WINGS & WHEELS GRUMMAN
TBF / TBM AVENGER IN DETAIL WW2 USN TORPEDO BOMBER RN FAA RNZAF
WINGS & WHEELS PUBLICATIONS
IN DETAIL / SPECIAL MUSEUM LINE No.4
A PHOTO MANUAL FOR MODELLERS
SOFTBOUND 60 PAGES ***LIKE NEW
CONDITION***
THIS VOLUME IS IN ENGLISH AND IN
CZECH
THE HISTORY OF THE GRUMMAN TBF /
TBM AVENGER TARPON WW2 TORPEDO BOMBER
1:72 SCALE FOUR-VIEW DRAWINGS
CUTAWAY DRAWING
WALK AROUND PHOTO GALLERY
(FUSELAGE, WINGS, TAIL EMPENNAGE, TURRET, VENTRAL GUN POSITION)
WRIGHT R-2600 CYCLONE ENGINE
DETAILS (COWLING, PROPELLER, HUB, OIL TANK, OIL & HYDRAULIC PIPING,
FIREWALL, EXHAUST, COWL FLAPS)
WING DETAILS (AILERONS, WING
FOLD MECHANISM, WING SKIN STIFFNERS, FLAPS, HINGES / HINGE COVERS, LEADING EDGE
FIXED SLOTS, SING GUN AMMUNITION BOXES AND COVERS, ACCESS DOORS)
MAIN MOUNTS (STRUT / LEG, TIRE,
WHEEL, BRAKE LINES)
TAILWHEEL
CANOPY EXTERIOR
PILOT’S COCKPIT (ARMOURED
WINDSCREEN, INSTRUMENT PANEL, RUDDER PEDALS, CONTROL STICK, THROTTLE, PILOT’S
SEAT, COCKPIT SIDEWALLS)
REAR SEAT
GRUMMAN 150SE ROTATING TURRET
(GUNNER’S ARMOURED SEAT, GUN TURRET CONTROL UNIT, GUN TRIGGER, Mk11 GUN SIGHT,
Mk9 GUNSIGHT, ARMNOURED GLASS, RING & BEAD SIGHT)
GUNNER / RADIO-OPERATOR
COMPARTMENT (0.30-CAL STINGER GUN INSTALLATION)
BOMB-BAY DETAILS
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Additional Information from
Internet Encyclopedia
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.
The Avenger was also used by
the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm where it was initially known as the "Tarpon"
however this name was later discontinued and the Avenger name used instead, as
part of the process of the Fleet Air Arm universally adopting the U.S. Navy's
names for American naval aircraft. The first 402 aircraft were known as Avenger
Mk 1, 334 TBM-1s from Grumman were the Avenger Mk II and 334 TBM-3 the Mark
III. 100 USN TBM-3Es were supplied to
the Fleet Air Arm in 1953 under the US Mutual Defense Assistance Program. The
aircraft were shipped from Norfolk, Virginia, many aboard the Royal Navy
aircraft carrier HMS Perseus.
The Avengers were fitted with British equipment by Scottish Aviation and
delivered as the Avenger AS.4 to several FAA squadrons including No. 767, 814,
815, 820 and 824. The aircraft were replaced from 1954 by Fairey Gannets and
were passed to squadrons of the Royal Naval Reserve including No. 1841 and 1844
until the RNR was disbanded. The survivors were transferred to the French Navy
in 1957–1958. [820 Naval Air Squadron, 828 Naval Air Squadron, 832 Naval Air
Squadron, 845 Naval Air Squadron, 846 Naval Air Squadron, 848 Naval Air
Squadron, 849 Naval Air Squadron, 850 Naval Air Squadron, 851 Naval Air
Squadron, 852 Naval Air Squadron, 853 Naval Air Squadron, 854 Naval Air
Squadron, 855 Naval Air Squadron, 856 Naval Air Squadron, 857 Naval Air
Squadron]
The only other operator in
World War II was the Royal New Zealand Air Force which used the type primarily
as a bomber operating from South Pacific Island bases (No. 30 Squadron RNZAF, No. 31 Squadron RNZAF, No. 41 Squadron RNZAF, No. 42 Squadron RNZAF, Central Fighter Establishment).
One of the primary postwar users of the Avenger
was the Royal Canadian Navy, which obtained 125 former US Navy TBM-3E Avengers
from 1950 to 1952 to replace their venerable Fairey Fireflies. By the time the
Avengers were delivered, the RCN was shifting its primary focus to
anti-submarine warfare (ASW), and the aircraft was rapidly becoming obsolete as
an attack platform. Consequently, 98 of the RCN Avengers were fitted with an
extensive number of novel ASW modifications, including radar, electronic
countermeasures (ECM) equipment, and sonobuoys and the upper ball
turret was replaced with a sloping glass canopy that was better suited for
observation duties. The modified Avengers were designated AS 3. A number of these aircraft were
later fitted with a large MAD boom on the
rear left side of the fuselage and were redesignated AS 3M. However, RCN leaders soon realized the Avenger's
shortcomings as an ASW aircraft, and in 1954 they elected to replace the AS 3
with the Grumman S-2 Tracker, which offered longer range, greater load-carrying
capacity for electronics and armament, and a second engine, a great safety
benefit when flying long-range ASW patrols over frigid North Atlantic waters.
As delivery of the new license-built CS2F Trackers began in 1957, the Avengers
were shifted to training duties, and were officially retired in July 1960.
