The Air Zoo’s Dauntless ‘Production Line’

by Adam Estes

The Air Zoo Aerospace and Science Museum in Kalamazoo, Michigan is renowned for not only being one of the finest air museums in the United States, but also for the quality of its restoration department. As a measure of the respect which their team has earned, the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum entrusted the restoration (and display) of the sole surviving Curtiss XP-55 Ascender (42-78846) in December, 2001. This particular project probably cemented the museum’s place as a go-to restoration shop for complex projects, albeit those for static display; they are presently working on the refurbishment of a Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk ‘stealth’ fighter for display at the Air Zoo. 

Despite their prowess with the Ascender, the museum has since become most famous for their work with another, far more significant aircraft type, this being the Douglas SBD Dauntless – a dive bomber of singular importance to the U.S. Navy’s success in the Pacific Theatre during WWII. Despite its monumental combat pedigree, the Dauntless served in another vital, although largely under-appreciated role on the home front by helping qualify newly-minted naval aviators in the precarious art of carrier operations. Many of these training flights involved a pair of improvised training carriers in Lake Michigan: USS Wolverine (IX 64) and USS Sable (IX 81). Both of these ships had prior lives as paddle-wheel excursion liners on the Great Lakes: Wolverine operating as SS Seeandbee, and Sable as SS Greater Buffalo.

These training operations often involved redundant airframes, those pulled from frontline service so that superior variants could take their place in the fight against Axis Forces. Flying from carriers is a dangerous business in the best of times, but when you throw in the added complexities of inexperienced aircrews, tiny flight decks and tired airframes, it is no surprise that dozens of these training flights from Sable and Wolverine ended ignominiously, with the aircraft resting on the bottom of Lake Michigan. While costly in both human life and treasure, the nation was willing to bear these sacrifices in the name of peace and our future security. While lost lives were mourned, the sunken aircraft were quickly forgotten, and would likely have remained where they fell had their modern scarcity not changed the equation. The SBD was already obsolete when the US entered WWII, and barely a handful of the breed survived the mass-scrapping process which followed our victory in 1945. Even then, all but two of these fully-intact survivors (the Smithsonian’s SBD-6 BuNo.54605 and the Commemorative Air Force’s SBD-5 BuNo.54532) were actually former U.S. Army Air Forces A-24 Banshee variants, and none of these had seen combat. (The Army relegated their Banshees to training roles just seven months or so after the U.S. entered the war, so very few of them actually had the opportunity to meet the enemy anyway.)

By the 1980s, although a few SBD hulks had been recovered from the South Pacific and restored, the Dauntless was still such a rare type that those sunken examples on the bottom of Lake Michigan had become economically viable to recover. Many of these airframes had also seen combat during WWII, making them even more significant from a historical perspective. Since the raising of SBD-4 Bu10715 in 1981, eighteen additional Dauntlesses have been been plucked from the bottom of Lake Michigan, bringing the breed back from virtual extinction. The world’s Grumman Wildcat population also benefitted immensely from Lake Michigan recoveries too, along with a handful of even rarer types, but as far as this article is concerned, we will be focusing our discussion on the three Dauntlesses which the Air Zoo has had in their workshop:  SBD-1 BuNu.1612, SBD-2P BuNo. 2173, and SBD-3 BuNo.06624.

SBD-3 Bureau Number 06624: This was the first Dauntless to undergo restoration at the Air Zoo. Like the majority of the other Lake Michigan recoveries, this aircraft is actually owned by the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida; BuNo.06624 is presently on longterm loan to the Air Zoo. Originally built at the Douglas plant in El Segundo, California, this aircraft first served with Scouting Squadron 41 (VS-41) aboard the carrier USS Ranger (CV 4). While assigned to Ranger in November, 1942, 06624 provided air support for Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa (at a time when most of France was under the control of a Nazi-aligned, proxy-regime in the French city of Vichy). Of note was the aircraft’s role in Operation Catapult, attacking Vichy French vessels in Casablanca harbor, scoring a near-miss on the battleship Jean Bart, a devastating hit on the cruiser Primauguet, and damage to the submarine pens nearby.

Lt. John M. DeVane, Jr. flew many of 06624’s sorties during Operation Torch. The naval aviator would later earn the Navy Cross for the four missions he flew against enemy airfields, vehicles, vessels, tanks, and trucks during the period between November 8th and 11th, 1942.

Following Operation Torch, the U.S. Navy withdrew 06624 Stateside to join the Carrier Qualification Training Unit (CQTU) based out of Naval Air Station Glenview, near Chicago, Illinois. On September 19th, 1943, the aircraft was on approach to land aboard USS Wolverine, with Ensign E.F. Anderson (USNR) at the controls. The pilot, believing he needed to change fuel tanks, switched to what he thought was the left main fuel tank at that moment. However, the aircraft’s R-1820 engine almost immediately sputtered, losing power he did so. The landing signal officer (LSO) aboard Wolverine gave Anderson the wave off, instructing him to go around, but the trainee pilot tried to make the landing anyway. The Dauntless, failing to snag any arresting wires on the flight deck, went over the side of the ship and splashed into the water. Thankfully, the recovery team hoisted Ensign Anderson out of the ‘drink’ quickly, but 06624 settled with her fate, sinking into the cold, dark depths of Lake Michigan – seemingly forever.

However, in 1991, nearly half a century later, the National Naval Aviation Museum contracted A&T Recovery to raise the aircraft from its murky grave. Following a period of storage in Pensacola, the Dauntless arrived at the Air Zoo in November 1993; the museum’s restoration team spent the next nine years meticulously refurbishing each part of the aircraft. They  to refurbish it with the same markings it wore during its time aboard Ranger in Operation Torch. By mid-May in 2002, the Air Zoo had completed their work, and rolled out the magnificent Dauntless to an appreciative crowd. Her original pilot, E.F. Anderson was still alive at the time; although he was unable to attend the dedication ceremony, his son and grandson were there, and posed for photos in the cockpit of the aircraft. Today, BuNo.06624 remains on display in the Air Zoo’s East Wing.

SBD-2P Bureau Number 2173: The airframe was the next Dauntless to receive treatment in the Air Zoo’s workshop. While we have covered that example in previous articles, suffice to say, it is one of the rarest variants of the breed, being one of just 14 photo-reconnaissance versions of the SBD-2 ever built or converted. The SBD-2 itself was only produced in small numbers too, with Douglas manufacturing just 87 total examples before advancing to the SBD-3. After 2173’s construction at the Douglas plant in El Segundo, the Dauntless was initially joined to an ‘aircraft pool’ in San Diego, from where it moved to an assignment with VS-6 aboard USS Enterprise (CV 6) in April 1941.

On June 30th, 1941, an uneven landing aboard Enterprise resulted in the aircraft suffering a gear collapse and wing damage. This would see the Dauntless temporarily reassigned to an aircraft pool in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on July 11th, before being shipped back to San Diego for further repairs the following month. It was still in San Diego during the Japanese attack on Hawaii in December, 1941, but returned to Pearl Harbor in the following month. During the war, the aircraft’s records became muddled with those of SBD-2 BuNo.2179, which was lost during a hard water landing while serving aboard USS Hornet (CV 8) on April 21st, 1942, a crash which sadly resulted in the deaths of those aboard the aircraft, Lieutenant Gardner D. Randall and Radioman Second Class, Thomas A. Gallagher. Once Navy archivists recognized the issue, they rectified the problem on the BuNo.2173’s movement card, and its story continued…

After serving as part of Bombing Squadron 5 (VB-5) aboard USS Yorktown (CV 5), Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 1 (CASU-1) and Marine Air Group 21 (MAG-21), the SBD’s next assignment was with Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 233 (VMSB-233) until November 1943, just a month before that unit moved to Guadalcanal. But with the arrival of the SBD-5 variant in frontline units, BuNo.2173 returned to the States, spending time at Naval Air Stations (NAS) Jacksonville, San Diego, and Glenview, where it served as part of the CQTU from April 17th, 1943 until its loss in Lake Michigan on February 18, 1944. On that fateful, winter day in early 1944, Lt.(j.g.) John Lendo was making his approach to land aboard Wolverine when the aircraft’s engine failed, likely due to carburetor icing. After ditching the Dauntless, Lindo was fortunate that a recovery team was close at hand to pluck him from the frigid waters, but BuNo.2173 was left to its fate, soon sinking to the bottom of Lake Michigan. The aircraft had to sit there until June 16th, 2009, when the Navy finally permitted A&T Recovery to raise it.

After a period of storage in Pensacola, the Dauntless moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2016 so that the Air Zoo’s team of specialists could restore it on behalf of the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum (PHAM) on Ford Island in Honolulu, Hawaii. A generous donation to the PHAM had funded the aircraft’s initial recovery, and it seemed fitting, considering the airframe’s wartime history at Pearl Harbor, that the aircraft should eventually return there for display, even though the museum already had a fully-restored SBD-5 (BuNo.36177) in their collection.

Air Zoo volunteers racked up over 40,000 hours over a period of five and a half years restoring the aircraft to its former glory. By October 2021, it was ready for a public unveiling ceremony at the Air Zoo so visitors had a chance to see the magnificence of their labors before the aircraft was disassembled for shipment back to Pearl Harbor.

Among those who came to see it were members of the late John Lendo’s family. After completing his carrier qualification training, Lendo joined Fighting Squadron 45 (VF-45), flying F6F Hellcats from the light carrier USS San Jacinto (CVL 30), the same carrier on which a young Grumman Avenger pilot named George H.W. Bush also served, although it is unknown whether Lendo ever knew the future U.S. President during that period. Sadly, on December 14th, 1944, Lt. Lendo was declared missing in action after failing to return from a sortie over the Philippines. His status changed to “killed in action” the following year, although his remains have yet to be found. For the Lendo family, BuNo.2173 became a tangible link to the fallen aviator. Once the aircraft’s restoration was complete, members of Lendo’s family were given the opportunity of sitting in the same cockpit which a young Lt. Lendo had flown from back in 1944; it is easy to imagine how moving that moment must have been for all of them.

In December 2021, 2173 had arrived safely at Pearl Harbor; the aircraft sits on display in Hangar 37, one of several hangars on Ford Island which survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. With the arrival of 2173, the SBD-5 (BuNo 36177) which it replaced moved on to the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, Massachusetts, where it is now displayed (still on loan from Pensacola).

SBD-1 Bureau Number 1612: This is the latest Dauntless to enter the Air Zoo’s restoration shop. It was the 17th production example to role off the factory line and is the only -1 variant known to survive, making it the oldest surviving example of the breed presently in preservation. Much like BuNo.2173, 1612’s story has been covered in previous articles HERE, but to summarize, the US Marine Corps accepted this aircraft for service on September 16th, 1940. It served stateside with VMSB-132 at MCAS Quantico in Virginia from September 1940 until March 1942, when it transferred to VMSB-142 at Camp Kearney (present-day MCAS Miramar), north of San Diego, California. When that unit transitioned to the SBD-4 and sailed for the Pacific Theater in October 1942, BuNo.1612 moved on to the CQTU, but its time there would prove to be exceedingly brief. On November 21st, 1942, the Dauntless ditched in Lake Michigan with Ensign Herbert Welton McMinn of Gouldbush, Texas at the controls. Sadly, the young ensign died in the accident and his body was never recovered.

On behalf of the National Naval Aviation Museum, A & T Recovery raised the Dauntless from the bottom of Lake Michigan in January 1994. The aircraft has had a somewhat itinerant life since that day, moving from storage in Pensacola to the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama for a planned restoration in 1996, then returning a year later for an extended period in storage. In 2005, the aircraft moved across the country to San Diego, California where USS Midway Museum were supposed to begin its restoration. However, little actual work took place on the aircraft until its 2012 transfer to the Flying Leathernecks Aviation Museum, then based at MCAS Miramar. The team at Miramar made significant progress on the aircraft, and given 1612’s history at the base, it would have been a great place for the aircraft to end up on display. However, with that museum’s sudden closure due to budgetary concerns on March 28th, 2021, the Dauntless was one of several airframes at Miramar which moved on to other facilities. Considering the significant experience which the Air Zoo team had amassed in working on two previous Dauntless airframes, they were an ideal choice to finish what the Flying Leathernecks volunteers had started. Before arriving at Kalamazoo, 1612 spent a few days on public display at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2021, accompanied by representatives from the Air Zoo, US Navy, A&T Recovery, and members of the late Herbert McMinn’s family.

McMinn’s family has been a staunch supporter of this aircraft since its recovery. But while it remains certain that the Air Zoo will complete BuNo.1612 before too long, the museum’s restoration department is currently focussed on yet another Lake Michigan recovery, this being FM-2 Wildcat BuNo.57039. That aircraft is destined for display at the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas, which is expected to open towards the end of 2024.

As for the SBD-1, the Air Zoo may not have room to display the aircraft publicly when it’s restoration is complete. So, with the aircraft still on loan from Pensacola, there is every possibility that BuNo.1612 may one day move to yet another museum. Whatever the future holds, it seems certain that BuNo.1612 will become one of the finest Dauntless restorations anywhere, a testament to the superb effort by both the Flying Leathernecks Aviation Museum and the Air Zoo alike.