SBD Dauntless - 1/5.5 Scale, 85" Wingspan

This is a project currently under construction.  It was started during the 2017 build season (Nov 2017-Mar 2018) and continued in the 2018 building season (Nov 2018-Mar 2019).

I assembled the major components for this for this plane from the various manufacturers below:

Construction started with the built up tail plane, elevators, rudder, flaps, brakes and ailerons.  Dive brakes and flaps were made from 1/16" G10 Fiberglass instead of the plywood called out by the plans.  This was done to minimize the warping that others have experienced when using wood for these surfaces.

Tail planeBrakes and Flaps

 

Next was the building of the one piece wing (click for details):

Wing Construction

 

The Engine is a Saito FG61TS.  Mounting, baffling, and engine modifications (click for details):

Engine

Finishing the wings and Fuse (click for details):

Finish Thumb

The Scale Cockpit, Pilot, Gunner and Canopy (click for details):

Cockpit

Taxi testing in the driveway: