Jerry Yagen’s TBM-3E Avenger Bu.53454 over the Delaware countryside. General Motors TBM-3E Avenger BuNo 85460 is a surviving TBF Avenger torpedo bomber located at the Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum in Lower Township, Cape May County, New Jersey, United States.The plane, a variant of the Grumman-designed Avenger, was built by General Motors in 1945 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 11, 2003. (photo by Richard Mallory Allnutt) WarbirdsNews is proud to present the first in our series of articles by noted aviation historian and author, Robert F. Dorr. For sure there are TBM-3Es with the APS-4 radar and an internal tailhook. Project Recover located that Avenger in 2016 and turned its findings over to the DPAA. 2001.Updated January 21, 2012. Jack Kosko was a Grumman TBM radio operator with torpedo squadron VT-23 aboard the USS Langley (CVL-27) fighting with Task Force 38 during the closing months of World War II. The Grumman TBF Avenger is an American torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval aviation services around the world. I was already marveling at the naval aviators who were able to bring that big plane aboard even the smallest escort carriers. The Avenger entered U.S. service in 1942, and first saw action during the Battle of Midway. The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) was a torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air or naval arms around the world. TBF/TBM Avenger Grumman Torpedo Bomber. MAAM'S TBM-3 'AVENGER' DREAMS CAN BECOME REALITY (reprinted from MAAM Member's Update - Feb 2003). The surviving aircraft limped back to Midway with one wheel and the torpedo-bay doors hanging open, very limited controls, the gunner dead and the third crewman wounded. It entered U.S. service in 1942, and first saw action during the Battle of Midway. It looks like there is an E at the end of the type designation on the vertical fin but as is frequently the case, the BuNo cannot be read. This plane represents the sole surviving Grumman TBF Avenger from Torpedo 8. The other important thing about the ex FAA Avenger in the US isn't the fact it's ex FAA (which is amazing in itself) is it's a very rare TBF-1 which was the original Grumman built Avenger. ACOM Ingram was a turret gunner aboard a TBM-1c Avenger and a member of the U.S. Navy Torpedo Squadron Fifty One (VT-51). This plane managed to limp back home after being mauled by Japanese Zero fighters on June 4th, 1942, exactly 75 years ago today… The turret gunner Jay Manning was dead, the radio operator Harry Ferrier and pilot Ensign Bert Earnest were both wounded. Restored to flying condition by the Capital Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, the World War Two-vintage TBM Avenger torpedo bomber was the heaviest single-engine aircraft built by the U.S. during the war. TBF Avenger torpedo bomber in flight, mid-1942: Pensacola at Sand Island, Midway Atoll, disembarking Marine reinforcements, 25 Jun 1942; at the foreground was the lone surviving land-based Avenger of Midway battle: The only survivor out of the six land-based Avenger torpedo bombers at the Battle of Midway, 25 Jun 1942, photo 1 of 3 The Avenger was flown with a crew of three: a pilot, turret gunner and radioman/bombardier/ventral gunner. By Stephen Sherman, Apr. W hile the Douglas Devastator had been "state of the art" when it was introduced in 1935, by 1939, the US Navy determined that it needed a more potent torpedo bomber, one with greater range, larger payload, faster speed, and tougher resistance to battle damage. Navy Aviation Chief Ordnanceman Otis E. Ingram, a WWII gunner, killed in 1944, has been accounted for by the DPAA. 99 percent of the survivors today are the General Motors built TBM-3. The six aircraft set off to attack the Japanese fleet, but five were shot down. In his comment below, Pablo Montero provided a link to this example, which is reportedly a VMTB-234 Avenger circa 1945. One .30 caliber machine gun was mounted in the nose, but per pilots’ requests later models of the TBF/TBM dispensed with the nose-mounted gun for one .50 caliber gun in each wing for better forward firepower and increased strafing ability. The Avenger's combat debut came during the battle of Midway, and was fairly disastrous. Turret gunner aboard a TBM-1c Avenger and a member of the surviving tbm avenger today are the General Motors TBM-3. Battle of Midway, and first saw action during the Battle of Midway, and was fairly disastrous E.,... With a crew of three: a pilot, turret gunner aboard a TBM-1c Avenger and a of... 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