The Best Way to Hang an Airplane From the Ceiling

Honoring one of World War II’s great dive bombers—the Douglas Dauntless.

When the National Air and Space Museum reopened five east end galleries on July 1, 2026 (as part of an eight-year renovation), visitors had the opportunity to see a rare Douglas SBD Dauntless suspended from the ceiling—seemingly in mid-flight. Positioned just outside the Jay I. Kislak World War II in the Air gallery, the U.S. Navy dive bomber is both an engineering marvel and a storytelling anchor. Its presence invites visitors to look up, pause, and remember the fierce aerial battles that took place above the sea decades ago.

As the Navy’s primary dive bomber during World War II, the Dauntless was rugged, precise, and, most importantly, battle-tested. During the famed Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942, SBDs sank three Japanese fleet carriers—Akagi, Kaga, and Sōryū—in rapid succession, and heavily damaged the fourth, Hiryū, which sank the following day. The victory was a turning point in the Pacific war, and the Dauntless earned its place as one of the finest aircraft of World War II—a symbol of resilience and tactical innovation.

“The Douglas SBD-6 Dauntless now hanging in the Museum represents the important contribution that all Dauntless aircraft and pilots made to the U.S. military effort during World War II,” says Thomas Paone, the curator for the Museum’s pre‑1945 U.S. Navy collection. “The SBD [Scout Bomber Douglas] was scheduled to be replaced at the start of war, but it still served throughout the war. Dauntlesses would sink more than 300,000 tons of enemy shipping, including at least 18 warships, ranging from submarines to battleships and aircraft carriers.”

The SBD-6 was the last production model of the Dauntless dive-bomber line, and it featured an improved engine. This version was one of the lesser-produced models, with only 450 manufactured before the end of the war. Almost 6,000 SBDs of various designs were built, but less than 30 airframes survive today.

The Museum’s SBD is U.S. Navy Bureau Number 54605, the sixth SBD-6 model built. It was delivered to the Navy late in the war, on April 7, 1944. The aircraft spent its entire operational career at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, where it was used for flight tests.

When moving and displaying an artifact as historic as a Douglas Dauntless, the job requires people who are experienced—people like Heather Moosher, a large-artifact restoration and installation specialist in the Museum’s preservation and restoration department. Moosher was an integral part of the team that assembled and installed the Dauntless. “I’ve been involved in quite a few of the new installations of Museum artifacts,” says Moosher. “Some highlights include the Spirit of St. Louis, the Lockheed Vega, the U-2, and the F-86.”

Working alongside Moosher and other Museum staff was a group of contractors from Crozier Fine Arts, a company that specializes in the logistics of handling museum artifacts and fine art. The entire team’s work at the installation site, however, was preceded by months of preparation at the Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia. There, the SBD underwent a meticulous preservation: its surfaces cleaned, components assessed, and structural integrity evaluated. Once the treatment was complete, the aircraft was carefully taken apart and transported in sections to the Museum in downtown Washington, D.C.

Last June, the team started a five-day process of assembling and securing the aircraft piece by piece. One of the first tasks involved readying the aircraft’s left and right wings for attachment, a delicate procedure that set the tone for the rest of the installation, which unfolded within the tight confines of a reimagined gallery space. Limited overhead clearance, proximity to walls and nearby artifacts, and the aircraft’s considerable weight (6,500 pounds, empty) meant that every inch—and every second—counted.

Once assembled, the aircraft was covered in a soft, textured wrap known as “sharkskin,” which protects the aircraft’s painted surfaces from dust, scratches, and accidental contact during rigging. 

With the aircraft fully assembled, the most dramatic part of the installation began: lifting the Dauntless 60 feet into the air. Using a series of ceiling-mounted cranes, the team began a slow, steady ascent—guiding the aircraft through the open core of the Museum’s new east end galleries. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a straight shot. Because of the tight layout of the gallery, the aircraft had to be maneuvered carefully to avoid nearby walls and displays. In one particularly tense moment, a technician paused the operation mid-lift to switch out one of the rigging hooks. The adjustment was made to shift the aircraft’s orientation and ensure that it cleared the surrounding architecture—with just inches to spare.

To help protect the aircraft during its slow arc across the gallery, the team added foam padding at potential contact points. “It was nerve-wracking to watch it be lifted into the hanging position,” says Paone. “I had complete faith in our team, but it’s still surreal to see an 82-year-old aircraft lifted by crane.”

After hours of exacting work by a team of experts, the Dauntless had reached its final destination—where it will greet visitors with outstretched wings and a story worth remembering. 

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Shuyang (Sky) Zhuang was a photography intern at the National Air and Space Museum. He is a graduate of Syracuse University, where he studied photojournalism and museum studies.

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This article, originally titled "Suspended in History,"  is from the Spring 2026 issue of Air & Space Quarterly, the National Air and Space Museum's signature magazine that explores topics in aviation and space, from the earliest moments of flight to today. Explore the full issue.

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