This Dauntless crashed into Lake Michigan in July 1943 whilst being flown on a carrier qualification flight by Major Edward Harold Drake, USMC. Fortunately the pilot survived and his plane was salvaged in the early 1990s, restored and is now part of this super floating museum.

This SBD-3 is a WW 2 combat veteran of the Guadalcanal Campaign. Operating out of Henderson Field, this a/c was assigned to USMC squadrons VMSB-141 and VMSB-132. This SBD was lost in Lake Michigan in late 1943 while assigned to the USN Carrier Qualification Training Unit operating out of NAS Glenview, IL. The National Naval Aviation Museum recovered the a/c in the early 1990s, restored it, and loaned the a/c in 2009 to the National World War II Museum where it currently is on display.