We are pleased to welcome Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless BuNo 36175 to the collection at the Military Aviation Museum. The airframe was recovered from the bottom of Lake Michigan where it had sat since a training accident in January, 1944. Join us throughout the month of March to view the airplane before the restoration process begins. The exhibit constructed around the aircraft explores its loss and eventual recovery, while also providing you with the opportunity to look inside the fuselage and assess its condition yourselves!
A&T Recovery, the group which originally located and retrieved the Dauntless, shared these original sketches with us which describe the SBD's as-found condition, 177 feet below the surface of Lake Michigan.
We discovered the remnants of the SBD's original tail hook inside its fuselage. Corrosion appears to have separated the end of the hook from the remainder, which is still attached to the aircraft. This tail hook is on display alongside the airplane at the Museum through the end of March.
