Restoration Updates

Pioneer Aero is continuing to make strides restoring the SBD’s lower aft fuselage. This update reveals progress with skin refabrication, refurbishing and trial-fitting some of the original stringers, and reassembling the bulkhead diaphragm at Fuselage Frame #9.

Pioneer Aero has made great strides restoring the SBD’s upper fuselage, trial-fitting and drilling in both the upper longerons and the forward skin panels.

Pioneer Aero has made steady progress in their restoration of the lower rear fuselage over the past eight months. This report covers the rebuild of some of this major subassembly’s internal components, along with the lower half of Fuselage Frame #9.

Pioneer Aviation’s Doug Brown continues to make excellent progress restoring and, where necessary, refabricating the numerous electrical junction boxes which proliferate the SBD’s airframe.

Pioneer Aero has nearly completed the SBD’s inboard leading edges, with the main structure for the left and righthand examples now permanently riveted together and having received a layer of topcoat paint, a first for the project!

After rebuilding and trial-fitting Fuselage Frame #1 into the Wing Center Section jig it became practical to perform a similar task for the structure linking this bulkhead to the rest of the airframe.

This article covers the trial-fitting for the top section of Fuselage Frame #1 into the SBD’s Upper Fuselage jig along with the structure linking it to Fuselage Frame #2.

Pioneer Aero has begun refabricating numerous electrical junction boxes for the Military Aviation Museum’s Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless. While it may seem like a mundane item to discuss, the manufacturing process is fascinating!