GUILLOWS
BALSA 1/30-SCALE FLYING MODEL KIT GRUMMAN TBF AVENGER WW2 USN TORPEDO BOMBER VT
KIT# 509 (1976)
IF YOU HAVE ANY
QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS PLEASE ASK ME BEFORE BIDDING / PURCHASING � I WANT
EVERYONE TO BE 100% SATISFIED WITH NO SURPRISES OR MIS-UNDERSTANDINGS
IF YOU PURCHASE
MULTIPLE ITEMS I WILL COMBINE INTO A SINGLE INVOICE TO CHARGE YOU THE MOST
ECONOMICAL POSTAGE CHARGE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 magnetic anomaly detector (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.
