ACAM's Avenger arrives

Just thought you might like to see some other shots of our museum.

Flyinprice

Well done

Looks tremendous – great to see her in the “proper scheme ”

Regards
John p

Hi flyinprice,
Welcome to the forum. You are right they are big, don’t fall off it!

Looks magnificent!

ACAM Avenger all in place

Well we did it. The avenger is now all togather and in it’s final display space at the museum.

WOW its a big airplane

Flyinprice.

My TBM when operated by TBM Inc of :dev2: Tulare Ca. as a firebomber.

Hi Rob

Yes and they have served as water bombers a lot longer than as military aircraft so this scheme is very appropriate – and quite attractive too I think

Regards
John P

If you’ve ever taken a look into the variations of TBM water bombers, there were many interesting and very colorful examples operated during that time. It was a very unique chapter in the TBM’s history and I’m very pleased to see at least one outfit has picked up on the theme and taken the route less traveled. #24 looks very good IMO! 🙂

Yep, looks great. Starboard entry door too 🙂

Best wishes
Steve P

Interestingly enough – to me anyway – JDK and I just visited another Canuck TBM Ex Water bomber that is about to fly in Sunny Queensland Australia at Cooloongatta

Some pics – should fly before Christmas with another flying out to the same owner from the US Next month – Great to be here mate – in the sunshine State

Regards
John p

PS the point of this post is to congradulate the team in Canada who did the job on the static rebuild – she looks fantastic

I think she looks great. A credit to all those her invested so much time and money in restoring her.

Thanks for posting.
Kilvy

I totally agree that it’s a great restoration. I used to be of the school of “restore everything to original condition”, but variety is the spice of life! It’s good to have some representative examples of aircraft in their different schemes from their working days, so all of them are of historic value.

The ACAM TBM looks great..

Thanks James. BW Roger

Another thread decends into childish mud slinging. Thanks.

There is a role for all enthusiasts, groups and museums. Badger, your initial post was hardly a positive one, and I’m not surprised by Roger’s response.

Most surviving warbirds never saw combat themselves, and earned their keep in many other ways. There is, as you agreed, much to commemorate.

It is a great think that the ACAM Avenger is moving ahead, and commemorating something that is more overlooked than the wartime history – something that is just as important.

Now, can we shake hands and admire the Turkeycat in all its guises?

I love flying my “bogus” ex-firebomber TBM……

You are absulutely right, thank you for teaching me how wrong I was thinking.

1. CAF, it is home-based here.

2. The main use for the Avenger in US service was as a combat aircraft, so to me that is the most historic use and representation.

3. How in the *^%#$#% do you consider it a “bogus” aircraft!!! There were many that were never converted to any other use that have been pulled fron the scrapyards to be restored.

4. I much prefer a flying aircraft to a static display….. which was it built to be and do?

5. I am not knocking static displays of non-airworthy airframes… much better than scrapping them!!

6. Nor am I opposing the preservation of a variant that saw much vital service in protecting the property and livelihood of Canada’s citizens…. as this is what BOTH versions did!

7. As a USMC veteran, dismissing the aircraft and it’s service as “just another all WW2 reconfigurated one with a turret” gives the impression that we boring you by remembering the service of all the “flying bogus military TBM” and all those who flew them into combat. Is your problem with how many are left (too many to be a Historic Aircraft?) or with commemorating the fact that they were designed and used in warfare?

Bager, you talking about the Rocky Mountain CAF’s TBM #309 or Wayne Rudd’s? I’ve flown with and photographed the CAF’s example…

Mark

The Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum (ACAM) tries to show the role aviation (both civilian and military) has played in Atlantic Canada’s History. We chose to display the Avenger in civilian markings for several reasons. The Shearwater Aviation Museum is located only about twenty miles away from ACAM and are in the process of restoring a true ex-Canadian Navy Avenger and if ACAM to restore theirs in the same paint scheme would be duplicating SAMs example and wouldn’t benefit either museum given there close proximity to each other. Another reason is that Avengers flew in Atlantic Canada with civilian markings a lot longer than they had in RCN markings and the museum wanted to recognize the TBM role in Spruce Bud Worm spraying and Water Bombing here on the East Coast. Forest Protection Ltd. at one time (and may still have) had the largest fleet of Avengers in the world and were a major supporter of ACAMs restoration effort and it is only fitting we recognize their effort by painting the aircraft to represent one of their aircraft.

The Avenger is restored to static condition only even though the aircraft is fully fitted out to represent a FPL water bomber (notice the Grumman Tracker Wheels and Brakes). Many of the aircraft parts were recovered from various crash sites through out New Brunswick. The right wing alone his made up parts of four different aircraft and took approx. 900 hours to restore. The engine was from another crash site dismantled and restored, the only thing missing are the piston compression rings so that the prop can be easily turned by hand if need be.

ACAM is operated by volunteers and operates on a very tight budget. If they were to bring the aircraft back to WW II configuration the price of Turret and Bomb Doors alone would have made this restoration almost impossible.

Kzee

P.S.
ACAM is also in the process of restoring a Consolidated PBY-5A, which will also be painted in Eastern Provincial Airlines colours. The same markings it painted in when it made its force landing in Labrador in 1957.

Great job done. Nice to see that at least some TBMs will be staying in their tanker configuration. If it wasn’t for their post war tanker role, I doubt if many should have survived today. I’ll rather see a tanker configurated TBM, or a TBM in a military post war (COD, 3W2, observation, target tug) variant, than just another all WW2 reconfigurated one with a turret. The TBM had, unlike many other WW2 types, a very active and interesting post WW2 career being flown in a variety of roles, for many military and civil operators. And apart from that, pilots operating the tanker Avengers on fire fighting missions were doing one of the most dangerous jobs in aviation, which costed many their lives. So for me, a flying bogus military TBM isn’t “much better” than a static aerial tanker example. BW Roger