24-2024
After many months of work, the team at Pioneer Aero has essentially completed the righthand leading edge structure for the SBD’s wing center section. They have now converted the jig to begin rebuilding the lefthand example.
05-29-2024
The ribs and stringers for the righthand leading edge forward of the nose spar. Primer-painted, they are ready for fitting. (image via Pioneer Aero Ltd.) Riveting the Leading Edge: Pioneer Aero’s engineers have made great progress with rebuilding the SBD’s inboard wing leading edges over the past few months. All of the components for the…
04-22-2024
An image of the Museum’s Dauntless during its recovery in September 1994. Note the severely crushed wing leading edges. (image via A&T Recovery) Center Section Wing Leading Edges: Back in October 2023, the team at Pioneer Aero Ltd. began rebuilding the wing leading edges for the SBD’s center section. As the image above reveals, this…
12-13-2023
A manufacturing drawing showing one of the parts which Pioneer Aero has recently remanufactured. This particular drawing describes part numbers 5062769-8 & -9, stiffeners belonging to the spar web assembly described in a recent update. (image via Pioneer Aero Ltd.) The Old School Way: Aircraft manufacture during WWII relied heavily upon manual labor. Many parts…
11-13-2023
A close up view of the damage to the wing leading edge of SBD-5 Bu.36175 as it rises from Lake Michigan in September, 1994. The structure is crushed nearly flat against the main spar in the wing center section. Salvaging useable components from this area has been a challenge! (image via A&T Recovery) Refurbish or…