Center Section Rebuild: Progress Summary
With few exceptions, an aircraft’s wing center section is the most complex structure in the entire airframe. This is certainly true for the Douglas SBD Dauntless; restoration of its center section has absorbed considerable energy from Martin Hedley's team at Pioneer Aero Ltd. in Ardmore, New Zealand. Since Pioneer mounted our SBD's center section in a massive, custom-built jig in October, 2023, they have carefully worked their way forwards from the trailing edges, removing, then restoring or remanufacturing each component as they progressed. As each part returned to airworthiness, Hedley's team trial-fitted it onto the jig to ensure that it nested properly against adjacent original parts before moving on to the next bulkhead or spar needing their attention. As of July 1, 2024, they had made it as far as Spar #3, which is roughly half way towards the leading edges (under concurrent restoration).

Trial Fitting Spar #4, Ribs and Skin Sections:
During June, Hedley's team tapered each end of the 'top hat' section stringers which sit on the upper skin panel between Spars #3 and #4. They used a milling machine to grind away the excess metal until the stringer profiles matched the specifications outlined in the original manufacturer's drawings. The dimensions were also verified against the original surviving components before any machining took place.
With a good number of the components between Spars #3 and #5 restored or remanufactured, it was time to begin trial-fitting them into the center section jig. Spar#3 (and much of the structure forward of it) remains in its original position. It served as an ideal mounting point for precisely positioning the rebuilt structure aft of it.
The team clecoed the replacement upper skin to its attachment points along the tope side of Spar #3, and refitted the rebuilt Spar #4 as well. This allowed the inter-spar ribs lying between them to be fitted and drilled off against the spars and top skin.

Small Parts Restoration:
In addition to trial-fitting and back-drilling Spar #4, the upper skin panel, and the inter-spar ribs, Martin Hedley’s team also worked on a number of small parts for the SBD’s wing center section. Some of these items included a pulley bracket for the bomb release cables, a fuel tank selector mounting bracket, the aileron servo mounting bracket, and four rudder cable pulley brackets, along with a variety of other small brackets and supports. Most of these components required refabricating due to excessive corrosion, however some items remained sufficiently intact for restoration to airworthy standards. Each of the components listed above, after either remanufacture or refurbishing, received a coat of primer paint to prepare it for installation in the airframe.


A pair of replacement pulley brackets for the rudder cables, alongside the originals. The corrosion in the original components is visibly beyond airworthy limits, so there was no need to bead blast them before making the decision to replace them. These components sit on the upper surface of the wing just in front of the rudder pedals in the rear cockpit. There is a pair for each cable. (Image via Pioneer Aero Ltd.)
The original bracket for holding the aileron servo unit (part of the autopilot system) alongside its remanufactured replacement (top right). The original bracket components were too corroded for re-use, but combined with dimensional details from the drawing (pictured here) they served as a useful example for the fabrication of brand new parts. These brackets sit on the center section’s upper surface just forward of Spar #3 and in front of the righthand rudder pedal in the rear cockpit. (Image via Pioneer Aero Ltd.)
Replacement pulley brackets for the rudder cables, alongside the original examples, which had corrosion beyond airworthy limits on the inside of the upright legs. These parts sit on the wing’s upper surface at Spar#2, underneath the pilot’s seat. Each of them is a one-piece, folded component. (Image via Pioneer Aero Ltd.)
The replacement mounting bracket for the fuel tank selector valve; the small piece of heavily corroded metal lying on the drawing is actually part of the original. The rest of the original component (and there is very little of it!) remains attached to the original (and also very corroded) fuel tank selector valve. Essentially, the drawing was all that was available to manufacture the replacement part. (Image via Pioneer Aero Ltd.)
The replacement mounting bracket for the SBD's fuel tank selector valve trial-fitted into position on the upper wing center section skin between Spars #2 and #3. (image via Pioneer Aero Ltd.)
The original chemical tank valve mounting bracket. The chemical tank was part of the system which the SBD could use to create a smoke screen for the fleet. As can be seen in this image, there are areas of deep corrosion on the mounting face; this became more and more evident during bead blasting. (Image via Pioneer Aero Ltd.)
