Salvageable Fin Parts:
Back in November, Pioneer Aero’s William Lowen began the process of disassembling the SBD’s tail fin so he could assess its condition and begin the restoration process. While the skins appeared to be in excellent condition, externally at least, Will found that much of the fin’s internal structure had significant corrosion issues - as is evident in the image above. Unfortunately this means that a number of these components will need replacing - either with new-build material or parts salvaged from another airframe.
Here are two of the ribs and their replacements. The originals were unusable due to corrosion damage. While the damage to the left rib only became evident after bead blasting, the right rib was obviously unusable from the start. The replacement parts, sitting on their wooden forming blocks, are ready for positioning in the jig. (photo via Pioneer Aero Ltd.)
Here is one of the ribs and its replacement. The original was unusable due to corrosion damage. The shape for the new rib is complete here; it just needs the lightening holes cut and flanged before it’s ready for repainting. (photo via Pioneer Aero Ltd.)
Here are the tail fin spars and their replacements. The original spars are unusable due to corrosion damage. The replacement closing channel (second from top) is ready to be positioned in the jig, whilst the middle and right spars still need their lightening holes cut and flanged. (photo via Pioneer Aero Ltd.)
Donor Fin Supplies Parts:
While a number of parts from our SBD's fin will need replacing with new-build material, thankfully, the project does have a couple of spare SBD rear fuselages available from the large Dauntless cache which the Military Aviation Museum acquired from Kevin Smith two years ago. William has begun disassembling one of these ‘donor’ airframes, and recovered numerous restorable components which supplement the salvageable parts from SBD-5 BuNo.36175 and a few new-build items.
Parts Stripping:
Several ribs, pulley mounts, and even the trim box were amongst the items salvaged from the spare tail section. Will has stripped these parts, reshaped them where necessary and they are now ready for primer painting. He has also begun making new spars and the rear closing panel. Furthermore, despite the corrosion issues with some of the fin parts from BuNo.36175, there were still a good number of items which were indeed salvageable for airworthy use.
A pulley bracket from the donor fin during dismantling. (photo via Pioneer Aero Ltd.)
Here are some of the pulley brackets which William Lowen salvaged from the donor fin. They have been bead blasted, then inspected, and are now ready for primer paint. (photo via Pioneer Aero Ltd.)
Here are the rudder hinge mounting brackets, salvaged from the donor fin. They have been bead blasted, inspected and are now ready for primer paint. (photo via Pioneer Aero Ltd.)
On the left is the original trim box skin. Before stripping the paint, Lowen thought that this item might be restorable, but that quickly proved impractical following bead-blasting. Thankfully, the donor tail fin supplied a restorable unit, which you can see on the right following stripping and inspection. It is now ready for primer paint. (photo via Pioneer Aero Ltd.)
On the left is the original trim box skin and its associated ribs - none of which were salvageable. On the right we can see identical structure recovered from the donor fin. These have been bead blasted, inspected and are now ready for primer paint. (photo via Pioneer Aero Ltd.)
This image shows several unusable tail fin ribs from the museum's SBD (in darker shade) and their equivalent parts recovered from the donor fin. The donor airframe parts have been bead-blasted, inspected and are now ready for installing on the jig. (photo via Pioneer Aero Ltd.)