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Grumman TBF Avenger — The Navy’s Portly Hero

I love the Avenger.
They aren’t as sexy as a Mustang, but they’re every bit as cool to me.

If you’ve never seen one in real life, prepare yourself. They are huge.
 
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The fighters mentioned weren't built to carry torpedoes internally so the comparison to fighters is weak.

Suciu is slipping.
 
Years ago, I had a friend with an "IN" at a private airport where his friend had an avenger. My friend let me have his "ride" in the gun turret of it and what a thrill.

I was at the Warbird Squadron 4's picnic and got a ride in Tom Buck's great Grumman TBM Avenger. Am still smiling. Here are the pictures with captions by each.
 

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What, no mention of Flight 19? Flight 19 was the loss of 5 TBMs in the Bermuda Triangle. They were shown in the opening scenes in the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”
 
No mention of Marine Corp Avengers? Award-winning author Samuel Hynes flew a ground-based USMC Avenger in the Pacific. They were crucial in nearly all of the island-hopping campaign. Hynes trained 100% as a Marine and never attempted a carrier takeoff or landing. They lived rough on the islands and atolls. It's all described eloquently (he became a professor of literature at Princeton) in his book Flights Of Passage.
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Brians356 said:
Yes, as mentioned in the article. We had a TBM modified for fire bombing at our airport in Lewiston, Idaho in the 1960s. It was huge!
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Never got to see a TBM aerial tanker working, but plenty of DC-4s, P-2Vs and a few other old ones that are long gone.

One of my most memorable memories is when I was a kid on a wildland fire crew, on a fire on the Mt. Hood NF in the late "70s", we (crew) were on a ridge-line when we heard a retardant tanker coming towards us.

Then it, a P2V (they're really BIG), ...

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...came right over us at tree-top level on a dive into the valley below with the "doors" (retardant tank) open and the red slurry just streaming the first of the load.

The P2V was close enough we could count the rivets/panels on the belly, and we all did had an "oh ****" moment since we knew we were getting dumped on.

Pretty similar to this pic (a famous one) except we were in the trees no where near a road & the P2V was right over us.

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We were a bit "damp" when we got back to the fire camp later. But, having the "red stain" was always considered a "badge of honor" since others knew you were right in the action.

My .02
 
I also got the red stains, in S. Lake Tahoe, CA, circa 1980. I never saw the aircraft, I was a passerby volunteering to help drag a fire hose through timber when someone yelled "Cover!" and the guys around me dropped to their bellies and covered their faces. I heard the sudden roar and whoosh go over then there was red rain!
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All the big prop tankers are gone now except for the SEATs (Single Engine Air Tankers)

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The Bae 146s are popular now, but other outfits fly the BIG converted jet airliners.

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There is also the Avenger on display at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, TX in the same complex with the Pacific Valor living history exhibit. The Nimitz Gallery is also quite impressive.
 
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