Grumman TBF/General Motors TBM-3 Avenger
The Grumman TBF (General Motors TBM) Avenger was a
large carrier-capable naval torpedo/level bomber had
its 1st flight on7 August 1941 and entered surface in Mid-1942 taking
part in the Battle of Midway.
The TBF designation identified this aircraft as the 1st Torpedo
Bomber ("TB") developed for the US Navy by Grumman Aircraft
Company
(which was given the company Designator of "F" by the Navy).
Due to the war time need for increased production of various aircraft
types, a version of this plane was also produced by Eastern Aircraft
Division of General Motors as the TBM. The "-3" variant was outfitted with
a more powerful powerplant than the earlier "-1" variant and also
had wing hardpoints for drop tanks and rockets.
Per
Reference [8] this aircraft had a notional crew of three, including a
pilot, a gunner and radioman/bombardier, and included a bomb bay sized to carry a US Navy Mk 13 aerial torpedo, one 2000 lb of bomb, or four 500 lb bombs. It
had a long greenhouse style canopy leading from the Pilot's position
aft to a dorsal turret mounting a single 30 calibre machine gun.
Although some variants had a seat behind the Pilot's position, in
other variants that space appears to contain extensive radio and
electronics gear. As such, the radioman/bombardier was often
seated in a
space in the aft fuselage, aft of the bomb bay where a ventrally
mounted, 30 calibre machine gun could be fitted and manned by the
radioman/bombardier when required.
A
total of 9,839 of these aircraft were built, in several
different variants, operating from both fleet carriers and escort
carriers in US Navy and Royal Navy service. Similar to the F4F-4,
FM-1, FM-2 and F6F designs developed by Grumman the Avenger made use of
the Grumman patented Sto-Wing folding wing configuration which allowed
the wings to be hinged and rotated aft to sote along the side of the
fuselage when onboard a ship reducing the deck area and hangar height
required to strike down the plane on deck or in a carrier's hangar.
This
airplane type also served with the Royal New Zealand Air Force during WWII,
and several other nations post-war as either anti-submarine aircraft,
electronic countermeasures aircraft, airborne early warning aircraft,
or general utility aircraft (often with the dorsal turret removed and
the aft canopy modified to suite).
As shown in the images below distinguishing features of this
aircraft including;
- radial
engine
- long enclosed green house and aft dorsal turret
- enclosed bomb/torpedo bay
- ventral aft firing machine gun
- long retractable landing gear
- Sto-Wing folding wing configuration
[Image Sources: Image 1 - US Government/Public Domain via Ref [8] - as
annotated by this site
Image 2 - Placed in Public Domain by Original Phtotgrapher per Ref [8] - as annotated by this site]
Notes:
This website
has been developed with a number of low cost or free programs including
Hot Metal Pro, KompoZer, MicroSoft Designer and Da Button Factory.com
Rev 3-3-25
