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 New Zealand on our anticipated schedule, but there is still exciting news coming in on the project.
The wings from a donor aircraft have been under restoration at Aerotrader in California. Kermit Weeks was kind enough to lend his support with his wings (which are in better condition than ours). His wings are being used where patterns are needed, and to prepare the jigs, greatly accelerating the completion our wings. Both sets of wings are coming along and the Aerotrader team are currently working on finishing up the wingtips. They will also be completing the stabilizers in short order as well.
Similarly, the team at Pioneer Aero in New Zealand has received the first shipment of parts for the Dauntless, and they have begun work on the items that they are able to, including control surfaces for the airplane – but remain eager to receive the fuselage. They have also sorted the parts in the container into accessible storage after removing a few of the larger parts that were shipped over. The pictures above show the container being unloaded first at a bio containment facility where imports to New Zealand must be inspected, and then at the Pioneer Aero shop.