April 18, 2014, Hagerstown, MD, See TBM3-E Avenger N40402 of the CAF National Capitol Squadron start up and take off for it's first test flight after a twelve year restoration.
I love this aircraft. I've been fortunate to see one of these great restored birds in real life, the sound alone is amazing. My cousin was an Avenger radio operator stationed on the Gambier Bay. If anyone is interested, the Battle of Samar was a great, and largely untold story, of U.S. Naval history. The deeds of Taffy 3 are legendary. The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors and the Fighting Men of the Gambier Bay are a great read.
It is wonderful that talented people are prepared to give large parts of their lives to ensure that the current and future generations can see such aircraft where they belong- in the sky.
I flew from Norfolk to NY in 1950 aboard an Avenger after spending about 10 days on the Escort Carrier Palau during operation Portrex; I was the flight commanders radioman stationed on the ship. After operation Portrex ended, the Commander asked if anyone wanted to hitch a ride to NY and said yes as I was going to Massachusetts for some Liberty days. That was a good trip and I hitch hiked the rest of the way to Massachusetts. All of days spent on ships will always bring back nostalgic memories! Dave W.
I believe that this is the aircraft that was assigned to the Capital Wing of the CAF base at the Culpeper Regional Airport. I was a member of this wing when it was restored. The final restoration work was done in Hagerstown!
Great video. Glad to see some of the old WW2 birds are still around and still flying. A great tribute to the thousands made by the Rosie Riveters and flown by the Navy's Winged Sailors!
For some reason, aircraft from this period in history seem to carry an almost magical attraction. Look at any video with these aircraft and you'll see throngs of people, many of which aren't airplane people, standing in line to see, hear and smell them.
where did this airplane spray at, there were some of these planes with a company out of Canada when I worked in the woods in Maine in the 70's spraying to kill spruce budworm and always wondered what happened to them
That would be the ones. We were across the border from Maine in New Brunswick. Forest Protection Ltd. They operated avengers until not too many years ago.
in 1975 I was working in the logging camps in northern Maine and at that time there was a bad Bud Worm infestation destroying the fir and spruce trees there was a company out of Canada doing the spaying almost daily they were flying these old TBM's always wondered what ever happened to those planes
My Dad flew one (#20) and now one of those FPL Avengers is being restored to military configuration at the Canadian Warplane Heritage outfit in Hamilton Ontario
They flew out of Fredericton and also Miramachi. My dad and I used to go to the Fredericton airport to watch them quite often in the mid 90s. I'm now an engine tech on cf18 Hornets in Cold Lake Alberta.
Forest Protection Ltd. Based in Fredericton, New Brunswick and operating out of airstrips all over NB. Aircraft maintained by Woodlands Aviation. I was an apprentice mechanic there working on TBMs over thirty years ago.
bearbon2 he probably wasn't flying overly fast for the test flight, plus if there is adequate runway space it would be easy for a plane going only 80 or so to slow down without flaps.
@@kamdenbarclay486 Yeah just more parts that can go wrong, especially with the hydraulics being (relatively) complicated, at least for a single-engined plane. This one flies about 5,000lb under its original MTOW, and even then - she was designed to take off and land on carriers obviously. Its takeoff/landing performance is pretty incredible - still surprises me (she's off in around 500' with any kind of wind!) We use the flaps now, but you certainly don't need to. The slower speeds are easier on the gear / tires / brakes and gauging the approach etc though.
They were flown by the navy in late fifties to transport mail and people to the fleets at sea in transport squadrons they put dual seats were the 50 cal was I flew any times as a crew member from capodichino airport Naples italy
Does anyone know if this is the TBM purchased, by the CAF, when the Frederick Wing was still in operation? If so, does anyone know if Tommy was the test pilot? Thank you for the great video!
What if that huge and heavy torpedo got hung up and you had to land back on the carrier, heavy. Doable? Did it ever happen? Thanks, Paul PS My dad did 44 months in the Pacific on Indianapolis and also got a Zero I think in the Marianas. "Battle stations!" He never talked about it because I think it was their duty to shut and heal.
She's Similar to the one that Former President George H W Bush flown in during the Second World War... The Aircraft was Named Barbara, hince the Former First Lady
Didn't former U.S. President George H.W. Bush fly one of these Avengers in World War II? Is that what he was flying when he got shot down? Amazing he was rescued and not cannibilized in a Japanese POW camp...he almost was the President who never was. R.i.P. George Bush, 1924-2018.
From what I have found out he was shot down twice. He managed a wheels-up landing on the water and was picked up out of the ocean by a Destroyer that was in the area and saw him go down. He also jumped out of another shot-up Avenger parachuting into the ocean with a survival raft after 4 hours a submarine surfaced rescuing him.
George Bush, his limpdick son and obama were the three worst presidents our country has had. Bush was a fucking coward who sacrificed his aircrew to escape. Piece of shit doesn't amount to a hairbump on President Trump's ass
It's certainly not what it was originally designed for (hell, the original TBF's didn't even have the wing .50's ) and some would argue that the P-47's stole some of that "thunder" no pun intended lol. As you implied though, by the end of the war (and especially with the marines) this thing was a favorite for CAS, and 4x 500lb or 12x 100lb bombs were common, along with the HVARs etc. They actually had entire escort carriers deployed as marine units with TBM's for CAS.
They built it, but they didn't know a damn thing about designing it ;) It's 100% Grumman designed and tested.. GM just license produced it for them as they were too busy building the Hellcats. This aircraft does indeed have the MFG plate next to the throttle quadrant that says "built by the General Motors Corporation Eastern Aircraft Division at Linden, New Jersey" on it, with serial no, etc on it. Pretty cool!
@@EstorilEm Avengers were never built at Linden. Wildcats were. Avengers were assembled at Trenton-Ternstadt, of parts made at Tarrytown, Baltimore (Broening Highway), and several other plants.
karl endlich damnit, Karl! Okay you got me - I forgot the exact inscription on the plate of ours, I’m sure you’re right. I’m glad she still has the mfg plate in there though!